# Skill Creator

> Design and package new Claude Code AgentSkills — covers structure, principles (concise, degrees of freedom), and the SKILL.md + resources anatomy

- Skill: `jadegate/skill-creator` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add jadegate/skill-creator`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/jadegate/skill-creator/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: jadegate (https://skillmd.com/u/jadegate)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/jadegate/skill-creator

---


# Skill Creator

This skill provides guidance for creating effective skills.

## About Skills

Skills are modular, self-contained packages that extend Codex's capabilities by providing
specialized knowledge, workflows, and tools. Think of them as "onboarding guides" for specific
domains or tasks—they transform Codex from a general-purpose agent into a specialized agent
equipped with procedural knowledge that no model can fully possess.

### What Skills Provide

1. Specialized workflows - Multi-step procedures for specific domains
2. Tool integrations - Instructions for working with specific file formats or APIs
3. Domain expertise - Company-specific knowledge, schemas, business logic
4. Bundled resources - Scripts, references, and assets for complex and repetitive tasks

## Core Principles

### Concise is Key

The context window is a public good. Skills share the context window with everything else Codex needs: system prompt, conversation history, other Skills' metadata, and the actual user request.

**Default assumption: Codex is already very smart.** Only add context Codex doesn't already have. Challenge each piece of information: "Does Codex really need this explanation?" and "Does this paragraph justify its token cost?"

Prefer concise examples over verbose explanations.

### Set Appropriate Degrees of Freedom

Match the level of specificity to the task's fragility and variability:

**High freedom (text-based instructions)**: Use when multiple approaches are valid, decisions depend on context, or heuristics guide the approach.

**Medium freedom (pseudocode or scripts with parameters)**: Use when a preferred pattern exists, some variation is acceptable, or configuration affects behavior.

**Low freedom (specific scripts, few parameters)**: Use when operations are fragile and error-prone, consistency is critical, or a specific sequence must be followed.

Think of Codex as exploring a path: a narrow bridge with cliffs needs specific guardrails (low freedom), while an open field allows many routes (high freedom).

### Anatomy of a Skill

Every skill consists of a required SKILL.md file and optional bundled resources:

```
skill-name/
├── SKILL.md (required)
│   ├── YAML frontmatter metadata (required)
│   │   ├── name: (required)
│   │   └── description: (required)
│   └── Markdown instructions (required)
└── Bundled Resources (optional)
    ├── scripts/          - Executable code (Python/Bash/etc.)
    ├── references/       - Documentation intended to be loaded into context as needed
    └── assets/           - Files used in output (templates, icons, fonts, etc.)
```