skill-manager

name	skill-manager
description	Creates skills with automatic quality validation. Use when you need a new skill created with all quality gates enforced (frontmatter, navigation, critical_constraint). Uses TaskList for stateful retry loops with skill-auditor. Not for quick prototypes or when manual skill creation is preferred.
context	fork
agent	general-purpose
skills	["quality-standards","skill-development"]
allowed-tools	["TaskList","TaskGet","TaskUpdate","TaskCreate","Write"]

Skill Manager: Create Skills with Quality Validation

This skill orchestrates the Manager Pattern using TaskList for state management:

1. TaskList: Creates task with attempt tracking and draft path in metadata
2. Task(create): Creates skill files, writes path to task metadata
3. Task(audit): Reads draft path from metadata, validates, writes result to metadata
4. Retry loop: If audit fails, updates attempt count and retries

TaskList State Machine

Manager → TaskList(taskId)
         → Task(create-skill, taskId)
         → Task(audit-skill, taskId)
           → Writes auditResult to TaskList(taskId, metadata)
         → TaskGet(taskId) checks metadata.auditResult
           → If FAIL: TaskUpdate(taskId, {metadata: {attempt: N+1}}) → Retry create
           → If PASS: Complete

Quick Start

Create a new skill:

Skill(skill-manager)

Provide:
- skill_name: your-skill-name
- description: "What it does. Use when conditions. Not for exclusions."
- (optional) skills_to_load: helper-skill-1, helper-skill-2

Workflow

You → Skill(skill-manager)
      → TaskList: Create task with {skillName, attempt: 1, maxAttempts: 3}
      → Task(create-skill-files, taskId)
        → Creates skill files
        → TaskUpdate(taskId, {metadata: {draftPath: "/path/to/SKILL.md"}})
      → Task(skill-auditor, taskId)
        → TaskGet(taskId) reads metadata.draftPath
        → Reads draft, validates
        → TaskUpdate(taskId, {metadata: {auditResult: {status: "PASS"|"FAIL", issues: [...]}}})
      → TaskGet(taskId) checks metadata.auditResult
        → If FAIL & attempt < maxAttempts:
          → TaskUpdate(taskId, {metadata: {attempt: N+1, previousIssues: [...]}})
          → Retry Task(create-skill-files, taskId)
        → If PASS: Return success

You see only: "Skill 'your-skill-name' created in N attempts. All quality gates passed."

Example

Your request:

Create a skill named 'data-exporter' that exports data to CSV.
Use when users need to export data, generate reports, or create CSV files.
Not for importing data or JSON exports.

What happens:

1. TaskList: Creates task with metadata: {skillName: "data-exporter", attempt: 1, maxAttempts: 3}

2. Task(create): Creates .claude/skills/data-exporter/SKILL.md

   • Draft may be missing frontmatter, navigation table, etc.
   • Updates task: TaskUpdate(taskId, {metadata: {draftPath: ".../data-exporter/SKILL.md"}})

3. Task(skill-auditor): Forked auditor

   • TaskGet(taskId) reads draftPath from metadata
   • Validates draft (sees ONLY the draft, not retry history)
   • TaskUpdate(taskId, {metadata: {auditResult: {status: "FAIL", issues: ["Missing frontmatter"]}}})

4. Retry: TaskGet(taskId) checks auditResult

   • TaskUpdate(taskId, {metadata: {attempt: 2, previousIssues: [...]}})
   • Task(create) retries with fix guidance

5. Re-audit: skill-auditor validates again

   • TaskUpdate(taskId, {metadata: {auditResult: {status: "PASS"}}})

6. Completion: Manager checks TaskGet(taskId) → status PASS

   • Reports: "Skill 'data-exporter' created in 2 attempts. All quality gates passed."

Quality Gates Enforced

Gate	Checks
Frontmatter	name:, description: with What-When-Not format
Navigation	"If you need X → Read Y" table
Critical Constraint	Non-negotiable rules footer
References	Justified or empty
Portability	Self-contained, no external dependencies

Why Forked Auditor Matters

❌ Without fork (auditor sees history):
"OK I've been trying for 5 messages to get this right,
the user is getting frustrated, I should just pass it"

✅ With fork (auditor sees ONLY draft):
"I don't know how many attempts this took.
I only see the draft. It has issues.
FAIL."

Configuration

Skills to Preload

skills:
  - quality-standards    # For validation
  - skill-development    # For template knowledge

Default Limits

• Max attempts: 3
• If all attempts fail: Returns issues for manual fix

What Gets Created

.claude/skills/{skill_name}/
└── SKILL.md    # Complete skill with frontmatter, navigation, content