authoring-skills

name	authoring-skills
description	Create or edit a reusable skill for this workspace. Use when the user asks you to make/save a skill, or when you notice a repeatable workflow worth capturing for future turns.

Authoring a skill

A skill is a reusable, self-contained set of instructions for a specific task. The agent sees only the name + description of each available skill, and loads a skill's full body on demand with the skill tool (progressive disclosure). This guide tells you how to create one in THIS workspace.

Where skills live

Project skills live in the user's VM under:

/app/.pequenin/skills/<name>/SKILL.md

One folder per skill. The folder may also contain helper files (e.g. scripts/, reference/) next to SKILL.md.

SKILL.md format

A YAML frontmatter block, then a Markdown body:

---
name: git-release
description: Draft release notes and changelogs from merged PRs. Use when preparing a tagged release.
---

# What I do
...step-by-step instructions...

Frontmatter rules (these are enforced; get them wrong and the skill is skipped)

• name — REQUIRED. Lowercase letters/digits joined by single hyphens (^[a-z0-9]+(-[a-z0-9]+)*$), 1–64 chars, and it MUST equal the folder name. So name: git-release must live in .../skills/git-release/SKILL.md. A mismatch is the #1 reason a new skill silently fails to appear.
• description — REQUIRED, 1–1024 chars. Write WHEN to use the skill, specifically — this is all the agent sees when deciding whether to load it. Be concrete.
• license, compatibility, metadata — optional and ignored by loading.

Body

Plain Markdown instructions: the actual workflow, commands, conventions, and any gotchas. Keep it focused and high-signal. If the skill bundles helper files, refer to them by RELATIVE path (e.g. scripts/release.sh); they resolve against the skill's own folder (the loader tells you the base directory when the skill is loaded).

How to create one

1. Pick a kebab-case <name>.
2. Use the write tool to create /app/.pequenin/skills/<name>/SKILL.md with the frontmatter + body above. (write creates the parent folders.)
3. Optionally write any helper files in the same folder.
4. The new skill is discovered on the NEXT turn (discovery runs once, at the start of each turn). To verify, check that it appears in the available-skills block of your context next turn.

Editing an existing skill

read its SKILL.md, then edit it. Don't rename name without also moving the folder so they keep matching.

Gotchas

• name != folder name → the skill is silently skipped.
• Missing or empty description → skipped.
• A skill created mid-turn is NOT loadable via skill(name) until the next turn (you can still read the file you just wrote).
• Skills are VM files: they persist with the workspace but are wiped on a workspace reset. Don't put secrets in them.