skill-creator

name	skill-creator
description	Create or update skills. Use when designing, structuring, or packaging skills with scripts, references, and assets.
metadata	{"nanobot":{"always":false}}

Skill Creator

This skill provides guidance for creating effective skills.

About Skills

Skills are markdown files that teach you (the AI agent) how to use existing tools for specific domains. They do NOT add new tools — they are instructional documents.

Skill Directory Structure

skill-name/
├── SKILL.md          # Required — instructions for the agent
├── scripts/          # Optional — shell/python scripts the agent can exec
├── references/       # Optional — extra docs loaded on demand
└── assets/           # Optional — templates, config files, etc.

SKILL.md Format

---
name: my-skill
description: "One-line description for the skill catalogue"
metadata: {"nanobot":{"requires":{"bins":["curl"],"env":["API_KEY"]},"always":false}}
---

# Skill Title

Instructions for the agent on how to use this skill...

Frontmatter Fields

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	Skill identifier (matches directory name)
description	Yes	Shown in the skills catalogue XML
metadata	No	JSON with requirements and flags

Metadata JSON

{
  "nanobot": {
    "requires": {
      "bins": ["curl", "jq"],
      "env": ["API_TOKEN"]
    },
    "always": false
  }
}

• requires.bins — CLI binaries that must be on PATH
• requires.env — environment variables that must be set
• always — if true, skill content is always injected into the system prompt

Creating a New Skill

1. Create directory: workspace/skills/<name>/
2. Write SKILL.md with frontmatter + instructions
3. Optionally add scripts/ with executable helpers
4. The skill will be auto-discovered on next agent invocation

Best Practices

• Keep instructions concise — the agent reads them on demand
• Use requires.bins to declare CLI dependencies
• Prefer always: false unless the skill is needed on every interaction
• Include example commands the agent can run with exec
• Workspace skills override built-in skills of the same name