skill-best-practices

name	skill-best-practices
description	Authors and structures professional-grade agent skills following the agentskills.io spec. Use when creating new skill directories, drafting procedural instructions, or optimizing metadata for discoverability. Don't use for general documentation, non-agentic library code, or README files.

Skill Authoring Procedure

Follow these steps to generate a skill that adheres to the agentskills.io specification and progressive disclosure principles.

Step 1: Initialize and Validate Metadata

1. Define a unique name: 1-64 characters, lowercase, numbers, and single hyphens only.
2. Draft a description: Max 1,024 characters, written in the third person, including negative triggers.
3. Execute Validation Script: Run the validation script to ensure compliance before proceeding: python3 scripts/validate-metadata.py --name "[name]" --description "[description]"
4. If the script returns an error, self-correct the metadata based on the stderr output and re-run until successful.

Step 2: Structure the Directory

1. Create the root directory using the validated name.
2. Initialize the following subdirectories:
   • scripts/: For tiny CLI tools and deterministic logic.
   • references/: For flat (one-level deep) context like schemas or API docs.
   • assets/: For output templates, JSON schemas, or static files.
3. Ensure no human-centric files (README.md, INSTALLATION.md) are created.

Step 3: Draft Core Logic (SKILL.md)

1. Use the template in assets/skill-template.md as the starting point.
2. Write all instructions in the third-person imperative (e.g., "Extract the text," "Run the build").
3. Enforce Progressive Disclosure:
   • Keep the main logic under 500 lines.
   • If a procedure requires a large schema or complex rule set, move it to references/.
   • Command the agent to read the specific file only when needed: "Read references/api-spec.md to identify the correct endpoint."

Step 4: Identify and Bundle Scripts

1. Identify "fragile" tasks (regex, complex parsing, or repetitive boilerplate).
2. Outline a single-purpose script for the scripts/ directory.
3. Ensure the script uses standard output (stdout/stderr) to communicate success or failure to the agent.

Step 5: Final Logic Validation

1. Review the SKILL.md for "hallucination gaps" (points where the agent is forced to guess).
2. Verify all file paths are relative and use forward slashes (/).
3. Cross-reference the final output against references/checklist.md.

Error Handling

• Metadata Failure: If scripts/validate-metadata.py fails, identify the specific error (e.g., "STYLE ERROR") and rewrite the field to remove first/second person pronouns.
• Context Bloat: If the draft exceeds 500 lines, extract the largest procedural block and move it to a file in references/.