HVS Skill Buddy is the meta-skill for the entire HVS skill ecosystem. It keeps skills current with the latest Anthropic patterns, audits the skill library for drift and inconsistency, and creates new skills that fit the HVS system standard. ALWAYS trigger when the user mentions "skill buddy", "audit my skills", "skill drift", "create a new skill", "build a skill", "update my skills", "skill system", "are my skills consistent", "hvs skill", "skill conflicts", "skill overlap", "new skill for", or any request to inspect, improve, create, or manage skills in the HVS library. Also trigger when someone asks Claude to "make a skill like my other ones" or "keep this consistent with my existing skills."
HVS Skill Buddy is the meta-skill for the entire HVS skill ecosystem. It keeps skills current with the latest Anthropic patterns, audits the skill library for drift and inconsistency, and creates new skills that fit the HVS system standard. ALWAYS trigger when the user mentions "skill buddy", "audit my skills", "skill drift", "create a new skill", "build a skill", "update my skills", "skill system", "are my skills consistent", "hvs skill", "skill conflicts", "skill overlap", "new skill for", or any request to inspect, improve, create, or manage skills in the HVS library. Also trigger when someone asks Claude to "make a skill like my other ones" or "keep this consistent with my existing skills."
HVS Skill Buddy
The meta-skill that keeps the HVS skill ecosystem coherent, current, and consistent.
It does three things: audit (find drift), update (stay current), and
create (new skills that fit the system).
Mode Selection
Identify which mode applies from the user's request:
User Says
Mode
"Audit my skills", "check for drift", "are these consistent"
For each critical finding, ask: "Want me to fix this now?" Then apply fixes using
the Create Mode template to rewrite only the affected section. Never rewrite a
full skill unless the user asks.
Self-Update Mode
Keep the HVS skill system current with Anthropic's latest patterns and any
advances in the underlying technologies.
Step 1 — Check Anthropic Skill Docs
Use web search to check for updates:
Search: "Anthropic Claude skills system prompt 2025 site:docs.anthropic.com"
Search: "Claude skill creator SKILL.md best practices"
Search: site:docs.claude.com skills
Also fetch the current skill-creator skill to compare against what's embedded here:
cat /mnt/skills/examples/skill-creator/SKILL.md | head -120
Step 2 — Check Technology Currency
For each technology owned by an HVS skill, check for significant updates:
Search: "playwright 2025 latest version breaking changes"
Search: "pytest-playwright 2025 update"
Search: "helm 2025 best practices kubernetes"
Search: "GitHub Actions 2025 new features security"
Look for:
Deprecated APIs or commands the skills still use
New security advisories affecting patterns in the skills
Major version bumps that change install or invocation syntax
Step 3 — Update the System Standard
If Anthropic has changed how skills work (new frontmatter fields, new loading
behavior, new triggering mechanism), update references/hvs-system-standard.md
to reflect the change.
Show the diff to the user before applying it.
Step 4 — Propagate Critical Changes
If a technology update affects multiple skills (e.g., a Playwright major version
changes install syntax), use Audit Mode to find every affected skill and queue
them for update.
Create Mode
Build a new skill that fits the HVS system standard from the first line.
Step 1 — Intake Interview
Before writing anything, answer these questions (extract from conversation or ask):
What does this skill do? (one sentence, active voice)
When should it trigger? (list 5-10 user phrases)
What technology stack does it use? (check the Technology Registry — don't
duplicate ownership)
Does a similar skill already exist? (search /mnt/skills/user/)
What does the output look like? (file, report, deployed resource, etc.)
Does it need scripts/automation, or is it guidance-only?
What can go wrong? (pre-flight checks needed)
Step 2 — Technology Boundary Check
Before writing install commands, check references/technology-registry.md. If
the skill needs a tool that another skill already owns:
Don't re-install it — reference the owning skill instead
Add a dependency note: > This skill requires docker-build-expert for image builds
Only add install commands for tools unique to this skill
Step 3 — Apply the HVS Skill Template
See references/hvs-system-standard.md for the full template. The short version:
# Copy to outputscp -r /tmp/new-skill-name /mnt/user-data/outputs/
Then use present_files to hand the skill directory to the user.
Reference Files
File
Contents
references/hvs-system-standard.md
The canonical HVS skill template and all non-negotiable rules
references/technology-registry.md
Which skill owns which technology stack
references/known-drift.md
Tracked drift issues across the library (running log)
Read the relevant reference file before taking action in any mode.
Guiding Principles
One owner per technology. If docker-build-expert owns Docker, no other skill
runs its own image build logic. Skills reference each other, not duplicate.
Fail loud in pre-flight, silent in optional deps. Required tools fail the
workflow with a clear error. Optional enhancements use 2>/dev/null || true.
Consistent install patterns. Every skill that installs Python packages uses
--break-system-packages. No exceptions.
Phases, not prose. Multi-step workflows use numbered ## Phase N headings.
This makes sub-agent handoff deterministic.
Reports have a home. All output goes to /tmp/hvs-[skill]-[timestamp]/.
Never scatter files.
The registry is truth. If a technology isn't in the registry, add it before
writing install commands. If it's already there, defer to the owning skill.
