Skill Creator+
Design and review reusable skills that trigger reliably and stay lean.
Decision Flow
Start by deciding whether the user really needs a skill.
| Need | Use |
|---|---|
| Reusable multi-step workflow with bundled scripts, references, or templates | Skill |
| Single focused slash task with parameterized input | Prompt |
| Always-on or file-scoped guidance | Instruction |
| Persona, tool restrictions, delegation, or handoffs | Custom Agent |
| Deterministic enforcement or lifecycle automation | Hook |
If the answer is not Skill, stop and create the right primitive instead.
上表は「skill にすべきか」の即時ゲート。primitive 選択の詳細 SSOT は agentic-workflow-guide skill。
→ references/customization-primitives.md for the full selection guide
When to Use
- Create skill, /create-skill, new skill, review skill, fix skill trigger, SKILL.md, workflow, スキル作成
- Creating a new skill from scratch
- Extracting a repeated workflow from a conversation, incident, or checklist
- Updating or refactoring an existing skill
- Reviewing existing SKILL.md files
- Deciding whether a customization should be a skill before authoring it
Start Here
- Extract the workflow you want to package.
- Clarify only the missing dimensions: target outcome, personal vs workspace scope, checklist vs full workflow.
- Draft the smallest useful SKILL.md, then move detail into references.
License And Validation Gate
Classify the target before creating or changing it: self-authored, third-party, or derivative. A self-authored target uses independent content; copying this Skill's prose, code, templates, or notices makes it a derivative and requires preserved upstream evidence.
For a new self-authored Skill, propose CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 as a candidate, show
the exact display attribution, and get confirmation. Do not silently copy this
Skill's Apache-2.0 license into the target. Preserve an existing or upstream
license when updating or importing.
Use the target license profiles and validation lanes. Baseline review is always required; Python helpers and packaging are conditional.
Gotchas
init_skill.py --pathtakes the existing parent directory; the target becomes<path>/<skill_name>. Passing the skill directory itself nests a duplicate.- Three artifacts are generated:
SKILL.md,LICENSE.txt,skill-license.json. quick_validate.pycomparesLICENSE.txtcontent exactly against the rendered template and requiresmetadata.authorto equalauthorAttribution.valuecharacter for character. Never hand-editLICENSE.txt; regenerate it with the tool and copy the result over.- A passing gate proves consistency, not correctness. The manifest hashes whatever the template rendered, so a broken template yields a broken notice that still validates. Read the rendered
LICENSE.txtonce after scaffolding. - Classification turns on whether the source is independently authored, not on the act of copying. Reusing your own material stays
self-authored;PROVENANCE.mdandupstreamAttributionsare required only forthird-partyandderivative. - A Skill with no
skill-license.jsonis treated as legacy and skips the content comparison, so repairing a shared template does not invalidate older Skills. - When importing a Skill into another repository, regenerate
LICENSE.txtandskill-license.jsonwith that repository's toolchain. The manifest pins the template hash, so a copied pair fails validation there.
Core Principles
| Principle | Description |
|---|---|
| Concise is Key | Context window is shared. Only add what Claude doesn't already know. |
| Discovery First | The description is the routing surface. Triggers must be explicit. |
| Degrees of Freedom | Match specificity to task fragility (high/medium/low freedom) |
| Progressive Disclosure | Split into 3 levels: Metadata → Body → References |
| Integrate Before Add | Update, merge, or replace existing guidance before appending more. |
| Right Primitive | A good skill is not a fallback for prompt/agent/instruction design. |
| Scope Before File | Decide workspace vs profile before creating anything. |
| Self-Contained | The skill must carry its own knowledge. Bundle into references/scripts; do not just link to workspace files (instructions, memory, ledgers) that die when copied elsewhere. Abstract env-specific values (paths, names) into args/config. |
Default assumption: Claude is already very smart. Challenge each piece: "Does this justify its token cost?"
Before adding a new section, ask whether it can replace an existing rule, move to references/, or be dropped as session-specific.
Skill Structure
Keep routing and decisions in SKILL.md; put deterministic helpers in scripts/, on-demand detail in references/, and reusable outputs in assets/. References load on demand and are often never read, so any constraint that gates an irreversible action — allowlists, forbidden values, safety limits — stays inline in SKILL.md even when it reads like detail, with only its rationale in references/. See Skill Structure, including excluded files.
Creation Process
Use Creation Process: choose primitive and scope, extract the reusable workflow, plan resources, implement, validate, and test real trigger prompts.
Clarify if Needed
- What outcome should this skill produce?
- Should it live in workspace scope or personal scope?
- Is a short checklist enough, or does it need a full multi-step workflow?
Refactor Order
When improving an existing skill, use this order:
- Delete stale or low-value guidance
- Merge duplicate rules
- Move long detail to
references/ - Add genuinely missing guidance last
Frontmatter and Triggering
Use the smallest viable frontmatter: name, description, and only behavior-changing optional fields. name must match the folder and description must include trigger conditions.
Frontmatter details and silent failures: references/common-pitfalls.md
SKILL.md Guidelines
Keep SKILL.md lean: <150 lines is good, >300 lines must split to references. Start When to Use with user phrases, keep essential workflow only, and push long examples / schemas / recipes to references.
Detailed review criteria: references/skill-review-checklist.md
Iteration Loop
- Draft the skill and save it.
- Identify the weakest or most ambiguous parts.
- Tighten those parts, then summarize what the skill produces and example prompts to try.
Review Checklist
Use references/skill-review-checklist.md. For bloat review, use references/skill-bloat-review.md.
Key References
Use primitive choice, structure, creation, review checklist, bloat review, and common pitfalls. The structure gallery, workflows, and output patterns are optional examples.
Done Criteria
- Request is confirmed to be a skill, not another primitive
- Scope is decided before file creation
- SKILL.md created and under 150 lines
- Frontmatter has name + description with trigger conditions
- Manually used skills have
argument-hint -
user-invocableis set intentionally - Optional fields are added only when they change behavior
- Details moved to references/ (Progressive Disclosure)
- Self-Contained: no hard reference to other skills / workspace files; env-specific values (paths, customer names, tenant IDs) abstracted
- Review checklist passed