Create Skill

Create Skill

Creates, optimizes, or audits Claude Code configuration for the helix portfolio.

Modes

Create new skill: /create-skill new <skill-name> Optimize existing skill: /create-skill optimize <skill-name> Audit all configuration: /create-skill audit

Helix Structure

.claude/
├── rules/                    # Code conventions (auto-loaded)
│   ├── vue-components.md
│   ├── typescript.md
│   ├── styling.md
│   ├── content-system.md
│   └── git-workflow.md
├── skills/
│   └── <skill-name>/
│       ├── SKILL.md          # Required: Main instructions
│       ├── references/       # Optional: Supporting documentation
│       │   └── *.md
│       └── scripts/          # Optional: Python utilities
└── settings.local.json       # Permissions

YAML Frontmatter

Required fields:

---
name: skill-name
description: Third-person description of what and when.
allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Bash
---

Optional fields:

Naming Conventions

Use verb-noun pattern:

• create-* for generation workflows
• review-* for analysis workflows
• resolve-* for fix workflows

Rules:

• Lowercase, hyphens, numbers only
• Maximum 64 characters
• No reserved words: anthropic, claude

Description Best Practices

Third person (injected into system prompt):

• Good: "Generates minimalist images for the portfolio"
• Bad: "I generate images for you"

Include what + when:

description: Audits SEO compliance. Use before deployment or when optimizing search visibility.

Under 200 characters for clean display.

Instruction Quality

Skills are prompts. Apply prompt engineering:

Be Specific

# Bad
"create an image"

# Good
"generate a 1080x1080 black and white abstract image representing [concept]"

State Constraints

• What NOT to do: "don't use color"
• What to reference: "follow visual-identity.md guidelines"
• Expected output: "return CDN URLs for all variants"

Emphasize Critical Rules

IMPORTANT: Never upload without --name flag.

Provide Examples

For output-sensitive skills, show concrete input/output pairs.

Content Guidelines

Conciseness

• Challenge each paragraph: "Does Claude need this?"
• Assume Claude knows standard tools/patterns
• No verbose explanations

Progressive Disclosure

• SKILL.md: Essential workflow (under 200 lines)
• references/: Detailed guidelines, examples

Checklists for Complex Tasks

- [ ] Step 1: Gather requirements
- [ ] Step 2: Generate output
- [ ] Step 3: Verify quality
- [ ] Step 4: Update content files

Create New Skill Workflow

1. Determine category: create-, review-, resolve-*

2. Create structure:

   mkdir -p .claude/skills/{skill-name}
   mkdir -p .claude/skills/{skill-name}/references  # if needed
   

3. Write SKILL.md:

   • Frontmatter (name, description, allowed-tools)
   • When to Use section
   • Commands section
   • Workflow steps

4. Add references/ if detailed guidelines needed

5. Update CLAUDE.md skills table

6. Test with /skill-name

Optimize Existing Skill Workflow

1. Read current skill files

2. Audit against checklist:

   • Description third person, under 200 chars
   • Description includes what + when
   • SKILL.md under 200 lines
   • No verbose explanations
   • Critical rules use IMPORTANT
   • References in references/ (not inline)
   • Examples for output-sensitive tasks

3. Apply fixes to SKILL.md

4. Update CLAUDE.md if description changed

Audit All Configuration Workflow

Run /create-skill audit to check all configuration:

1. Audit Skills

For each skill in .claude/skills/:

2. Audit Rules

For each rule in .claude/rules/:

3. Audit References

For each references/*.md in skills:

4. Check CLAUDE.md Alignment

• All user-invocable skills listed in table
• Descriptions match skill files
• No stale entries

5. Output Report

## Configuration Audit Report

### Skills
| Skill | Status | Issues |
|-------|--------|--------|
| create-image | PASS | - |
| review-seo | WARN | Description too long |

### Rules
| Rule | Status | Issues |
|------|--------|--------|
| vue-components.md | PASS | - |
| typescript.md | PASS | - |

### References
| File | Status | Issues |
|------|--------|--------|
| visual-identity.md | PASS | - |
| seo-guidelines.md | PASS | - |

### CLAUDE.md
- [ ] All skills listed: YES/NO
- [ ] Descriptions match: YES/NO

### Summary
- Items audited: X
- Passing: Y
- Warnings: Z
- Failures: W

Anti-Patterns

• First-person descriptions ("I help you...")
• Verbose explanations of common concepts
• SKILL.md over 200 lines without references/
• Inconsistent naming patterns
• Missing IMPORTANT on critical rules
• Deeply nested references (SKILL.md → ref.md → detail.md)

Related

• After creating skill: Update CLAUDE.md skills table
• For code changes: Follow .claude/rules/ conventions