# Skills

> The dimensions along which a buddy grows — Pronunciation, Grammar, Stamina, whatever matters for your product.

Source: https://docs.hatched.live/docs/concepts/skills

Skills describe **who the buddy is**. Each skill has a numeric value, a level,
an icon, and a max. They let you visualise which dimensions a learner is
progressing on.

## Why skills exist

Skills are the spine of gamification. They feed
[evolution](/docs/concepts/evolution), act as conditions for
[badges](/docs/concepts/badges), and create the "look what I learned"
moment in the widget.

## How they behave

A skill has:

- **name** (e.g. "Pronunciation", "Grammar")
- **value** — numeric, typically 0–100 or 0–1000
- **level** — derived from value, one level per N points
- **icon** and **color** — visual identity in the widget

## Example

> "Pronunciation" ranges 0–100, one level every 20 points. When a
> `lesson_completed` event fires with `difficulty: "speaking"`, Pronunciation
> gains +5. When the widget renders, it shows the current level and
> progress toward the next.

## How to set them up

1. Create a skill set (e.g. "Language mastery").
2. For each skill pick a name, icon, colour, and max level.
3. Add a [skill rule](/docs/concepts/rule-engine) — which event increments
   which skill, and by how much.

## Gotchas

- Renaming a skill updates the widget in real time, but historical events
  keep the old label in the event log.
- More than 8 skills crowds the widget. Don't split dimensions unless the
  signal is real.

## Pairing skills with decay

By default skills only go up. If you want users who hit the cap to keep
returning, pair the skill with a [decay rule](/docs/concepts/skill-decay)
that subtracts a small amount on a schedule. Decay is opt-in per
customer and configured next to skill rules in the dashboard.

## Related

- [Skill decay](/docs/concepts/skill-decay) — make skills go down on a schedule.
- [Rule engine](/docs/concepts/rule-engine) — how skill rules turn events into increments.
- [Evolution](/docs/concepts/evolution) — skills are a common evolution trigger.
- [Configure rules](/docs/guides/configure-rules) — defining skill sets and rules.