diff --git a/modules/agent/controllers/SkillsController.php b/modules/agent/controllers/SkillsController.php
index d110afe..b899c5b 100644
--- a/modules/agent/controllers/SkillsController.php
+++ b/modules/agent/controllers/SkillsController.php
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ public function init()
     /** Render the Skills manager (search catalog + installed list). */
     public function indexAction()
     {
-        $this->view->title = 'Agent Skills — Tiger Admin';
+        $this->view->title         = 'Agent Skills — Tiger Admin';
+        $this->view->useDataTables = true;   // opt into the DataTables + tiger.datatable.js assets (admin.phtml)
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Integration/Agent/SkillsControllerTest.php b/tests/Integration/Agent/SkillsControllerTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b46772c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Integration/Agent/SkillsControllerTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+<?php
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+// Copyright (c) 2026 WebTigers. Tiger™ and WebTigers™ are trademarks of WebTigers.
+
+namespace Tiger\Tests\Integration\Agent;
+
+use Agent_SkillsController;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\CoversClass;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Test;
+use Tiger\Tests\Support\ControllerTestCase;
+use Zend_Session;
+
+/**
+ * Agent_SkillsController — the Skills manager shell (admin). Thin READ+RENDER: the DataTables grid loads
+ * its rows from Agent_Service_Skills::datatable over /api (the service owns the data + ACL). The shell's
+ * one load-bearing job is opting into the DataTables assets — WITHOUT $view->useDataTables the admin
+ * layout never loads tiger.datatable.js, so tigerDataTable() is undefined and the grid stays empty. This
+ * asserts that opt-in (the regression guard for exactly that "no data in the grid" bug).
+ */
+#[CoversClass(Agent_SkillsController::class)]
+final class SkillsControllerTest extends ControllerTestCase
+{
+    private bool $priorUnitTestMode;
+
+    protected function setUp(): void
+    {
+        parent::setUp();
+        $this->priorUnitTestMode = Zend_Session::$_unitTestEnabled;
+        Zend_Session::$_unitTestEnabled = true;
+        $_SESSION = [];
+    }
+
+    protected function tearDown(): void
+    {
+        $_SESSION = [];
+        Zend_Session::$_unitTestEnabled = $this->priorUnitTestMode;
+        parent::tearDown();
+    }
+
+    #[Test]
+    public function index_renders_the_shell_and_opts_into_datatables(): void
+    {
+        $this->loginAs('admin');
+        $res = $this->dispatchAction(Agent_SkillsController::class, 'index', [], 'GET');
+        $this->assertSame(200, $res->getHttpResponseCode());
+
+        $view = $this->controller()->view;
+        $this->assertSame('Agent Skills — Tiger Admin', $view->title);
+        $this->assertTrue($view->useDataTables, 'the grid needs the DataTables assets, or it renders empty');
+    }
+}