AI agent skill · by @thedivergentai

Bevy Ability System

Docs-first stub for Bevy abilities. Godot counterpart: godot-ability-system. Keywords: Bevy, ability, cooldown, ECS, gameplay.

Archived 2026-10-23 · Source updated 2026-10-11 · License: LGPL-3.0. Check the original repository for the latest version.

SKILL.md instructions

# Bevy ability system (docs-first stub)

Not a full port. Docs-first stub. Godot counterpart: godot-ability-system.

## When to use

Load this when an actor grants, cools down, or spends an ability. Combat resolution stays on bevy-combat-system.

## ECS shape

- **Components:** your own ability id, charges, and cooldown elapsed. No engine ability component was opened.
- **Resources:** run-wide tables live in a resource (bevy-data-resources), not an autoload.
- **Systems:** mutate those components on `Update` or the fixed timestep. Use `.chain()` when damage must land before death.
- **Messages:** one-shot facts (hit, pickup, quest advance) go through bevy-events-messaging. This file does not add a new event type name.

## Godot idea to Bevy idiom

| Idea | Bevy idiom (idea only) |
| --- | --- |
| Ability definition | A data component or resource row. No ability resource type was opened. |
| Cooldown | Your elapsed field stepped on the fixed clock. |
| Cast | A message when the cast is accepted. Input read stays on bevy-input-handling. |

## Gaps

- No ability, cooldown, or gameplay-effect type exists in the opened Bevy modules.
- Status-effect stacking rules are design notes, not engine APIs.


## Expert Knowledge Delta

Library target in prose: **Bevy 0.20.0**. Lattice URLs stay unversioned.

Opened canon only: `Component`, `Resource`, `Query`, `Commands`, `Startup`, `Update`, `Fixed` / `FixedMain` (`bevy::time`), `.chain()`, `Plugin`, `DefaultPlugins`, `MinimalPlugins`. Messages and observers are an ownership slot. This file does not invent their struct APIs. Systems run in parallel unless `.chain()` orders the ones that conflict.

### Who owns state

| Piece | Owner | Who may mutate | Schedule |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Data on one entity | `Component` | One system via `Query` | `Update` or `FixedMain` |
| One value for the whole app | `Resource` | One system | `Startup` to insert, then the schedule that reads it |
| Spawn | `Commands` | The spawning system | `Startup` for the initial world; later schedules for runtime spawn |
| Order that must not race | `.chain()` | The chained systems only | Same schedule |
| Plugin boundary | `Plugin` | `build` registers systems and resources | Before the app runs |

Borrow rule: two systems that both mutably query the same component must be ordered (`.chain()`) or split so only one writes. Unrelated systems stay parallel. That is the ECS page rule, not a guess at a system-set API.

### Decision

| If you need | Do this | Do not |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Per-entity data | `Component` + `Query` | A Godot node script |
| App-wide config or clock | `Resource` | Copy the value onto every entity |
| Stable simulation step | `FixedMain` and the `Fixed` clock | Tie simulation to raw frame `Update` |
| Startup spawn | `Commands` in `Startup` | Spawn from a render system |
| Cross-system notice that is not shared state | Message or observer slot in `bevy-events-messaging` | A new event type invented in this file |
| An API this skill did not open | A Gaps row | A fabricated crate (solver, navmesh module, net, XR) |

Load `references/a-gate-notes.md` for the same table plus the gap rule.

## NEVER

- Do not put `/0.20.0/` in lattice URLs. WHY: permalinks stay on `latest`. The 0.20.0 pin belongs in prose once.
- Do not mutably query the same component from two unordered systems. WHY: the schedule runs systems in parallel unless `.chain()` orders them.
- Do not invent a physics, navigation, networking, or XR crate here. WHY: those rows are gaps, blocked, or revisit.

- No Godot node, resource, or signal types for this mechanic. WHY: a Godot port, an unopened API, or a public lie fails the docs-first bar.

- No Godot types in Bevy code. WHY: a Godot port, an unopened API, or a public lie fails the docs-first bar.
- No invented APIs or unnamed third-party crates as the chosen solver. WHY: a Godot port, an unopened API, or a public lie fails the docs-first bar.
- No Creation Station content. WHY: a Godot port, an unopened API, or a public lie fails the docs-first bar.
- No umbrella skill over Godot and Bevy. WHY: a Godot port, an unopened API, or a public lie fails the docs-first bar.
- Do not mark this row `ported`. It is `docs_mapped`. WHY: a Godot port, an unopened API, or a public lie fails the docs-first bar.

## Reference

docs.rs links use the unversioned `latest` permalink. The library pin on bevy-master stays **0.20.0**.

### Official Documentation
- [Migration guides](https://bevy.org/learn/migration-guides/introduction/) - Unversioned hop index.
- [bevy crate](https://docs.rs/bevy/latest/bevy/) - Unversioned API index. Feature list opened for 0.20.0.
- [Assets](https://bevy.org/assets/) - Official asset catalog. No third-party crate was selected.
- [Examples](https://github.com/bevyengine/bevy/tree/latest/examples#examples) - Example tree on the `latest` branch.
- [ECS](https://bevy.org/learn/quick-start/getting-started/ecs/) - `Component`, systems, `Query`, `Startup`, `Update`, and `.chain()`.
- [Plugins](https://bevy.org/learn/quick-start/getting-started/plugins/) - `Plugin`, `DefaultPlugins`, `MinimalPlugins`, and `add_plugins`.

### Related Skills

#### Prerequisites
- [bevy-master](https://github.com/thedivergentai/gd-agentic-skills/blob/main/skills/bevy-master/SKILL.md) - Hub and schedules.
- [bevy-ecs-composition](https://github.com/thedivergentai/gd-agentic-skills/blob/main/skills/bevy-ecs-composition/SKILL.md) - Components and systems.
- [bevy-combat-system](https://github.com/thedivergentai/gd-agentic-skills/blob/main/skills/bevy-combat-system/SKILL.md) - Hit resolution.
- [bevy-input-handling](https://github.com/thedivergentai/gd-agentic-skills/blob/main/skills/bevy-input-handling/SKILL.md) - Cast input.
- [bevy-data-resources](https://github.com/thedivergentai/gd-agentic-skills/blob/main/skills/bevy-data-resources/SKILL.md) - Tables and definitions.
- [bevy-events-messaging](https://github.com/thedivergentai/gd-agentic-skills/blob/main/skills/bevy-events-messaging/SKILL.md) - One-shot facts.

#### Complements
- [bevy-state-machines](https://github.com/thedivergentai/gd-agentic-skills/blob/main/skills/bevy-state-machines/SKILL.md) - Mode flags.
- [godot-ability-system](https://github.com/thedivergentai/gd-agentic-skills/blob/main/skills/godot-ability-system/SKILL.md) - Godot counterpart. Source idea only.

#### Downstream / consumers
- None yet.

#### Master
- [bevy-master](https://github.com/thedivergentai/gd-agentic-skills/blob/main/skills/bevy-master/SKILL.md) - Bevy router.