diff --git a/template/v4/Dockerfile b/template/v4/Dockerfile
index 6852c125d..5de24923a 100644
--- a/template/v4/Dockerfile
+++ b/template/v4/Dockerfile
@@ -102,6 +102,8 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y && \
 COPY dirs/ ${DIRECTORY_TREE_STAGE_DIR}/
 RUN rsync -a ${DIRECTORY_TREE_STAGE_DIR}/ / && \
     rm -rf ${DIRECTORY_TREE_STAGE_DIR} && \
+    # Clone skills from manifest config (must run after COPY dirs/ + rsync which provides skills-manifest.json)
+    bash /etc/sagemaker/skills/clone_skills.sh && \
 # CodeEditor - download the extensions
     mkdir -p /etc/code-editor/extensions /etc/code-editor/extensions-sagemaker-ui && \
     while IFS= read -r url || [ -n "$url" ]; do \
diff --git a/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/sagemaker-default-agent.json b/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/sagemaker-default-agent.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..844d994c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/sagemaker-default-agent.json
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+{
+  "name": "sagemaker_default",
+  "description": "SageMaker AI assistant with pre-installed skills for model customization, evaluation, deployment, and HyperPod operations.",
+  "prompt": "You are a specialized AI assistant for Amazon SageMaker Studio. You can help with general purpose tasks, but you also have expertise in SageMaker workflows and skills.",
+  "mcpServers": {},
+  "tools": ["*"],
+  "toolAliases": {},
+  "allowedTools": [
+    "@jupyter_mcp_server/read_notebook",
+    "@jupyter_mcp_server/read_notebook_cells",
+    "@jupyter_mcp_server/open_file",
+    "@jupyter_mcp_server/select_cell",
+    "@jupyter_mcp_server/get_active_notebook",
+    "@jupyter_mcp_server/get_active_cell_id",
+    "@jupyter_mcp_server/get_open_documents"
+  ],
+  "resources": ["skill://.kiro/skills/**/SKILL.md"],
+  "hooks": {},
+  "toolsSettings": {},
+  "includeMcpJson": true
+}
diff --git a/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/skills/clone_skills.sh b/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/skills/clone_skills.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..2127391ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/skills/clone_skills.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Clones skills from repos listed in skills-manifest.json during Docker build.
+set -eu
+
+MANIFEST="/etc/sagemaker/skills/skills-manifest.json"
+DEST="/etc/sagemaker/skills"
+
+jq -c '.[]' "$MANIFEST" | while read -r entry; do
+    repo=$(echo "$entry" | jq -r '.repo')
+    spath=$(echo "$entry" | jq -r '.path')
+    git clone --depth 1 "$repo" /tmp/skill-repo
+    cp -r "/tmp/skill-repo/$spath"/* "$DEST"/
+    rm -rf /tmp/skill-repo
+done
diff --git a/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/skills/skills-manifest.json b/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/skills/skills-manifest.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f1c73c692
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/skills/skills-manifest.json
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[
+  {
+    "repo": "https://github.com/awslabs/agent-plugins.git",
+    "path": "plugins/sagemaker-ai/skills"
+  }
+]
diff --git a/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/skills/sync_skills.sh b/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/skills/sync_skills.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..d46d7fdad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/skills/sync_skills.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Syncs pre-packaged SageMaker skills from image to user's EBS.
+set -eu
+
+IMAGE_SKILLS_DIR="/etc/sagemaker/skills"
+EBS_SKILLS_DIR="$HOME/.agent/skills"
+LOCK_FILE="$EBS_SKILLS_DIR/.sagemaker-lock"
+
+# Agent targets to symlink skills into (add new agents here)
+AGENT_SKILLS_DIRS=("$HOME/.kiro/skills")
+
+compute_checksum() {
+    (cd "$1" && find . -type f -print0 | sort -z | xargs -0 sha256sum | sha256sum | awk '{print $1}')
+}
+
+get_locked_checksum() {
+    [ -f "$LOCK_FILE" ] && jq -r --arg s "$1" '.skills[$s].checksum // empty' "$LOCK_FILE" 2>/dev/null
+}
+
+set_locked_checksum() {
+    [ -f "$LOCK_FILE" ] || echo '{"skills":{}}' > "$LOCK_FILE"
+    jq --arg s "$1" --arg c "$2" '.skills[$s].checksum = $c' "$LOCK_FILE" > "$LOCK_FILE.tmp"
+    mv "$LOCK_FILE.tmp" "$LOCK_FILE"
+}
+
+mkdir -p "$EBS_SKILLS_DIR"
+for dir in "${AGENT_SKILLS_DIRS[@]}"; do mkdir -p "$dir"; done
+
+if [ ! -d "$IMAGE_SKILLS_DIR" ]; then
+    echo "No bundled skills found at $IMAGE_SKILLS_DIR, skipping."
