# Skill Authoring

> Creates, curates, upgrades, or validates portable Aether skill packages with normalized metadata, progressive disclosure, deterministic evals, and explicit provenance. Use when adding or maintaining reusable first-party skills rather than solving a one-off task.

- Skill: `egohygiene/skill-authoring` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add egohygiene/skill-authoring`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/egohygiene/skill-authoring/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Productivity
- License: MIT
- Author: egohygiene (https://skillmd.com/u/egohygiene)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/egohygiene/skill-authoring

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# Skill Authoring

<!-- aether-continuity-disposition: reader-writer -->

## Repository continuity composition

For repository-scoped work, compose `maintain-repository-continuity` in
**Resume** mode before selecting work. After an authorized repository change
passes domain validation, compose **Refresh** and **Verify** immediately before
presenting the pull request, and include the reconciled root `CONTINUITY.md` in
the same change. A policy-permitted no-change or exemption result must be
documented instead of fabricating an edit.

- **Contribute:** Skill identity, package changes, version, provenance, evaluations, validation, and compatibility
- **Never claim:** That a skill was installed, released, adopted, or made authoritative without evidence

## Purpose

Create or maintain a portable skill package whose instructions, resources,
metadata, provenance, and evaluations are reusable across repositories and
hosts.

## Required Inputs

Resolve as much of the following as possible:

- requested capability and trigger conditions
- canonical output path and stable skill identity
- repository or organization conventions that the skill must respect
- required references, templates, or scripts
- provenance, authorship, and license status
- validation and evaluation expectations
- open questions or unresolved ownership boundaries

Record missing evidence instead of inventing conventions.

## Workflow

1. define the reusable capability and its routing boundary
2. choose one stable kebab-case identity and canonical directory
3. normalize frontmatter to the Agent Skills and Aether contracts
4. keep the core workflow concise and move detail into focused resources such as:

    - `./references/validation-checklist.md`
    - `./templates/SKILL.template.md`

5. add only the resources that reduce repeated work or make execution deterministic
6. make authorship, provenance, license, and adoption status explicit
7. create deterministic eval coverage for trigger, boundary, insufficient-evidence, negative, and update scenarios
8. validate links, package structure, metadata, and any included executable resources

## Constraints

- Do not turn a skill into a generic agent or plugin installer.
- Do not duplicate repository-wide instructions that belong elsewhere.
- Do not keep synonym identities alive without a clear behavior split.
- Do not add scripts, assets, or examples that do not reduce repeated work.
- Do not claim first-party ownership without explicit evidence.

## Completion Criteria

- [ ] Stable identity and canonical path are explicit.
- [ ] Frontmatter satisfies the current skill contract.
- [ ] Progressive-disclosure resources are focused and necessary.
- [ ] Provenance, license, and source-delta decisions are visible.
- [ ] Deterministic eval coverage exists for the supported workflow.
- [ ] Validation steps and remaining questions are reported truthfully.

## Provenance

This canonical skill is first-party Ego Hygiene content curated from the staged
candidate at `.staging/skills/skill-authoring/SKILL.md`.

## Source Delta

- Adopted: the staged workflow for defining capability, planning resources,
  keeping `SKILL.md` concise, and validating package structure.
- Rewritten: canonical frontmatter, Aether metadata, reusable template,
  evaluation coverage, and explicit provenance handling.
- Rejected: the staged `.agents/skills/` placement guidance from the historical
  copy in favor of the canonical `library/organization/skills/<domain>/<name>/`
  source layout; the broader `create-skill` synonym remains only as a reviewed
  legacy reference.