Skill Creator

Skill Creator

When to Use

• The user asks for something no installed skill covers
• An existing skill is too limited and needs a better replacement
• A recurring task would benefit from a dedicated, reusable skill

When NOT to Use

• One-off tasks that existing tools can handle (e.g., run_command for shell)
• Skills too specific to be reused — generalize first
• Don't hardcode user-specific values (names, URLs, topics) — use parameters

Setup

Uses the create_skill tool. No API keys or external setup required.

Usage/Commands

1. Analyze the gap: identify what capability is missing
2. Plan the skill: name, category, scripts, pip dependencies
3. Call create_skill with:
   • name — short, snake_case (e.g., pdf_summarizer)
   • description — one-line summary
   • instructions — full Markdown body
   • category — e.g., data, dev, web, automation
   • resources — dict mapping filenames to source code
   • dependencies — list of pip packages
4. Activate: use_skill(skill_name="<name>")
5. Run it: follow the loaded instructions

Design Principles

• Generic over specific — parameterize everything; avoid hardcoded topics/recipients
• Single responsibility — one skill, one purpose
• Parameterized — use CLI args, not hardcoded values
• Config-driven credentials — read from pythonclaw.json under skills.<name>
• Minimal dependencies — only add pip packages when truly needed
• Reusable — ask: "Would this help someone with a different task?"

SKILL.md Body Template

## Instructions
<Clear explanation and when to use.>

### Prerequisites
<Setup, API keys if needed>

### Usage
1. <steps>
2. Call: `python context/skills/<category>/<name>/<script>.py <args>`
3. <interpret results>

### Examples
**Example:** <typical use case>

## Resources
| File | Description |
|------|-------------|
| script.py | <what it does> |

Notes

• Design for reuse: generalize queries, recipients, URLs
• Write production-quality Python with error handling and docstrings
• After creation, call use_skill to load the new instructions before running