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[Laravel](https://msaied.com/articles?category=laravel) 6. / 7. Laravel AI SDK 1.1: Agent Skills, Cohere Chat, and Smarter Failover [Laravel](https://msaied.com/articles?category=laravel) [AI](https://msaied.com/articles?category=ai) Laravel AI SDK 1.1: Agent Skills, Cohere Chat, and Smarter Failover ==================================================================== Laravel AI SDK v1.1.0 ships Agent Skills support, Cohere text generation via the v2 Chat API, approvable built-in tools, and a failover loop that skips unsupported provider tools instead of throwing. ![](https://cdn.msaied.com/01M22N44A70A5MC2S599JP0MPH.webp) [Mohamed Said](https://msaied.com#person) Published 6 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Oct 2026 · 4 min read ShareCopy linkCopied ![Laravel AI SDK 1.1: Agent Skills, Cohere Chat, and Smarter Failover](https://cdn.msaied.com/752/92b87da474ac8c5e3e7b8cd266adf261.png) On this page +1. [Laravel AI SDK 1.1 Is Out](#laravel-ai-sdk-11-is-out) 2. [Agent Skills](#agent-skills) 3. [Cohere Text Generation](#cohere-text-generation) 4. [Approval for Built-In Tools](#approval-for-built-in-tools) 5. [Failover Skips Unsupported Provider Tools](#failover-skips-unsupported-provider-tools) 6. [Other Notable Changes](#other-notable-changes) 7. [Upgrading](#upgrading) 8. [Key Takeaways](#key-takeaways) Laravel AI SDK 1.1 Is Out ------------------------- Laravel AI SDK v1.1.0 is the first minor release since 1.0. It adds the Agent Skills standard, Cohere as a text generation provider, approval support on built-in tools, and a failover loop that no longer crashes when the next provider does not support every tool the agent carries. Agent Skills ------------ The SDK now supports [Agent Skills](https://agentskills.io), a folder-based format that lets coding agents load context-specific instructions on demand. Each skill lives under `resources/skills` as a folder containing a `SKILL.md` file with a `description` in its frontmatter. ``` resources/skills/ └── refund-policy/ ├── SKILL.md └── references/EDGE-CASES.md ``` ```markdown --- name: refund-policy description: Use when a customer asks for a refund or a partial credit. --- Check the order date first. Orders older than 30 days... ``` To wire skills into an agent, implement the `HasSkills` contract and return skill sources from a `skills()` method. Sources can be a directory path, an inline `Skill` object, or a closure that resolves at runtime — useful for loading per-user skills from the database. ```php use Laravel\Ai\Contracts\Agent; use Laravel\Ai\Contracts\HasSkills; use Laravel\Ai\Promptable; use Laravel\Ai\Skills\Skill; class SupportAgent implements Agent, HasSkills { use Promptable; public function instructions(): string { return 'You are a support agent.'; } public function skills(): iterable { return [ resource_path('skills'), base_path('.agents/skills'), new Skill( name: 'house-style', description: 'Use when you write copy for a customer.', instructions: view('skills.house-style', ['brand' => $this->brand]), ), fn () => $this->user->team->skills->map->toSkill(), ]; } } ``` The SDK injects a single `LoadSkill` tool. The model calls it to read a skill's full instructions or fetch a bundled reference file. Files larger than 256 KB and binary files are rejected. Cohere Text Generation ---------------------- Cohere was already available for embeddings and reranking. v1.1.0 adds text generation through Cohere's v2 Chat API, including streaming, tool calls, structured output, and reasoning. The default model is `command-a-03-2025`. ```php $response = (new SupportAgent)->prompt('Hello', provider: 'cohere'); ``` Because Cohere cannot force a specific tool, `ToolChoice::tool('X')` sends only that tool and marks a tool call as required. Document attachments and citations are not yet supported, but you can pass Cohere-specific options such as `documents` and `safety_mode` through provider options. Approval for Built-In Tools --------------------------- The MCP, agent, similarity search, and filesystem tools now implement the `Approvable` contract, so you can call `requireApproval()` directly without subclassing. This example requires approval for every GitHub MCP tool that is not read-only: ```php use Laravel\Ai\Tools\McpTool; $github->tools() ->mapInto(McpTool::class) ->map(fn (McpTool $tool) => ($tool->annotations()['readOnlyHint'] ?? false) ? $tool : $tool->requireApproval()); ``` Approval is off by default, so existing agents are unaffected. Failover Skips Unsupported Provider Tools ----------------------------------------- Previously, an agent configured with `['anthropic', 'openai']` could fail mid-run if a rate-limited Anthropic request