OpenAI Guide: Rethinking Skills and Prompts for GPT-6 Astra

Melvin Vivas · X post · 2026-09-12 · Open on X

Topics: Prompt & Context Engineering, AI Dev Tools & Productivity, AI Agents, Tool Use & MCP · Level: intermediate

Summary

The creator shares an OpenAI developer blog post on getting more out of GPT-6 Astra. The post covers revisiting skills, AGENTS.md and task prompts. Its core advice: make skill triggers specific, load guidance only when it's relevant, and define what done looks like.

Key points

• Review your skills, AGENTS.md and task prompts when switching to GPT-6 Astra
• Make skill triggers specific so skills load only when they apply
• Load guidance only when it's relevant instead of putting everything up front
• Define clearly what 'done' looks like for each task

Resources mentioned

• OpenAI's Skills/AGENTS.md migration guidance for Astra · article · developers.openai.com · free
  OpenAI's guidance on adapting skills, AGENTS.md and task prompts for GPT-6 Astra.
  Also in: Updating Skills and AGENTS.md for Astra with OpenAI's Guidance (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)
• GPT-6 Astra · tool · openai.com · paid
  The model announced in the quoted launch post, pitched as the developer's most capable model for work, coding, science and cybersecurity, and able to operate a computer.
  Also in: Customizing Your Coding Setup with Pi Coding Agent Extensions (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Pi Agent Council: Ask Multiple LLMs in Parallel and Compare Their Advice (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Use GPT-6.1 Sol by Default, Save Astra for Emergencies (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Dots in ChatGPT: always-on AI agents that you hand responsibilities to (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 49 more
• AGENTS.md · docs · agents.md · free
  Instruction file format that gives coding agents project context such as the tech stack, skills and MCP servers.
  Also in: Claude Code Now Reads AGENTS.md When CLAUDE.md Is Missing (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Subagents with mixed models: a strong planner and a fast executor (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Updating Skills and AGENTS.md for Astra with OpenAI's Guidance (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), How to Prompt GPT-6 Astra in Codex: Simpler Instructions, Leaner AGENTS.md (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 5 more

Try this

• Read OpenAI's blog post on rethinking skills and prompts for GPT-6 Astra
• Make your skill triggers more specific and add a definition of done to your task prompts