Appian MCP Skills

Skills that teach AI coding assistants how to build Appian applications using the Appian MCP tools. Install alongside your MCP-enabled IDE to get better first-pass results and fewer retry loops.

What are skills?

Skills are markdown files that provide domain-specific knowledge to AI assistants. They describe Appian platform patterns, constraints, and best practices so the model doesn't have to learn them through trial and error during your session.

Structure

skills/
  appian/
    SKILL.md                  ← Entry point (description, reference map, dependency order)
    references/
      tools-mcp.md            ← MCP tool patterns and non-obvious behaviors
      record-types.md         ← Record type schemas, fields, relationships, actions
      data-modeling.md        ← Entity design, normalization, naming conventions
      interfaces.md           ← SAIL forms, dashboards, summary views
      process-models.md       ← Nodes, variables, start forms, flow patterns
      sail.md                 ← Components, layouts, data binding, grids
      ...                     ← Additional reference files

The skill has a single entry point (SKILL.md) with a resource reference map that tells the assistant which reference file to load for any given task. Reference files contain domain knowledge — schemas, conventions, patterns, and pitfalls — without tool-specific syntax.

Installation

Kiro

Add as a workspace skill in .kiro/skills/.

Claude Code

git clone https://github.com/appian/dev-mcp-skills.git ~/.claude/skills/appian

Cursor

Add as project rules:

git clone https://github.com/appian/dev-mcp-skills.git .cursor/rules/appian

Other IDEs

Copy skills/appian/ into wherever your IDE loads context/instruction files from. The directory is self-contained.

Configuration

Appian Version: The skill uses your Appian version for documentation lookups. Configure it in skills/appian/SKILL.md:

## Configuration

**Appian Version:** 26.5

Change this value to match your Appian environment (26.5, 26.3, 25.4, 25.3, 25.2, 25.1, 24.4, or 24.3).

This affects:

• Documentation URL lookups when the skill searches Appian docs
• Function availability checks
• Version-specific guidance

Documentation Search Examples

The skill automatically searches Appian documentation in three scenarios:

Scenario 1: Function Discovery (User describes what, not function name)

You: "Create an expression rule that calculates the distance in miles between 
     two locations. The rule accepts start latitude, start longitude, end 
     latitude, and end longitude."

AI: [Loads expressions.md, sees "Before Implementing Custom Logic" section]
    [Recognizes "distance" and "coordinates" as trigger keywords]
    [Searches functions.json: jq 'keys[] | select(test("distance"; "i"))']
    [Finds: a!distancebetween]
    [Fetches documentation from Appian docs]
    [Creates expression using built-in function + meter-to-mile conversion]

Result: Clean 20-line implementation using a!distanceBetween() instead of 
        40-line custom Haversine formula

Common triggers: distance/coordinates, encrypt/hash, working days, JSON/XML parsing, mathematical operations

Scenario 2: Explicit Function Lookup (User names the function)

You: "What parameters does a!startProcess() accept?"

AI: [Checks function-reference.md - not found]
    [Searches functions.json for "a!startprocess"]
    [Finds: /suite/help/26.5/Start_Process_Smart_Service.html]
    [Fetches documentation page]
    [Extracts signature and parameters]

Result: Complete function signature:
        a!startProcess(processModel, processParameters, isSynchronous, 
                       onSuccess, onError, onIncomplete)
        with descriptions for all 6 parameters

Scenario 3: Validation Error Recovery

You: [AI creates expression with wrong a!relatedRecordData() syntax]

AI: [validateExpression returns error: "Invalid parameter 'sortBy'"]
    [Automatically searches functions.json for a!relatedRecordData]
    [Fetches official documentation]
    [Corrects parameter: sortBy → sort]
    [Re-validates successfully]

Result: Fixed expression without manual doc lookup

How it works:

1. 58 curated functions in reference files (common use cases, documented with patterns)
2. 437 additional functions via automatic search (on-demand, as needed)
3. Keyword-based discovery before implementing custom logic (new!)
4. Session caching for fast subsequent lookups
5. Tool-agnostic bash/curl/jq commands (works across all AI tools)

See skills/appian/SKILL.md for the complete search workflow.

Usage

The AI loads the skill on demand based on the task — you don't need to reference it explicitly. The skill covers:

• Applications, record types, fields, relationships
• Interfaces (forms, dashboards, summary views)
• Expression rules and SAIL expressions
• Process models (nodes, variables, start forms)
• Sites, Web APIs, constants, groups, folders, documents
• Data modeling, security, change planning, change review

Maintenance

Appian Version Support: This skill supports the 8 most recent Appian versions. When new versions are released (typically quarterly), update:

1. skills/appian/SKILL.md - Configuration section with new version list
2. README.md - This Configuration section
3. Remove oldest version (typically 2 years old)

Last version update: 2026-06-25

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for how to propose improvements.

Skills are domain knowledge, not tool documentation. Good contributions:

• Name gotchas the tool schemas don't surface
• Show concrete patterns (correct and incorrect)
• Stay tool-agnostic — describe what to do, not which tool to call

License

Apache License 2.0