Example Skill

Example Skill

This is a template skill. Key things to note:

Structure

• SKILL.md is required with YAML frontmatter (name, description)
• Optional directories: scripts/, references/, assets/
• Keep SKILL.md under 500 lines

Frontmatter Requirements

---
name: kebab-case-name      # Required, max 64 chars
description: Short desc    # Required, max 1024 chars, no angle brackets
display_title: Nice Name   # Optional, used in API upload
---

Creating a New Skill

1. Run make init SKILL=my-skill-name
2. Edit the generated SKILL.md
3. Add scripts, references, or assets as needed
4. Run make validate SKILL=my-skill-name
5. Run make upload SKILL=my-skill-name

Design Principles

From Anthropic's skill-creator guidance:

Concise is Key

Claude is already smart. Only add context it doesn't have. Don't over-explain.

Progressive Disclosure

• Metadata (~100 words): Always loaded via frontmatter
• SKILL.md body (<5k words): Loaded when skill is triggered
• Bundled resources: Loaded as needed via references/

Set Appropriate Degrees of Freedom

Match specificity to task fragility:

• High fragility (exact format needed) → Be very specific
• Low fragility (flexible approach OK) → Be general

Size Limits

• SKILL.md should stay under 500 lines
• Split into references/ when approaching this limit
• Total body content should be under 5000 words

Directory Structure

my-skill/
├── SKILL.md           # Required - main skill definition
├── scripts/           # Optional - automation scripts
│   └── helper.py
├── references/        # Optional - additional documentation
│   └── api-guide.md
└── assets/            # Optional - images, templates, etc.
    └── template.json