skill-authoring

name	skill-authoring
description	When to use skill_create (procedures) vs memory_store (facts)

Skill Authoring Guide

Output directory rule

All skill output MUST go to ~/.abtars/workspace/<skill-name>/.

All skill/task output goes to ~/.abtars/workspace/<skill-or-task-name>/. No exceptions. The workspace directory is the skill's sandbox — keeps outputs organized, discoverable, and isolated.

Examples:

• twitterX → ~/.abtars/workspace/twitterX/output/
• browse → ~/.abtars/workspace/browse/
• topics → ~/.abtars/workspace/topics/

When to use skill_create

• You solved a novel task and the steps are reusable
• You discovered a workflow or recipe worth remembering
• You received a correction that applies to a class of problems (not just one instance)
• The knowledge is procedural: "how to do X"

When to use memory_store instead

• The information is a fact, event, or preference ("user likes X")
• It's specific to one conversation or moment
• It's declarative: "what happened" or "what is true"

Good skill content

# Clear stale Node modules after upgrade

## When to use
Node app fails to start with "Cannot find module" errors after upgrading a dependency.

## How
1. Delete node_modules and package-lock.json
2. Run `npm install`
3. Restart the affected service

## Why
Stale lockfiles reference module versions that no longer exist. A clean install resolves current versions.

Bad skill content (use memory_store instead)

• "User prefers tabs over spaces" → memory_store
• "Meeting with X on Tuesday" → memory_store
• "Bug #123 was caused by Y" → memory_store (unless the fix is a reusable recipe)

Skill file structure

<skill-name>/
  ├── SKILL.md          ← required: description + instructions
  ├── scripts/          ← optional: executable scripts (py, sh, js)
  └── references/       ← optional: reference docs

Rules for scripts:

• Scripts go in <skill>/scripts/. Never at the skill root.
• Scripts must be self-contained. Use only Node built-ins, system binaries, or deps declared in SKILL.md metadata.
• NEVER bundle node_modules/ inside a skill. If a script needs a package, declare it in the skill metadata under requires.bins or requires.packages. The user installs it system-wide.
• Scripts must be executable (chmod +x).
• Prefer sh/bash for simple automation. Use Python/Node only when necessary.