fell over to OpenAI and the agent carried a tool like `WebFetch` that OpenAI does not support. The SDK now strips unsupported provider tools before each attempt and continues the run with the remaining tools. Other Notable Changes --------------------- - **`MoveFile` tool:** Rename or move a file in a single tool call. - **Updated default models:** Anthropic now defaults to `claude-sonnet-5-5`; Gemini to `gemini-3.8-flash`. If you rely on defaults rather than explicit config, your app will use the newer models after upgrading. - **Self-hosted Laya classification:** Point the `typesafe` driver at a local Laya server via a `url` key in `config/ai.php`. - **Expanded provider tools:** `ToolSearch` on Azure OpenAI; `WebSearch` and `CodeExecution` on Groq; `WebSearch` location forwarded to OpenRouter. - **Bug fixes:** Stateless OpenAI file search replay, edited `useChat` user messages, and ElevenLabs query parameter placement. Upgrading --------- ```bash composer require laravel/ai:^1.1 ``` If you use the Boost upgrade command, ensure `laravel/boost` is at 2.10.0 or later. The SDK also conflicts with `laravel/mcp` below 1.0. Key Takeaways ------------- - Agent Skills let models load only the instructions they need, keeping context windows lean. - Cohere joins the text generation roster with streaming and tool-call support. - Built-in tools now support `requireApproval()` without subclassing. - Failover runs survive providers that don't support every tool in the agent. - Several default models have been bumped — review your `config/ai.php` before upgrading. --- *Source: [Laravel AI SDK 1.1 Adds Agent Skills and Cohere Chat — Laravel News](https://laravel-news.com/laravel-ai-sdk-1-1)* - [Laravel AI SDK](https://msaied.com/articles?search=Laravel%20AI%20SDK) - [Agent Skills](https://msaied.com/articles?search=Agent%20Skills) - [Cohere](https://msaied.com/articles?search=Cohere) - [AI Agents](https://msaied.com/articles?search=AI%20Agents) - [Laravel](https://msaied.com/articles?search=Laravel) Frequently asked questions --------------------------- How do I add Agent Skills to an existing Laravel AI SDK agent?Implement the `HasSkills` contract on your agent class and add a `skills()` method that returns an iterable of skill sources. Sources can be directory paths (e.g., `resource\_path('skills')`), inline `Skill` objects, or closures that resolve at runtime. The SDK automatically injects a `LoadSkill` tool that the model uses to fetch skill instructions on demand. Does upgrading to Laravel AI SDK 1.1 change which AI models my app uses?It can. v1.1.0 updates the default fallback models for most providers — for example, Anthropic now defaults to `claude-sonnet-5-5` and Gemini to `gemini-3.8-flash`. If you specify models explicitly in `config/ai.php` you are unaffected, but if you rely on the SDK defaults your app will start using the newer models after upgrading. What happens to provider tools that are not supported during a failover?Before v1.1.0, an unsupported provider tool would throw a `RuntimeException` and halt the failover run. From v1.1.0 onward, the SDK removes unsupported provider tools before each attempt and continues the run with the tools that the current provider does support. ![Mohamed Said](https://cdn.msaied.com/01M22N44A70A5MC2S599JP0MPH.webp)About the author ---------------- [Mohamed Said](https://msaied.com#person)Senior Backend Engineer specializing in Laravel, scalable SaaS platforms, APIs, and cloud infrastructure. I build secure, high-performance web applications that help businesses grow. [About](https://msaied.com#about) [GitHub ↗](https://github.com/EG-Mohamed) [LinkedIn ↗](https://www.linkedin.com/in/msaiedm/) [WhatsApp ↗](https://wa.me/201094619204) [Email Address ↗](mailto:hello@msaied.com) [My CV ↗](https://drive.google.com/file/u/0/d/1MF20IPRJyzfy32mhEutjL5EpSls0w2Q8/view) [Previous articleVMPal: Give Your AI Agent a Whole Computer to Work With](https://msaied.com/articles/vmpal-give-your-ai-agent-a-whole-computer-to-work-with) [Next articleRoute::query() and Model defaults() in Laravel 13.35](https://msaied.com/articles/routequery-and-model-defaults-in-laravel-1335) On this page ------------- 1. [Laravel AI SDK 1.1 Is Out](#laravel-ai-sdk-11-is-out) 2. [Agent Skills](#agent-skills) 3. [Cohere Text Generation](#cohere-text-generation) 4. [Approval for Built-In Tools](#approval-for-built-in-tools) 5. [Failover Skips Unsupported Provider Tools](#failover-skips-unsupported-provider-tools) 6. [Other Notable Changes](#other-notable-changes) 7. [Upgrading](#upgrading) 8. [Key Takeaways](#key-takeaways) ### Have a technical challenge? Tell me what you’re building. I reply within two working days. 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