skill-generator

name	skill-generator
description	Create new Claude Code skills with proper structure and best practices. Use when the user wants to create a new skill, extend Claude's capabilities, or needs help structuring a SKILL.md file.

Skill Generator

Generate concise, focused Claude Code skills through guided questions.

Process

Follow these steps:

1. Understand the Purpose

Ask:

• "What should this skill help you accomplish?"
• "Give me 2-3 concrete examples of when you'd use it"
• "What would you say to Claude to trigger this?"

2. Recommend Structure

Based on use cases:

• Workflow-based: Sequential steps (pipeline, workflow)
• Task-based: Distinct operations (toolkit with separate commands)
• Reference/Guidelines: Standards or specs to follow
• Capabilities-based: Integrated system with related features

3. Recommend Resources (if needed)

• Scripts (scripts/) - for automation or repetitive code
• References (references/) - for API docs, schemas, specs
• Assets (assets/) - for templates or boilerplate

Most simple skills don't need resources.

4. Generate SKILL.md

Create directory and SKILL.md:

# Personal: ~/.claude/skills/[skill-name]/
# Project: .claude/skills/[skill-name]/

SKILL.md template (keep it concise - aim for <200 lines):

---
name: [hyphen-case-name]
description: [What it does + when to use + trigger keywords]
---

# [Skill Title]

[1-2 sentence overview]

## [Main Section]

[Core instructions - keep focused]

### [Subsection if needed]

[Concrete examples, not lengthy explanations]

Key requirements:

• Description includes what, when, and triggers
• Use hyphen-case for name
• Keep concise - split long content to references/
• Provide examples over explanations
• Validate YAML frontmatter

5. Show Result & Usage

Present the generated skill concisely and explain how to use it:

Created: ~/.claude/skills/[name]/SKILL.md

To use:
1. Restart Claude Code
2. Test with: "[example trigger phrase]"

To share: Move to .claude/skills/ and commit

Quick Templates

Workflow-based:

## Workflow
### Step 1: [Action]
### Step 2: [Process]
### Step 3: [Output]

Task-based:

## Tasks
### 1. [Task]
[Brief description + example]
### 2. [Task]
[Brief description + example]

Reference/Guidelines:

## Guidelines
### [Category]
[Standard/spec + example]

Best Practices

Effective descriptions:

• State what it does + when to use + trigger words
• ✅ "Extract PDF text, fill forms, merge docs. Use when working with PDFs."
• ❌ "Helps with data" (too vague)

Keep it concise:

• Aim for <200 lines in SKILL.md
• Move details to references/ files
• Prefer examples over lengthy explanations

Resource organization:

skill-name/
├── SKILL.md           # Main (required)
├── references/        # Docs (optional)
├── scripts/          # Utils (optional)
└── assets/           # Templates (optional)

Common Issues

• Skill not triggering: Add more trigger keywords to description
• YAML invalid: Check --- markers are on their own lines
• Scripts fail: chmod +x scripts/*.py