skill-author

name	skill-author
description	Write a new Skill for this harness, or improve an existing one. Use when the Operator wants to teach the harness a repeatable procedure, capture a workflow, or turn a set of instructions into something reusable.

Writing a Skill

A Skill is a folder containing SKILL.md: YAML frontmatter with name and description, then a markdown body. This file is itself an example — read it as the reference.

The frontmatter carries the weight

---
name: kebab-case-name
description: What this does, and specifically when to use it.
---

Only name and description sit in the model's context at all times. The body loads only when the Skill is chosen. So the description is the entire selection mechanism — it is not a summary, it is a trigger.

Write descriptions that say when, not just what:

• Weak: "Helps with databases."
• Strong: "Query, reshape and validate JSON with jq. Use for API responses, config files, package manifests and log lines."

The weak one never gets picked, because nothing in a real request looks like it.

The body is instructions, not documentation

Write to the model that will execute it, in the imperative. Give it an order of operations, concrete commands, and the traps. Skip motivation and background — it has already been chosen by the time the body loads.