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Full Skill entry
How-to guide

How to set up and use a Skill

Skills are created and managed in Setup, then attached to work and to people. These steps cover the common path: defining a skill and wiring it into skills-based routing for Omni-Channel. The Field Service path is similar, except you assign the skill through ServiceResourceSkill records and reference it on work orders or work types.

By Dipojjal Chakrabarti · Founder & Editor, Salesforce DictionaryLast updated Jun 16, 2026

Skills are created and managed in Setup, then attached to work and to people. These steps cover the common path: defining a skill and wiring it into skills-based routing for Omni-Channel. The Field Service path is similar, except you assign the skill through ServiceResourceSkill records and reference it on work orders or work types.

  1. Enable skills-based routing

    In Setup, open Omni-Channel Settings and enable skills-based routing. This unlocks the skill creation and assignment screens used by the routing engine.

  2. Create the skill

    Go to Skills in Setup and create a record with a clear label and API name. Keep the name specific and unique so it is not confused with a near-duplicate later.

  3. Assign the skill to people

    Assign the skill to the agents or service resources who hold that competency. In Field Service, this assignment is stored as a ServiceResourceSkill record with a skill level and effective dates.

  4. Attach skill requirements to work

    Use a skills-based routing rule to map a work-item field value to the skill, or build the requirement in an Omni-Channel flow with an Add Skill Requirement action before routing.

  5. Test with real records

    Route a sample case or generate a service appointment and confirm it reaches only qualified people. Adjust minimum skill levels until the assignment behavior matches your intent.

Skill levelremember

A proficiency value (0 to 99.99 in Field Service) that lets you require a minimum competency, so complex work skips less experienced people.

Effective date rangeremember

Start and end dates on a ServiceResourceSkill that scope when a person counts as qualified, handling certification expirations without manual cleanup.

Routing rule vs flowremember

Skills-based routing rules map fields to skills declaratively; an Omni-Channel flow gives programmatic control through an Add Skill Requirement action.

Gotchas
  • Field Service skills and Omni-Channel skills draw on the same Skill object but are assigned and enforced differently, so confirm you are configuring the right feature path.
  • A required skill with no qualified, available person leaves work unassigned. Always confirm coverage before turning on a strict minimum skill level.
  • Near-duplicate skill names silently split your matching pool. Govern the master list so the same competency is not created twice under slightly different labels.

See the full Skill entry

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