What is a robot skill?

A skill is a self-contained capability pack that a compatible robot can install and run. It bundles: the behaviour code, the trained models, the calibration data, the task description, and a signed manifest. It runs inside a sandbox with declared permissions — a laundry-folding skill gets access to the laundry hamper and the ironing board; it does not get access to the kitchen knives.

What does a skill look like in practice?

A user with a compatible humanoid robot opens GeraSkills, finds "Morning coffee routine", reads what it does and what permissions it needs (coffee grinder, kettle, specific mug location), taps install, and the robot now does the thing. Purchase is a one-off or a subscription; creators choose the pricing.

Why versioning matters

Robots are physical. A skill update that quietly changes behaviour could hurt somebody. Every GeraSkills skill is explicitly versioned; updates show a human-readable changelog; the user confirms the version change before install.

Why signing matters

A skill downloaded to a robot is running in your home or workplace. Every skill is cryptographically signed by its creator and counter-signed by GeraSkills. The robot refuses skills whose signatures don’t match. This is how we prevent the obvious worst-case (somebody injects a hostile payload).

Why sandboxing matters

A skill declares the capabilities it needs (which sensors, which actuators, which rooms, which internet endpoints). The robot enforces those declarations at runtime. A laundry skill that tries to access the kitchen fails closed.

Who can publish

Any creator — an individual robotics hobbyist, a research lab, a commercial vendor — can publish. The ramp is not trivial: creators go through identity verification, Stripe Connect onboarding for payouts, a skill-safety review, and a test-bench certification for each compatible robot.

The revenue share

70% to the creator. 30% to GeraSkills. For founding-wave creators (first 500 published skills), we lock in 80/20 for the life of the account. Payouts are via Stripe Connect.

Compatible hardware

GeraSkills v1 targets humanoid and quadruped robots from a curated list of partners. The SDK is open; any manufacturer can add compatibility. Skills declare compatibility per-robot and per-firmware-version; the store filters only what you can run.

How it fits with the Gera stack

GeraSkills is one of 31 Gera products. Skills can call into other Gera verticals — a "grocery restock" skill uses GeraMarket; a "medication reminder" skill integrates with GeraClinic; payments flow through GeraCash. In future, skills will use GeraNexus for transactional actions and GeraMind for context-scoped preferences.

Why now

Humanoid and quadruped robots are crossing price thresholds that put them in reach of consumers and small businesses through 2026-2028. Every platform at that stage has needed a skill / app ecosystem. GeraSkills is that ecosystem for robots.

Getting started

If you want to buy, browse the catalogue. If you want to sell, publish your first skill. Questions answered in the FAQ.