Skill Author

AutoVault Skill Packager

Prepare an existing SKILL.md or skill directory for AutoVault admission. This skill is about AutoVault packaging: schema correctness, bundle membership, capability declarations, validation, deduplication, and signed installation.

Scope

Use this skill when:

• a workflow or draft already exists and needs valid AutoVault frontmatter;
• a bundle has support files that must be inventoried and declared;
• an AutoVault validation, security, or dedup result needs remediation; or
• a reviewed bundle is ready for propose_skill or add_skill.

Do not use it for open-ended workflow invention, trigger design, or general skill-writing pedagogy. Use the host-native skill-creator or equivalent design tool first, then return here once there is a concrete draft to package.

1. Check for an existing capability

If the AutoVault compatibility tools are connected, search with get_skill({query: "specific workflow nouns"}). Prefer extending or reusing a good match over adding another near-duplicate.

When the MCP tools are absent, inspect the host's normal visible skill directory instead. AutoVault-managed skills are synced into those native directories, so filesystem discovery is sufficient and the missing MCP server is not an error.

2. Inventory the complete bundle

Treat the skill directory as one unit:

• SKILL.md is the entry point.
• Every regular sibling file under the directory is a resource.
• Exclude OS/editor metadata and generated caches.
• Reject symlinks, path traversal, device files, and other non-regular entries.
• Review executable resources as carefully as the skill body.

For a GitHub source, AutoVault fetches all regular sibling files beneath the selected skill directory at one immutable commit. It does not rely on the upstream author having declared every file. Missing resources declarations are synthesized during normalization, and the install response reports inferred_resources for review.

3. Normalize frontmatter

The minimum admitted shape is:

---
name: kebab-case-name
description: Explain what the skill does and when it should trigger.
agents: [claude-code, codex]
metadata:
  version: "1.0.0"
---

• name must match the bundle directory and storage name.
• description must be at least 20 characters and cover both what and when.
• agents must contain at least one valid target profile.
• metadata.version should describe the packaged revision.

Useful optional fields include license, tags, category, capabilities, requires-secrets, resources, and bin.

4. Declare resources and actions

For ordinary support files, declare their canonical relative paths:

resources:
  - path: references/prompt-template.md
    type: file
  - path: scripts/helper.js
    type: file

An executable action uses a bin entry whose command also resolves inside the bundle:

bin:
  setup:
    command: bin/setup
    description: Configure the provider integration.
    requires-tty: true

propose_skill, bulk_import, and normalized remote installs can synthesize missing resource entries from supplied bundle files. Always review the returned inferred_resources; inference records bundle membership but does not replace a human content review.

5. Declare the real capability surface

Capabilities describe the whole bundle, including resource files and executable actions:

capabilities:
  network: false
  filesystem: readonly
  tools: [Read]

• Set network to true when any workflow or bundled action contacts a remote service.
• Use filesystem: readwrite when any step creates, edits, or deletes files.
• List the actual host tools and runtimes used by the body and resources.
• Declare secrets only by environment-variable name and purpose; never include secret values in a bundle.

Under-declaration is rejected by the capability cross-check. Over-declaration unnecessarily expands the skill's claimed authority.

6. Validate before writing

With MCP compatibility tools available, dry-run the exact bytes:

propose_skill({skill_md: "<full SKILL.md>", resources: [], check: true})

Handle the result explicitly:

• would_accept: schema, security, capability, and dedup checks passed.
• duplicate: inspect existing_match and choose whether to reuse, replace, merge, or keep both.
• invalid: repair the listed schema or bundle errors.
• security_blocked: remove unsafe behavior or correct an inaccurate capability declaration; do not bypass strict validation.

For an existing reviewed directory, the local CLI path is autovault add <path> --dry-run. A successful dry run does not write or sync profiles.

7. Admit the reviewed bundle

• Use propose_skill({skill_md: "<full SKILL.md>", resources: [...]}) for caller-held draft bytes.
• Use add_skill({source: "local", skill_dir: "<directory>"}) for a reviewed local directory.
• Use add_skill({source: "github", identifier: "owner/repo:path/SKILL.md"}) for a source-backed GitHub bundle.

Confirm the accepted name, inferred resources, target agents, and profile-sync warnings. AutoVault signs SKILL.md, resources, and source metadata as one installed bundle.

Packaging checklist

• A concrete draft exists; general design work is already complete.
• The name is safe, unique, and matches the directory.
• The description states what and when.
• Target agents are explicit.
• Every regular bundle file was reviewed.
• Resource and bin paths are relative and remain inside the bundle.
• Capabilities describe the body and every resource honestly.
• No credentials, personal data, caches, or OS metadata are included.
• The exact candidate passed a dry-run validation.
• Any inferred resources and functional-duplicate warning were reviewed.

Anti-patterns

• Designing a new workflow here instead of using the host's design skill.
• Writing directly into the managed vault and bypassing validation/signing.
• Declaring only files mentioned by upstream while ignoring sibling files.
• Treating a dedup warning as proof that two workflows are interchangeable.
• Weakening strict security to admit a blocked bundle.