Is Xiaohongshu's own "GitHub" here?
On June 8th, Xiaohongshu announced the full - scale launch of the Red Skill feature. From June 8th to June 30th, users who publish relevant notes can receive 200,000 official traffic supports. Since the internal test on May 24th, the topic #RedSkill# has continuously gone viral, accumulating 1.6 million views and over 6,300 discussions on Xiaohongshu. The exposure of Skill - related topics has exceeded 600 million, and nearly a thousand original Skills have been published on the platform.
Perhaps due to the groundwork laid during the previous internal test, netizens seem to be full of expectations for the official launch of the Red Skill feature. Some netizens said, "RedSkill is really a great thing. With just a SKILL.md file, you can easily create AI posters"; others said, "This RedSkill is really interesting. It packages complex Prompts into plug - and - play components, significantly lowering the threshold."
It is reported that currently, there are 300,000 AI Skill content creators and over 160,000 developers active within Xiaohongshu. Xiaohongshu seems to be turning into a core community for AI creators to share original Skills, gain market influence, and acquire seed users. When AI capabilities can be packaged and distributed as skills, what role can a community platform play?
Image source: Xiaohongshu
What exactly is the RedSkill feature?
Many ordinary users may still be confused about what Red Skill actually is.
In a more professional way, Red Skill is a standardized and reusable AI ability module. It packages the processes, rules, and tool - calling methods for completing specific tasks into a file and attaches it below the Xiaohongshu note. When users see an interesting Skill, they can click to copy the command with one click and paste it into their own AI assistant to run directly.
In Xiaohongshu's official user - friendly explanation, Red Skill is a combinable AI Skill composed of "Prompt + AI ability + workflow", enabling everyone to create their own AI abilities and turn them into content - creation tools that everyone can use. Simply put, creators package their experiences, such as work skills, travel guides, and copywriting creation, into Skills. Users can install them, and the AI will execute directly, similar to the function of converting a PDF to an image with one click on the market.
Image source: Xiaohongshu
If you still don't understand, let's take an example.
For example, in the past, when you browsed Xiaohongshu and came across notes like "How to create a PPT that will make clients praise instantly" or "How to create a popular copywriting", if you had a need, you would collect them and at most privately message the creator to get the data package and download the template, then modify it manually. But with the Red Skill feature, you can not only read but also call. You can directly obtain the Skill from below the note, input your industry attributes, product features, and relevant requirements, and let the Skill help you execute.
Some users have created a Skill based on Mimon's emotion - triggering technique, enabling novices to write popular articles and making it free for everyone, which quickly gained followers. Some users generated 77 Skills with high - demand and daily - life - related content such as side - job earning guides, internet mouthpieces, and resignation letter generators in a short time. They summarized that creating Red Skills is like building your own AI product matrix, and each Skill is essentially a usage experience of "your experience + Prompt + scenario - based packaging".
In a nutshell, Red Skill has evolved Xiaohongshu from helping you discover good content to helping you discover good tools to create good content. It is an upgrade from product recommendation to skill recommendation.
Image source: Xiaohongshu
How should creators and users operate?
If you have understood the Red Skill feature, now let's talk about the operation process, which will be explained separately for creators and users.
Let's start with the creator side. Many people said that they didn't find the Red Skill entry when opening the Xiaohongshu APP. This is because the official stipulates that to obtain the Red Skill feature permission, three conditions must be met: completing real - name authentication, having an account registered for more than 180 days, and having at least 1,000 followers. Creators who meet the conditions can embed original or shared Skills when publishing notes. They can also apply for the "new feature experience" to obtain the permission to upload and attach Skills.
Generally speaking, it is more convenient to operate on the computer. You just need to log in to the Xiaohongshu Creator Center, and you will find an option of "Red Skill" under the note management section.
Currently, there are two ways to upload:
One is to upload a folder. Put the organized AI rule content into a folder, which supports Markdown and TXT formats. Submit the SKILL.md file. When re - publishing, you need to fill in the source, such as GitHub, and fill in information such as the Skill name, description, and scenario tags, and then submit it for review. The review is very fast and will take effect in a few minutes.
The other is to upload through a dialogue. Copy a specific command and send it to your commonly used AI assistant, and tell it to upload it to the Xiaohongshu Skill Hub.
After uploading, creators just need to attach the uploaded Skill below the note through "Publish page - Add component - Red Skill" when publishing a note. Of course, they can also edit the published note to add it. The whole process is similar to the previous note - publishing mode, and there is no new technical threshold.
For creators, the operation is not difficult. The key is how to match their knowledge, skills, and information with the high - frequency needs of ordinary users and do simple things to the extreme, such as children's learning methods and work skills. Find the right single - demand scenario for in - depth insights. Perhaps we can understand Red Skill as an AI translator that translates the differentiated content that creators have into the content that ordinary users need.
Image source: Xiaohongshu
For users, it is even simpler. As a caller, you only need three steps: browse notes until you find one with a Red Skill component attached, click to enter the Skill detail page; after viewing the information, if you are interested, click "Go to use"; copy the command that pops up on the page, paste it into your own AI assistant, and install and run it with one click.