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+for skill_path in "$IMAGE_SKILLS_DIR"/*/; do
+    [ -d "$skill_path" ] || continue
+    skill_name=$(basename "$skill_path")
+    ebs_skill="$EBS_SKILLS_DIR/$skill_name"
+    image_checksum=$(compute_checksum "$skill_path")
+
+    if [ ! -d "$ebs_skill" ]; then
+        cp -r "$skill_path" "$ebs_skill"
+        set_locked_checksum "$skill_name" "$image_checksum"
+        echo "Installed skill '$skill_name'"
+    else
+        recorded_checksum=$(get_locked_checksum "$skill_name")
+        current_checksum=$(compute_checksum "$ebs_skill")
+
+        if [ "$current_checksum" = "$recorded_checksum" ]; then
+            if [ "$image_checksum" != "$recorded_checksum" ]; then
+                rm -rf "$ebs_skill"
+                cp -r "$skill_path" "$ebs_skill"
+                set_locked_checksum "$skill_name" "$image_checksum"
+                echo "Updated skill '$skill_name'"
+            else
+                echo "Skill '$skill_name' already current, skipping"
+            fi
+        else
+            echo "Skipping skill '$skill_name' — user modified"
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    # Create symlinks for all agent targets
+    for agent_dir in "${AGENT_SKILLS_DIRS[@]}"; do
+        link="$agent_dir/$skill_name"
+        if [ ! -e "$link" ]; then
+            ln -s "$ebs_skill" "$link"
+            echo "Created symlink $link -> $ebs_skill"
+        fi
+    done
+done
+
+echo "Skills sync complete."
diff --git a/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/sync_agent.sh b/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/sync_agent.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..348a38a55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/v4/dirs/etc/sagemaker/sync_agent.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Syncs agent config (subagent, default agent settings) for SMAI spaces.
+set -eu
+
+AGENT_CONFIG_SRC="/etc/sagemaker/sagemaker-default-agent.json"
+AGENT_CONFIG_DST="$HOME/.kiro/agents/sagemaker-default-agent.json"
+KIRO_CLI_SETTINGS="$HOME/.kiro/settings/cli.json"
+
+# Install subagent config (always overwrite)
+mkdir -p "$HOME/.kiro/agents"
+cp "$AGENT_CONFIG_SRC" "$AGENT_CONFIG_DST"
+echo "Installed agent config to $AGENT_CONFIG_DST"
+
+# Set default agent only if user hasn't configured one
+mkdir -p "$HOME/.kiro/settings"
+if [ ! -f "$KIRO_CLI_SETTINGS" ]; then
+    echo '{"chat.defaultAgent":"sagemaker_default"}' > "$KIRO_CLI_SETTINGS"
+    echo "Created default agent settings"
+elif ! jq -e '."chat.defaultAgent"' "$KIRO_CLI_SETTINGS" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    jq '. + {"chat.defaultAgent":"sagemaker_default"}' "$KIRO_CLI_SETTINGS" > "$KIRO_CLI_SETTINGS.tmp"
+    mv "$KIRO_CLI_SETTINGS.tmp" "$KIRO_CLI_SETTINGS"
+    echo "Added default agent to existing settings"
+fi
diff --git a/template/v4/dirs/usr/local/bin/start-jupyter-server b/template/v4/dirs/usr/local/bin/start-jupyter-server
index 0b59c7024..5ffb153a8 100755
--- a/template/v4/dirs/usr/local/bin/start-jupyter-server
+++ b/template/v4/dirs/usr/local/bin/start-jupyter-server
@@ -14,6 +14,17 @@ else
     micromamba remove -y sagemaker-studio-dataengineering-sessions sagemaker-studio-dataengineering-extensions
     # Disable SMUS-specific extensions
     jupyter labextension disable sagemaker-data-explorer:plugin
+    # Disable old Q chat extension
+    jupyter labextension disable @amzn/amazon_sagemaker_jupyter_ai_q_developer
+fi
+
+# Setup skills and subagent for SMAI private spaces only
+if [ -n "$SAGEMAKER_APP_TYPE_LOWERCASE" ] && [ "$SAGEMAKER_SPACE_TYPE_LOWERCASE" != "shared" ]; then
+    # Sync pre-packaged skills to EBS
+    bash /etc/sagemaker/skills/sync_skills.sh 2>&1 || echo "Warning: skills sync failed, continuing..."
+
+    # Sync agent config (subagent + default agent settings)
+    bash /etc/sagemaker/sync_agent.sh 2>&1 || echo "Warning: agent config sync failed, continuing..."
 fi
 
 # Enable S3AG plugin if TIP is enabled