---
title: "Troubleshooting Skills: Common Issues and Fixes"
description: "Common skill problems — unstable results, skipped steps, errors reaching the report — and how to fix each one."
url: https://help-takeoff.kreo.net/en/articles/11688709-troubleshooting-skills-common-issues-and-fixes
collection: "Skills"
updated: 2026-07-15
language: en
alternates: [fr]
---

# Troubleshooting Skills: Common Issues and Fixes

Common skill problems — unstable results, skipped steps, errors reaching the report — and how to fix each one.

Most skill problems trace back to one of a few causes. This article lists the common ones and how to fix them.

## The result is different every run

**Cause:** vague wording in one or more steps. The agent interprets an ambiguous instruction differently from run to run.

**Fix:** find the step whose output drifts and make it specific. "Open all pages that contain floor plans" is stable; "open all pages where people live" is not. Use product terms: floor plans, measurements, pages, groups. See [Writing Effective Skill Instructions: Best Practices](https://help-takeoff.kreo.net/en/articles/11688707-writing-effective-skill-instructions-best-practices.md).

## The agent skips or confuses steps

**Cause:** a step contains several tasks at once, or the step order doesn't match the actual process.

**Fix:** split combined steps — one action per step — and check the sequence. Short, focused steps are executed reliably; long compound ones are not. See [Skill Steps: How to Describe Tasks](https://help-takeoff.kreo.net/en/articles/11688702-skill-steps-how-to-describe-tasks.md).

## An early mistake ends up in the final result

**Cause:** no control points in the workflow, so an error travels through every subsequent step unnoticed.

**Fix:** add **If/Else** checks after the steps where errors are likely, and before the steps where they're expensive — for example, before building a report. The agent will catch the error at its own step and redo it. See [Using If/Else Branching for Quality Control](https://help-takeoff.kreo.net/en/articles/11688703-using-ifelse-branching-for-quality-control.md).

## A step works for me but not for teammates

**Cause:** the step relies on context that's in your head, not in the skill.

**Fix:** move that context into the skill — refine the step wording and add a **note** explaining what the step expects and produces. See [Adding Notes to Skills for Team Collaboration](https://help-takeoff.kreo.net/en/articles/11688704-adding-notes-to-skills-for-team-collaboration.md).

## I can't find the right skill

**Cause:** missing or inconsistent names, descriptions, and tags.

**Fix:** name skills by what they do, describe the input and output, and agree on a tagging scheme with the team. See \[Naming, Describing, and Tagging Skills\].

## The result still isn't right after refining

Work through the improvement loop in [Editing and Improving an Existing Skill](https://help-takeoff.kreo.net/en/articles/11688708-editing-and-improving-an-existing-skill.md): run, check, locate the problem step, tighten it, run again. If a specific step keeps misbehaving no matter the wording, contact support and describe the step and the output you're getting.

## Related

- [What Are Skills? An Overview](https://help-takeoff.kreo.net/en/articles/11688700-what-are-skills-an-overview.md)
- [Creating Your First Skill](https://help-takeoff.kreo.net/en/articles/11688701-creating-your-first-skill.md)
- [Skill Steps: How to Describe Tasks](https://help-takeoff.kreo.net/en/articles/11688702-skill-steps-how-to-describe-tasks.md)
- [Using If/Else Branching for Quality Control](https://help-takeoff.kreo.net/en/articles/11688703-using-ifelse-branching-for-quality-control.md)
- [Adding Notes to Skills for Team Collaboration](https://help-takeoff.kreo.net/en/articles/11688704-adding-notes-to-skills-for-team-collaboration.md)