skill-creator

name	skill-creator
description	Create or update Claude skills. Use for new skills, skill references, skill scripts, optimizing existing skills, extending Claude's capabilities.
license	Complete terms in LICENSE.txt
version	2.0.0

Skill Creator

This skill provides guidance for creating effective skills.

About Skills

Skills are modular, self-contained packages that extend Claude's capabilities by providing specialized knowledge, workflows, and tools. They transform Claude from a general-purpose agent into a specialized agent equipped with procedural knowledge.

IMPORTANT:

• Skills are practical instructions for Claude Code to use tools/packages/plugins/APIs — not documentation
• Each skill teaches Claude how to perform a specific development task, not what a tool does
• Claude Code can activate multiple skills automatically to achieve the user's request

For full anatomy details, structure requirements, and bundled resource guidelines: → references/skill-anatomy.md

Key Constraints

• Combine related topics into one skill (e.g. cloudflare, docker, gcloud → devops)
• SKILL.md body: under 150 lines; split overflow to references/ (<150 lines each)
• description: under 200 characters; specific, not generic/vague
• Writing style: imperative/infinitive form (verb-first), objective, instructional

Progressive Disclosure Loading

1. Metadata (name + description) — always in context (under 200 chars)
2. SKILL.md body — loaded when skill triggers (keep under 150 lines)
3. Bundled resources — loaded as needed by Claude (unlimited*)

*Scripts can be executed without reading into context window.

Skill Creation Process

Follow these 6 steps in order. Detailed guidance: references/creation-process.md

Step 1: Understand the Skill with Concrete Examples

Use AskUserQuestion to gather concrete usage examples and validate understanding before proceeding. Conclude when functionality is clearly defined.

Step 2: Research on the Internet

Activate /docs-seeker for documentation. Activate /research for best practices, CLI tools, workflows, and edge cases. Write research reports for use in Step 3.

Step 3: Plan Reusable Skill Contents

Analyze each concrete example to identify reusable resources:

• scripts/ — code that gets rewritten repeatedly or needs deterministic reliability
• references/ — schemas, policies, API docs, workflow guides
• assets/ — templates, images, boilerplate used in output

Prefer existing CLI tools (via npx, bunx, pipx) over writing custom code. Scripts must: follow .env resolution order (see references/skill-anatomy.md), have tests, pass all tests.

Step 4: Initialize the Skill

Run the init script (skip if skill already exists):

scripts/init_skill.py <skill-name> --path <output-directory>

Customize or remove generated example files afterward.

Step 5: Edit the Skill

Start with reusable resources (scripts/, references/, assets/). Delete unneeded example files.

Update SKILL.md — answer: purpose, when to use, how Claude uses it (reference all resources).

Package when ready:

scripts/package_skill.py <path/to/skill-folder>

Packaging validates frontmatter, structure, description (≤200 chars), then creates a distributable zip.

Step 6: Iterate

After testing: use on real tasks → notice struggles/token usage → identify updates → implement → test again.

Validation Criteria

• Quick checklist: references/validation-checklist.md
• Metadata quality: references/metadata-quality-criteria.md
• Token efficiency: references/token-efficiency-criteria.md
• Script quality: references/script-quality-criteria.md
• Structure & organization: references/structure-organization-criteria.md

Plugin Marketplaces

For distributing skills as plugins via marketplaces, see:

• Overview: references/plugin-marketplace-overview.md
• Schema: references/plugin-marketplace-schema.md
• Sources: references/plugin-marketplace-sources.md
• Hosting: references/plugin-marketplace-hosting.md
• Troubleshooting: references/plugin-marketplace-troubleshooting.md

References

• Agent Skills
• Agent Skills Spec
• Agent Skills Overview
• Best Practices
• Plugin Marketplaces