Custom Skills

In addition to the native skills that come with Sidekick, you can also create your own custom skills. This allows you to give Sidekick new powers which it doesn't inherently have out-of-the-box.

One of the most powerful features is the ability to extend Sidekick's functionality through the AddSkillsEvent.

There is virtually no limit to what you can trigger with custom skills! As long as it can be wrapped in PHP, it can be triggered via the Sidekick chat window.

See some practical examples of what's possible with custom skills:

• Send an Email
• Add to Calendar

Listen to the Event

In your plugin or module, listen for the Sidekick::EVENT_ADD_SKILLS event.

use doublesecretagency\sidekick\events\AddSkillsEvent;
use doublesecretagency\sidekick\Sidekick;
use modules\mymodule\skills\MyCustomSkills;      // Your custom skills
use modules\mymodule\skills\MyOtherCustomSkills; // Your other custom skills
use yii\base\Event;

// Add skills to the Sidekick AI
Event::on(
    Sidekick::class,
    Sidekick::EVENT_ADD_SKILLS,
    function(AddSkillsEvent $event) {
        // Append your custom skill sets
        $event->skills[] = MyCustomSkills::class;
        $event->skills[] = MyOtherCustomSkills::class; // Add as many as you want
    }
);

Add each new skill set class to the existing $event->skills array. You can add as many different skill sets as you'd like.

Define the new Skills

Create a class for each of the skill sets you want to add. Each class will be composed primarily of public static methods.

namespace modules\mymodule\skills;

use doublesecretagency\sidekick\models\SkillResponse;

class MyCustomSkills
{
   /**
    * A custom function to be triggered via the Sidekick chat window.
    *
    * @param string $foo A parameter for the custom function.
    * @param string $bar Another parameter for the custom function.
    * @return SkillResponse A success or error message.
    */
   public static function mySkillFunction(string $foo, string $bar): SkillResponse
   {
       /**
        * Your custom tool function can do whatever you want.
        * 
        * It should return an error message if the operation fails,
        * or a success message if it was successful.
        */
       
        // If validation fails
        if (!$valid) {
            // Return error message
            return new SkillResponse([
                'success' => false,
                'message' => "Unable to {$foo} with {$bar}."
            ]);
        }

        // Return success message
        return new SkillResponse([
            'success' => true,
            'message' => "Successfully performed {$foo} with {$bar}.",
//            'response' => '(any data you want to send back to the API for further processing)'
        ]);
   }
}

public static

Each individual "skill" must be defined as a public static method. This is how Sidekick will recognize and call each function.

docblock

A comprehensive docblock is absolutely critical. Be sure to include a thorough docblock for each method, providing a detailed description of the function and its parameters.

The method description teaches Sidekick how to use your function! Be as descriptive as you need to be for Sidekick to understand the function's purpose. Mention any restrictions or requirements to be aware of.

@param

Each @param must be defined as a string. If necessary, find a way to convert the value to a string.

@return

The return type must be SkillResponse. Sidekick uses this special class to determine the success or failure of the operation.

SkillResponse

Regardless of whether the method succeeds or fails, it must return an instance of SkillResponse. To indicate the outcome of the operation, pass an array to the constructor with the following keys:

• bool success: A boolean indicating whether the operation was successful.
• string message: A string containing the success or error message.
• string response: (optional) Any additional information you want to send back to the API for further processing. For complex data, you may send a JSON stringified array.

Class Name + Method Name = Max 56 Characters

To compile each skill (aka: tool) name for the OpenAI thread, we are restricted to a maximum length of 64 total characters. Within the Sidekick plugin, we then use eight of those characters to help organize and identify tools. Which leaves you with a grand total of 56 characters maximum to work with.

In other words, the total length of the class name plus the method name may not exceed 56 characters.