creating-agent-skill

# Creating Agent Skills ## Overview This skill provides capabilities for creating and reviewing Agent Skills that comply with the [Agent Skills specification](https://agentskills.io/specification) and follow [authoring best practices](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/agent-skills/best-practices). Agent Skills are a lightweight, open format for extending AI agent capabilities with specialized knowledge and workflows. A skill is a folder containing a `SKILL.md` file with metadata and instructions, optionally bundled with scripts, references, and assets. ## Capabilities | Capability | Action | Description | |------------|--------|-------------| | Create | `actions/create.md` | Generate a new, specification-compliant Agent Skill | | Review | `actions/review.md` | Analyse an existing skill for compliance and improvements | ## Standards This skill bundles the following standards in `standards/`: | Standard | File | Description | |----------|------|-------------| | Specification | `specification.md` | Core Agent Skills format specification | | Naming | `naming.md` | Naming conventions for skills and files | | Descriptions | `descriptions.md` | Writing effective skill descriptions | | Structure | `structure.md` | Directory structure and progressive disclosure | | Instructions | `instructions.md` | Writing effective skill instructions | | Clarifying Questions | `clarifying-questions.md` | Questioning framework for gathering skill requirements | | Checklist | `checklist.md` | Consolidated compliance and quality checklist | ## Principles ### 1. Concise is Key The context window is a shared resource. Only add context the agent doesn't already have. Challenge each piece of information: "Does the agent really need this explanation?" ### 2. Progressive Disclosure Structure skills for efficient context use: - **Metadata** (~100 tokens): `name` and `description` loaded at startup - **Instructions** (<5000 tokens recommended): Full `SKILL.md` body loaded when activated - **Resources** (as needed): Additional files loaded only when required ### 3. Set Appropriate Degrees of Freedom Match specificity to task fragility: - **High freedom**: Text-based instructions for flexible tasks - **Medium freedom**: Pseudocode or parameterised scripts - **Low freedom**: Exact scripts for fragile, error-prone operations ### 4. Test with Real Usage Build evaluations before extensive documentation. Test with representative tasks. Iterate based on observed agent behavior, not assumptions. ## Usage 1. Load this skill manifest 2. Identify the required capability (create or review) 3. Load the bundled standards from `standards/` 4. Execute the action following `actions/<capability>.md` ## References - [Agent Skills Specification](https://agentskills.io/specification) - [What are Agent Skills?](https://agentskills.io/what-are-skills) - [Skill Authoring Best Practices](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/agent-skills/best-practices) - [Example Skills](https://github.com/anthropics/skills) - [Reference Library](https://github.com/agentskills/agentskills/tree/main/skills-ref)