write-mempalace-skill

name	write-mempalace-skill
description	How to author new mempalace skills for Claude Code

Skill anatomy

A mempalace skill is a directory under plugin/skills/<name>/ containing:

• SKILL.md -- the skill definition (required, under 100 lines for action skills)
• EXAMPLES.md -- usage examples with expected output (action skills only)
• _shared/TROUBLESHOOTING.md -- common failures and fixes (action skills only)

Reference skills have only SKILL.md.

SKILL.md format (action skill)

Required structure with YAML frontmatter, quick start, why, workflow, and anti-patterns sections. All code fences must have a language identifier (markdownlint MD040). See any existing action skill (e.g., recall/, forget/) for the canonical example.

Top-level sections:

---
name: my-skill
description: One-line description of what the skill does
argument-hint: "[args]"
user-invocable: true
---

Context prompt for the agent: $ARGUMENTS

## Quick start

Brief 1-2 line example.

## Why

One sentence explaining the purpose.

## Workflow

1. Step one
2. Step two

## Anti-patterns

**WRONG** -- bad approach:

// Bad code example

**RIGHT** -- good approach:

// Good code example

> See TROUBLESHOOTING.md and EXAMPLES.md for more.

SKILL.md format (reference skill)

Reference skills are simpler -- only SKILL.md with frontmatter and content:

---
name: mempalace-xxx
description: Brief description
---

## Content

Reference data, tables, links.

Naming convention

• Action skills: short names (recall, forget, handoff)
• Reference skills: mempalace- prefix (mempalace-config, mempalace-mcp-tools)

Rules

• All code fences must have a language identifier (markdownlint MD040).
• Action skills must be under 100 lines in SKILL.md.
• Frontmatter is YAML with name, description, argument-hint, user-invocable.
• Reference skills may omit argument-hint and user-invocable.
• Never use the agentmemory- prefix -- use mempalace-.
• The $ARGUMENTS placeholder in the body is replaced with the user's input at invocation time.