| name | ak:skill-creator |
| description | Create or update Claude skills. Use for new skills, skill scripts, references, packaging, metadata validation, and extending Claude's capabilities. |
| user-invocable | true |
| when_to_use | Invoke when creating or refining Claude skills. |
| category | dev-tools |
| keywords | ["skills","authoring","eval","testing","templates"] |
| license | Apache-2.0 and MIT; see LICENSE.txt and LICENSE-MIT.txt |
| argument-hint | [skill-name or description] |
| metadata | {"author":"agentkit","version":"4.0.0"} |
Skill Creator
Create effective Claude skills using progressive disclosure, focused references, and human-in-the-loop iteration.
Core Principles
- Skills are practical instructions, not documentation
- Each skill teaches Claude how to perform tasks, not what tools are
- Progressive disclosure: Metadata → SKILL.md → Bundled resources
- Validation-driven iteration: Create → Validate → Package → Improve from feedback
Quick Reference
| Resource | Limit | Purpose |
|---|
| Description | ≤1024 chars | Auto-activation trigger (be "pushy") |
| SKILL.md | <300 lines | Core instructions |
| Each reference | <300 lines | Detail loaded as-needed |
| Scripts | No limit | Executed without loading |
Skill Structure
New skills MUST be created in the current project scope unless the user explicitly asks for user-scope skill authoring.
skill-name/
├── SKILL.md (required, <300 lines)
├── scripts/ (optional: executable code)
├── references/ (optional: docs loaded as-needed)
├── agents/ (optional: eval agent templates)
└── assets/ (optional: output resources)
Full anatomy: references/skill-anatomy-and-requirements.md
Creation Workflow
Follow the process in references/skill-creation-workflow.md:
- Capture Intent — What should skill do? When trigger? What output? (ask_user capability)
- Research — Activate
/ak:docs-seeker, the engineer research skill for best practices
- Plan — Identify reusable scripts, references, assets
- Initialize —
scripts/init_skill.py <name> --path <dir>
- Write — Implement resources, write SKILL.md, optimize for benchmarks
- Test & Evaluate — Run eval suite, grade outputs, compare with/without skill
- Optimize Description — AI-powered trigger accuracy optimization
- —