writing-skills

name	writing-skills
description	Use when creating or editing a SKILL.md file under .claude/skills/. Defines the TDD-for-documentation discipline, structure, and CSO rules that every amd-smi skill must follow.

Writing Skills — amd-smi

Skills are reusable reference guides agents load on demand. They are NOT narratives, NOT one-off notes, NOT project-specific runbooks (those go in CLAUDE.md or repo memory).

Iron Law: NO SKILL WITHOUT A FAILING PRESSURE TEST FIRST.

If you have not watched an agent fail without the skill, you do not know what the skill needs to teach. Same RED-GREEN-REFACTOR cycle as TDD, applied to documentation.

When to Create a Skill

Create when	Don't create when
Technique applies across multiple amd-smi tasks	One-off solution
Same mistake keeps recurring across sessions	Standard practice already in CLAUDE.md
Pattern needs judgment (not enforceable by lint/regex)	Mechanical rule — automate it instead
Captures hard-won amd-smi-specific knowledge	Pure VS Code/git/bash trivia

Skill Types

• Technique — concrete steps (e.g., amdsmi-build-install, systematic-debugging)
• Discipline — enforces a rule under pressure (e.g., test-driven-development, verification-before-completion)
• Reference — lookup tables, API mappings, command catalogs (e.g., personal-bash-deploy)

File Layout

.claude/skills/<skill-name>/
  SKILL.md          # required
  <supporting>.md   # only for heavy reference (100+ lines) or reusable scripts

Naming: kebab-case, verb-first or gerund preferred. Prefix with amdsmi- only if the skill is amd-smi-domain-specific (build, test runner, packaging). Generic workflow skills (TDD, debugging, planning) stay unprefixed.

SKILL.md Template

---
name: skill-name
description: "Use when [specific triggering symptoms]. [What problem it addresses]."
---

# Skill Name

[1-2 sentence purpose. Core principle.]

## When to Use

- [Concrete symptom or trigger]
- [Another trigger]

**Don't use when:** [counter-cases]

## [Core content — table, checklist, or step-by-step]

## Common Mistakes

| Mistake | Fix |
|---------|-----|
| ... | ... |

Description Field Rules (CSO — Critical for Discovery)

The description is what determines whether an agent loads the skill. Get it wrong and the skill is invisible.

❌ Bad	✅ Good
"For TDD work" (vague)	"Use when implementing any feature or bugfix, before writing implementation code"
"Write test → watch fail → minimal code → refactor" (summarizes workflow — agent will skip the body)	"Use when implementing any feature or bugfix, before writing implementation code"
"I help with debugging" (first person)	"Use when encountering any bug, test failure, or unexpected behavior, before proposing fixes"
"For async tests" (no symptoms)	"Use when tests have race conditions, timing dependencies, or pass/fail inconsistently"

Rules:

• Start with "Use when ..."
• Third person, ≤ 500 chars
• Describe triggers/symptoms, NOT the workflow
• Include error-message keywords, tool names, file patterns agents would search for
• If amd-smi-specific, say so explicitly

Cross-Referencing Other Skills

**REQUIRED SUB-SKILL:** Use the `test-driven-development` skill before implementation.
**REQUIRED BACKGROUND:** You MUST understand `systematic-debugging` before using this.

Never @-link — that force-loads the file and burns context.

Token Budget

• Frequently-loaded skills: < 200 words
• Other skills: < 500 words
• Heavy reference: separate file, linked by relative path

Run wc -w SKILL.md before committing.

Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Why Bad
Narrative ("In session 2026-04-12 we found...")	Not reusable
Multi-language examples (JS + Python + Go)	Maintenance burden, dilutes signal
Restating project conventions already in CLAUDE.md	Duplication, drift
Workflow summary in description	Agent follows description, skips body
applyTo frontmatter on a skill	Skills are on-demand — applyTo belongs on .claude/rules/*.md and .github/instructions/*.md

Pressure-Test Before Committing

1. RED: Give a fresh agent the trigger scenario without the skill. Record what it does wrong and the rationalizations it uses verbatim.
2. GREEN: Write the minimal skill addressing those specific failures. Re-run — agent should now comply.
3. REFACTOR: Find new rationalizations, add explicit counters (rationalization table, red-flags list). Repeat until bulletproof.

For a technique/reference skill whose commands an agent must run (not just a discipline rule), the single-pass RED-GREEN-REFACTOR above is not enough — iterate it as a loop against a known-answer fixture until a literal run is deterministic, then minimize. Use the pressure-testing-skills skill for that method.

Discipline-Skill Hardening

If the skill enforces a rule (TDD, verification, root-cause-first), add:

• The Iron Law — single bold rule at the top
• Rationalization table — every excuse you've seen → reality counter
• Red Flags list — phrases that mean "STOP, you're rationalizing"
• "Violating the letter is violating the spirit" — cuts off the spirit-vs-letter loophole

Skill Creation Checklist

• Ran pressure test without skill — documented baseline failure
• name is kebab-case, no special chars
• description starts with "Use when", lists symptoms, no workflow summary
• Single excellent example (not multi-language)
• Rationalization table (if discipline skill)
• wc -w under target
• No duplication with CLAUDE.md or other skills
• Re-ran pressure test with skill — agent complies