| name | skill-creator |
| description | Create or update a Codex skill with a narrow, harness-optimized contract: functional metadata, one short purpose paragraph, at most three execution steps, hard acceptance criteria, and an explicit output format. Use when the user wants a new skill, a skill rewrite, or more reliable skill behavior. |
Skill Creator
Metadata
- Trigger when: the job is to create a skill, refactor an existing skill, or improve skill reliability instead of solving the underlying domain task directly.
- Do not use when: the user only wants a one-off answer and there is no reusable skill to build.
Skill Purpose
Turn a skill into a small, durable harness. The skill should tell the agent exactly when to trigger, what to do, what is non-negotiable, and what output shape must exist before the skill can be considered complete.
Instructions
- Inspect the target skill directory first. Read
SKILL.md, only the references/scripts/assets actually needed for the rewrite, and agents/openai.yaml if it exists. Use /Users/nick/.codex/skills/.system/skill-creator/references/openai_yaml.md when UI metadata needs to be created or checked.
- Rewrite the skill into one narrow job with this body shape:
Metadata, Skill Purpose, Instructions, Non-Negotiable Acceptance Criteria, Output. Keep the purpose to one short paragraph. Keep Instructions to three top-level steps maximum. Push bulky examples, schemas, and variant-specific details into existing references/ or scripts/ instead of bloating SKILL.md.
- Validate the result. Frontmatter must contain functional
name and description; script invocations must use exact paths; output format must be explicit; and agents/openai.yaml must exist and match the skill. If the skill naturally hands work to another skill, make that handoff explicit inside Output or the final instruction: name only the valid next skills in the form $skill-name — one-line purpose. Keep the list short and only include real next steps, not a catalog dump. Regenerate or create agents/openai.yaml with /Users/nick/.codex/skills/.system/skill-creator/scripts/generate_openai_yaml.py and run /Users/nick/.codex/skills/.system/skill-creator/scripts/quick_validate.py on the finished skill when possible.
Non-Negotiable Acceptance Criteria
- One skill owns one real job. If the workflow still needs more than three top-level steps, split the skill or route to another skill instead of expanding the harness.
- Treat “more than 3 stages” as a system-design smell, not a formatting game: prefer a stable parent router plus child skills over one fat skill.
- Metadata stays functional: clear triggers, clear anti-triggers, no vague marketing copy.
- The body stays concise and procedural. Detailed references live in
references/; deterministic execution lives in scripts/.
- When a handoff is part of the real workflow, the skill must name the valid next skill options explicitly instead of leaving chaining implicit.
- The skill does not count as done until the acceptance criteria and output contract can actually be satisfied.
Output
- Updated skill files written to disk.
- A short note listing which files changed and whether
agents/openai.yaml was created or regenerated.
- If the rewrite exposed a skill that is too broad, an explicit split recommendation naming the proposed smaller skills or follow-up cuts.
