Skillify

Skillify Skill

Goal

Analyze the current session's work, identify the repeatable process within it, and create a well-structured SKILL.md that captures that process for future use.

Steps

1. Identify the repeatable process

Look at what was done in this session:

• What was the user's original request?
• What steps were taken to fulfill it?
• Which steps were mechanical/repeatable vs. one-off judgment calls?

A good skill captures the repeatable mechanical steps and the judgment criteria — not the one-time context.

Success criteria: You can describe the skill in one sentence: "This skill [does what] [when what trigger]."

2. Interview the user (if needed)

Ask:

• "What should trigger this skill in the future?" (the when_to_use)
• "Are there variations of this task I should handle?" (edge cases)
• "What's the most important thing to get right?" (success criteria)
• "Which tools should be available to this skill?" (allowed-tools)

If the session was clear enough, skip to step 3.

Success criteria: You have enough information to write a when_to_use that will trigger reliably.

3. Choose the skill location

• Project-specific (.cowrangler/skills/<name>/): Workflow is specific to this codebase
• Global (~/.cowrangler/skills/<name>/): Workflow is general-purpose, useful across projects

Ask the user if not obvious.

4. Write the SKILL.md

Follow this template strictly:

---
name: [kebab-case-name]
description: [One line: what it does and when]
when_to_use: Use when [trigger condition]. Triggers include "[example phrase 1]", "[example phrase 2]". Also trigger when [secondary trigger].
argument-hint: "[input the user should provide]"
allowed-tools: [comma-separated list, or omit for all tools]
---

# [Skill Title]

## Goal
[What this skill achieves — the outcome, not the process]

## Steps

### 1. [Step name]
[What to do, concretely]

**Success criteria**: [How you know this step is done correctly]

### 2. [Step name]
...

Key quality checks:

• when_to_use must include 4+ example trigger phrases
• Each step must have a concrete "Success criteria"
• The Goal describes outcome, not process
• Steps are ordered and numbered

5. Create the skill file

Use create_folder and write_file to create the SKILL.md at the chosen location.

Then use utilize_skill with the new skill name to verify it loads correctly.

Success criteria: Skill appears in list_skills output and the when_to_use description accurately reflects when it should trigger.

6. Confirm with user

Show the final SKILL.md to the user and ask:

• "Does this capture what you intended?"
• "Any scenarios to add?"

Make any requested adjustments.

Why/Failure Modes

[TODO: Explain the reasoning behind this skill's approach and common failure modes to avoid.]

Standalone vs Supercharged

[TODO: Describe how this skill works on its own vs when combined with other tools/context.]

Cross-References

[TODO: Link to other relevant skills or documentation.]