Relatively speaking, for ordinary users, the threshold for obtaining AI skills is lowered, the depth of content consumption is increased, and the efficiency of demand realization is improved. Users are becoming beneficiaries of AI tools, not just onlookers.
Image source: Xiaohongshu @Wujin Talks about AI Lobster
Why does Xiaohongshu launch the RedSkill feature?
Xiaohongshu is a well - known lifestyle and interest community. Instead of continuing to focus on product recommendation and expanding its e - commerce territory, why does it start to promote tools?
Actually, in the era of the AI boom, when we weren't aware, the Skill track has become highly competitive. Big companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance have already entered the arena, and Zhipu, Meituan, etc. are also following. What they are actually competing for is not the Skill itself, but still the traffic entrance in the AI era. Whoever controls the Skill distribution right will have the initiative in user retention.
On the same day as the feature release, Xiaohongshu also announced the launch of the "RED Skill Awards" official support activity and will launch a Skill selection list, aiming to lower the threshold of AI Skill distribution and improve the community's AI innovation ecosystem. Therefore, the launch of Red Skill this time is a strategic upgrade by Xiaohongshu in response to the current situation.
First, the distribution of AI skills needs a new outlet. With 600 million exposures of AI - related topics, 300,000 creators, and 160,000 developers, Xiaohongshu naturally has the closed - loop ability of "discovery - recommendation - use". The emergence of Red Skill only serves to connect this chain.
Second, the platform aims to promote creators to shift from content production to tool - based services, which is also clearly stated by Xiaohongshu's official. In the past, the monetization paths for creators were mainly advertising, product promotion, and knowledge payment, and the income from the content level was very limited. Now, Skill provides a brand - new path. The platform will support the paid - selling ability in the future. Creators can package their methods into an executable tool and directly deliver it to those in need, which can become a new type of content product.
Finally, Xiaohongshu's ultimate goal is to build an AI - based recommendation platform. In the AI wave, content platforms have to make changes. To avoid the edge of the model capabilities of OpenAI and Anthropic and stand out with differentiated recommendation influence, the answer is to enable ordinary people to use AI tools more quickly. The Skill feature is a trial for this strategy.
Xiaohongshu is building a comprehensive ecosystem integrating content creation, commercial monetization, interactive socializing, and tool distribution. Red Skill is not an isolated feature but a key part of this grand plan.
Image source: Xiaohongshu
RedSkill may not be perfect yet, but the direction is right
The topic of Xiaohongshu's Red Skill has gained great momentum, but it's worth noting that Red Skill also has significant limitations at this stage. In terms of participation, some users said that the current version is more like an early - stage feature for AI players and creators, rather than a one - click experience for all ordinary users. At this stage, it is mainly used by creators, tool enthusiasts, and those interested in AlAgent.
From the technical experience level, according to many users' actual tests, the current version does not support complex file formats such as YAML configuration and Python scripts. The structure of Red Skill is relatively basic, and the ability of complex Skills is limited. Moreover, users discover and use Skills on Xiaohongshu, but the actual installation and operation need to be completed by jumping to external Agent environments such as OpenClaw and Claude Code, and Xiaohongshu completely disappears in the subsequent process.
Other problems and shortcomings are also quite obvious. One is the data disconnect between traffic and usage conversion.
For example, a note with over 70,000 views and 3,600+ likes shows that only 15 people have used the attached Skill, while a note with only 300+ likes has nearly 900 Skill users. Moreover, whether a paid mechanism, evaluation system, and creator incentives will be launched in the future, and whether it can continuously attract high - quality developers to settle in are still unknown.
However, it is undeniable that everyone agrees that the direction of the Skill track is correct. It is hoped that Xiaohongshu can achieve full - scale coverage as promised and continuously optimize the in - platform usage function of Skills, supporting AI developers and creators to complete the entire process from application creation, recommendation to conversion.
Image source: Xiaohongshu
Conclusion
Currently, Xiaohongshu has over 400 million monthly active users and over 170 million daily active users. From text, videos, live - streaming, and product promotion to the current Red Skill component, relying on a strong user base, Xiaohongshu is evolving from a recommendation platform to a comprehensive - ability platform. Xiaohongshu's ambition is not only to tell you what to buy but also what to use and how to use it with one click.
Big companies like Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and Meituan have already started to lay out on the Skill track, preparing to compete for the traffic entrance in the AI era. Currently, Red Skill is still in its early form, and there are still several steps to go before it can be used with a single click. But at this stage, everyone is still slowly exploring and improving, and Xiaohongshu's start is not late.
The deeper meaning of Red Skill is that Xiaohongshu has taken product recommendation to the extreme. Now the platform is trying to integrate AI capabilities into its most - proficient recommendation scenarios, upgrading the "recommended products" to "AI skills". It is not aimed at developers but at every ordinary person using a mobile phone, enabling Skills that were originally spread in developer communities to have a more user - friendly display method on Xiaohongshu.
Xiaohongshu is developing its own "GitHub". The road is long, but the direction is right.