# Add Skill > Add a new skill to the a8c-design plugin. Use when you've built a Claude Code skill and want to contribute it to the shared Automattic a8c-design plugin — handles finding the repo, creating a branch, scaffolding files, updating metadata, and opening a PR. - Skill: `automattic/add-skill` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add automattic/add-skill` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/automattic/add-skill/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: Automattic (https://skillmd.com/u/automattic) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/automattic/add-skill --- # Add Skill Contribute a new skill to the shared `a8c-design` plugin. This workflow handles the full contribution: finding the repo, branching, scaffolding, updating all metadata, and opening a draft PR. --- ## Phase 1 — Understand the input Look at `$ARGUMENTS`: **If it's a file path** (contains `/` or ends in `.md`): - Read the file - Extract `name` and `description` from YAML frontmatter - Show the user what was found and confirm: "Found skill `` — ``. Ready to contribute this?" **If it's a description or empty**: - Ask the user: "What should we call this skill? (kebab-case, e.g. `my-skill-name`)" - Ask: "One sentence: what does it do?" - Draft a minimal SKILL.md together with the user: ``` --- name: description: argument-hint: "[...]" --- # <Body — at least a paragraph describing what the skill does and how> ## Task $ARGUMENTS ``` - Show the draft and ask: "Does this look right? I'll use this as the skill content." **Validate before continuing:** - `name` must be kebab-case (lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens only — no spaces, no underscores) - `description` must be present and non-empty - Body must be non-trivial (more than one line) - Skill body must end with `$ARGUMENTS` If any validation fails, explain the issue and ask the user to fix it before continuing. --- ## Phase 2 — Find the repo Check these locations in order: ```bash ls ~/Documents/GitHub/design-skills/plugins/a8c-design/.claude-plugin/plugin.json 2>/dev/null ls ~/Source/design-skills/plugins/a8c-design/.claude-plugin/plugin.json 2>/dev/null ls ~/code/design-skills/plugins/a8c-design/.claude-plugin/plugin.json 2>/dev/null ``` **If found:** Tell the user — "Found the repo at `<path>`. Using that." and set `REPO` to the repo root. **If not found:** Ask the user: > "I couldn't find the `design-skills` repo locally. Where is it? (Paste the path, or press Enter and I'll clone it)" If they provide a path: use it as `REPO`. If they press Enter (empty): clone the repo: ```bash git clone git@github.com:Automattic/design-skills.git ~/Documents/GitHub/design-skills ``` Then set `REPO=~/Documents/GitHub/design-skills`. **Before continuing:** Check that a skill with this name doesn't already exist: ```bash ls "$REPO/plugins/a8c-design/skills/<skill-name>" 2>/dev/null ``` If it exists, tell the user and stop: "A skill named `<name>` already exists. Rename your skill and try again." --- ## Phase 3 — Create a branch ```bash cd "$REPO" git checkout main && git pull git checkout -b add/<skill-name> ``` Tell the user: "Created branch `add/<skill-name>` from latest `main`." --- ## Phase 4 — Scaffold the skill Create the directory and write the skill file: ``` $REPO/plugins/a8c-design/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md ``` - If the input was a file path: copy the source file content verbatim - If the input was a description: use the draft content confirmed in Phase 1 --- ## Phase 5 — Update all metadata **5a. plugin.json** — `$REPO/plugins/a8c-design/.claude-plugin/plugin.json` Read the current file. Add `"./skills/<skill-name>"` to the `skills` array. Bump the version: increment the MINOR version (e.g. `1.0.0` → `1.1.0`, `1.1.0` → `1.2.0`). Write the updated file. **5b. marketplace.json** — `$REPO/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json` Read the current file. Find the `a8c-design` entry in the `plugins` array. Add `"./skills/<skill-name>"` to its `skills` array. Update its `version` to match the version set in 5a. Write the updated file. **5c. CHANGELOG.md** — `$REPO/plugins/a8c-design/CHANGELOG.md` Prepend a new section at the top (after the header): ```markdown ## [<new-version>] - <today's date YYYY-MM-DD> ### Added - `<skill-name>` skill — <description> ``` **5d. README.md** — `$REPO/plugins/a8c-design/README.md` Add a new skill section following the existing pattern. Insert it in the `## Skills` section, before the `## Getting help` section, separated from other skills by a `---` rule: ```markdown ### `/a8c-design:<skill-name>` — <description> <One paragraph describing what this skill does and when to use it.> **How to use it:** 1. Type `/a8c-design:<skill-name>` and press `Enter` 2. <Describe what to type or provide as input> 3. Press `Enter` and Claude will <describe the output> --- ``` If the number of skills grows large enough to warrant grouping (e.g. 6+), consider proposing a restructure into themed sections (`### Copy & writing`, `### Design systems`, `### Contribution tools`) as part of the PR. --- ## Phase 6 — Commit and open a draft PR Stage and commit: ```bash cd "$REPO" git add plugins/a8c-design/ .claude-plugin/marketplace.json git commit -m "feat: add <skill-name> skill" ``` Push and open a draft PR: ```bash git push -u origin add/<skill-name> gh pr create --draft \ --title "feat: add <skill-name> skill" \ --body "## What Adds the \`<skill-name>\` skill to the \`a8c-design\` plugin. **Skill:** \`<skill-name>\` **Description:** <description> ## Why <Ask the user before this step: 'One sentence: why is this skill useful for other designers?'> ## Checklist - [x] SKILL.md written and validated - [x] plugin.json updated - [x] marketplace.json updated - [x] CHANGELOG.md updated - [x] README.md updated" ``` Return the PR URL to the user. **Done.** Tell them: > "Your skill is ready for review. Share the PR link in `#design` so other designers can weigh in." --- ## Task $ARGUMENTS