claude-skill-builder

name	claude-skill-builder
description	Interactive skill creator for Claude Code and Agent Skills ecosystem. Build SKILL.md files with proper frontmatter, triggers, and structure. Triggers on creating skills, building skills, skill templates, skill frontmatter, allowed-tools, npx add-skill, agent skills.
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, Bash
model	sonnet
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"raintree","version":"1.0"}

Claude Code Skill Builder

Create well-structured skills compatible with Claude Code and the Agent Skills specification (used by npx add-skill).

When to Use

• User wants to create a new skill
• User needs help with skill structure or frontmatter
• User asks about trigger keywords or descriptions
• User wants to publish skills for npx add-skill

Skill Structure

Minimal Skill (Single File)

skill-name/
└── SKILL.md

Full Skill (With References)

skill-name/
├── SKILL.md           # Main skill file (required)
├── references/        # Additional documentation
│   └── api-guide.md
├── scripts/           # Helper scripts
│   └── helper.py
└── assets/            # Templates, examples
    └── template.txt

SKILL.md Template

---
name: my-skill-name
description: Clear description of what this skill does. Include trigger keywords like keyword1, keyword2, keyword3 so the agent knows when to activate this skill.
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, Bash
model: sonnet
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: your-name
  version: "1.0"
---

# Skill Title

## Purpose
Brief explanation of what this skill provides.

## When to Use
- Scenario 1 (include keywords)
- Scenario 2 (include keywords)
- Scenario 3 (include keywords)

## Process

### 1. Understand the Request
How to analyze what the user needs.

### 2. Gather Context
What information to collect.

### 3. Provide Solution
Step-by-step approach.

## Examples

### Example 1: Basic Usage
**Request:** "Help me with X"
**Response:** [How skill handles it]

## Best Practices
- Practice 1
- Practice 2

## Common Pitfalls
- Avoid X, do Y instead

Frontmatter Reference

Required Fields

Field	Description	Example
name	Lowercase with hyphens, max 64 chars	nextjs-expert
description	What + When + Keywords, max 1024 chars	See below

Optional Fields

Field	Description	Values
allowed-tools	Tools skill can use	Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, Bash
model	AI model preference	haiku, sonnet, opus
license	License type	MIT, Apache-2.0
metadata.author	Skill author	Your name
metadata.version	Semantic version	"1.0"

Writing Effective Descriptions

Good description (includes what, when, keywords):

description: Expert in Next.js App Router, server components, and React Server Components. Use when user mentions Next.js, RSC, App Router, server actions, or React server-side patterns.

Bad description (too vague):

description: Helps with Next.js

Skill Types

1. Framework/API Expert

Purpose: Deep knowledge of specific technology Triggers: Framework name, features, patterns Tools: Read, Grep, Glob

name: fastapi-expert
description: FastAPI web framework expert covering routing, dependencies, Pydantic models, async endpoints, and OpenAPI generation. Triggers on FastAPI, Python API, Pydantic, async web.

2. Code Generator

Purpose: Create boilerplate or scaffolding Triggers: "generate", "create", "scaffold" Tools: Write, Read, Grep, Glob

name: component-generator
description: Generate React components with TypeScript, tests, and stories. Triggers on generate component, create component, scaffold component.

3. Code Analyzer

Purpose: Review and analyze code Triggers: "review", "analyze", "audit" Tools: Read, Grep, Glob

name: security-auditor
description: Security code review for common vulnerabilities including XSS, SQL injection, and OWASP Top 10. Triggers on security review, audit code, find vulnerabilities.

4. Workflow Automator

Purpose: Automate development tasks Triggers: Task-specific keywords Tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash

name: release-helper
description: Automate release workflows including changelog generation, version bumping, and git tagging. Triggers on release, changelog, version bump, tag release.

5. Data Processor

Purpose: Transform or analyze data Triggers: Format names, transformation keywords Tools: Read, Write, Edit, Grep

name: csv-processor
description: Parse, transform, and analyze CSV files. Convert between CSV, JSON, and other formats. Triggers on CSV, parse CSV, convert CSV.

Publishing for npx add-skill

Skills following this format work with npx add-skill from any Git repository.

Repository Structure

your-repo/
├── skills/
│   ├── skill-one/
│   │   └── SKILL.md
│   └── skill-two/
│       └── SKILL.md
└── README.md

Installation Commands

# Users install from your repo
npx add-skill your-username/your-repo

# List available skills
npx add-skill your-username/your-repo --list

# Install specific skill
npx add-skill your-username/your-repo --skill my-skill

# Direct link to skill
npx add-skill https://github.com/user/repo/tree/main/skills/my-skill

Installation Locations

Scope	Path	Use Case
Personal	~/.claude/skills/	Your own tools
Project	.claude/skills/	Team-shared skills

Interactive Skill Creation

When helping users create skills, gather:

1. Skill name - lowercase-with-hyphens
2. What it does - 1-2 sentence description
3. When to activate - trigger keywords
4. Tools needed - Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, Bash
5. Scope - personal or project

Then generate the SKILL.md with proper structure.

Validation Checklist

Before publishing:

• Name is lowercase with hyphens only
• Description includes trigger keywords
• Description explains both WHAT and WHEN
• SKILL.md filename is uppercase
• YAML frontmatter is valid (no tabs)
• Only necessary tools are requested
• Examples are included
• Under 500 lines (move details to references/)

Troubleshooting

Skill Not Activating

1. Check description has specific keywords
2. Verify file is named SKILL.md (uppercase)
3. Confirm path: ~/.claude/skills/name/SKILL.md or .claude/skills/name/SKILL.md
4. Validate YAML syntax (no tabs, proper indentation)
5. Restart Claude Code

Skill Conflicts

Multiple skills with similar triggers:

• Make descriptions more specific
• Use distinct keywords
• Consider combining into one skill

Resources

• Agent Skills Spec: https://agentskills.io
• Claude Code Docs: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code
• npx add-skill: https://github.com/vercel-labs/add-skill