example-greeting

name	Example Greeting
description	Generate personalized greeting messages from templates. Use when demonstrating skill creation, learning skill anatomy, or scaffolding a new skill from a working example.

Example Greeting

What This Skill Does

A minimal, fully-functional Claude Code skill that demonstrates every structural element: YAML frontmatter, progressive disclosure, scripts, resources, and troubleshooting. Use it as a copy-paste starting point for your own skills.

Prerequisites

• Bash shell (macOS, Linux, or WSL)
• Claude Code with skills support

Quick Start

# Generate a greeting
bash .claude/skills/example-greeting/scripts/greet.sh "World"
# Output: Hello, World! Welcome to Claude Code Skills.

# Generate with a custom template
bash .claude/skills/example-greeting/scripts/greet.sh "Bradley" --template formal
# Output: Dear Bradley, Welcome. We are delighted to have you.

---

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Understand the Structure

.claude/skills/example-greeting/
├── SKILL.md                          # You are here (main instructions)
├── scripts/
│   └── greet.sh                      # Executable greeting generator
└── resources/
    └── templates/
        └── greeting.txt              # Template file with placeholders

Step 2: Run the Script

# Basic usage (uses default template)
bash .claude/skills/example-greeting/scripts/greet.sh "YourName"

# Formal template
bash .claude/skills/example-greeting/scripts/greet.sh "YourName" --template formal

# Casual template
bash .claude/skills/example-greeting/scripts/greet.sh "YourName" --template casual

Step 3: Customize the Template

Edit resources/templates/greeting.txt to change the default greeting:

Hello, {{NAME}}! {{MESSAGE}}

Replace {{MESSAGE}} with your own text. The script substitutes {{NAME}} at runtime.

Step 4: Create Your Own Skill from This Example

# Copy this skill as a starting point
cp -r .claude/skills/example-greeting .claude/skills/my-new-skill

# Edit the SKILL.md frontmatter
# Change: name, description
# Replace: instructions with your own

# Edit or replace scripts/ and resources/

---

Advanced Options

Custom Templates

Create new template files in resources/templates/:

echo "Howdy, {{NAME}}! {{MESSAGE}}" > .claude/skills/example-greeting/resources/templates/custom.txt
bash .claude/skills/example-greeting/scripts/greet.sh "Partner" --template custom

Environment Variables

# Override the default message
GREETING_MESSAGE="Have a great day!" bash .claude/skills/example-greeting/scripts/greet.sh "Team"

---

Skill Anatomy Reference

Element	Required	Purpose
SKILL.md	Yes	Main instructions with YAML frontmatter
name field	Yes	Display name (max 64 chars)
description field	Yes	What + when trigger (max 1024 chars)
scripts/	No	Executable scripts Claude can run
resources/	No	Templates, examples, schemas
docs/	No	Additional documentation files

YAML Frontmatter Template

---
name: "Your Skill Name"
description: "What this skill does. Use when [trigger 1], [trigger 2], or [trigger 3]."
---

---

Troubleshooting

Issue: "Permission denied" when running greet.sh

Cause: Script not executable Solution:

chmod +x .claude/skills/example-greeting/scripts/greet.sh

Issue: Skill not appearing in Claude's skill list

Cause: SKILL.md missing or malformed YAML frontmatter Solution: Verify frontmatter starts and ends with ---, and both name and description fields are present.

Issue: Template substitution not working

Cause: Missing {{NAME}} placeholder in template file Solution: Ensure your template contains the literal text {{NAME}}.