Path Inconsistency for load_skill_from_dir between adk web and Agent Engine Deployment

[caohy1988]

Description

There is a discrepancy in how ADK Skills loaded via load_skill_from_dir behave in local development versus deployed environments. Specifically, the relative pathing required to load a skill directory works correctly when running locally with adk web but fails when the agent is deployed to Agent Engine (AE) because the directory structure changes during the deployment/packaging process.

Current Behavior

Currently, loading a skill from a directory requires a path relative to the execution root:

my_skill = load_skill_from_dir("agent_name/skills/my-skill-directory")

• Local (adk web): The tool typically runs from the directory above the agent, allowing the relative path to resolve correctly.
• Deployed (Agent Engine): When the agent is packaged and deployed to AE, the directory structure is altered or copied, making the hardcoded relative path incorrect and causing the skill to fail to load.

Expected Behavior

Skills loaded from a directory should resolve consistently across all supported deployment environments. A developer should not need to manually adjust paths or "jump through hoops" to make local code work in production.

Suggested Improvements

1. Environment-Agnostic Path Resolution: Implement a mechanism within the ADK to resolve skill paths relative to the agent's root or package, regardless of the deployment environment.
2. Automated Packaging/Embedding: Consider a deployment step that automatically packages or embeds local skill directories (e.g., into Python data classes) to eliminate the dependency on local file paths.
3. End-to-End Integration Tests: Expand the test suite to include complex integration tests that verify that documentation examples and directory-based skills work end-to-end in Agent Engine, not just locally.