Skillify

/skillify

Promotes a recurring task into a first-class Lintel skill. Reads the operator's description (or a /learn entry marked skillify-candidate), scaffolds a new SKILL.md following TEMPLATE-skill.md, places it under scaffolding/01-foundation/skills/, and validates frontmatter.

The output is NOT a deployed skill yet — operator iterates on the draft, then runs /health to validate before symlinking into ~/.claude/skills/ (or repo's .claude/skills/).

When to use

• A /learn entry tagged skillify-candidate is mature enough to formalize
• A repeating multi-step task has emerged in 3+ sessions
• Team-shared workflow needs a single command instead of step-by-step prose
• After a /retro flagged a workflow worth standardizing

When NOT to use

• One-time task — overhead of skill authoring exceeds value
• Workflow that's still in flux — wait until shape stabilizes (3+ runs)
• Skill name conflicts with existing Lintel or upstream skill — resolve naming first

Inputs

• Required: name (kebab-case) + one-line description
• Optional --from-lesson <id> — read a /learn entry by id, use it as seed
• Optional --dir <subdir> — scaffolding subdirectory under scaffolding/01-foundation/skills/ (default: the skill's own name)
• Optional --voice <internal|customer|mixed> — voice tier (default: internal)
• Optional --cli <list> — CLIs supported (default: claude-code,codex)
• Optional --tools <list> — tools the skill needs (default: Read, Bash)

Workflow

1. Name validation. Check name doesn't conflict with existing skill (search scaffolding tree + ~/.claude/skills/). Must start with li-. Kebab-case.
2. Read template. Load scaffolding/01-foundation/TEMPLATE-skill.md.
3. Read seed (if --from-lesson). Pull lesson body, source, type to use as seed material.
4. Generate frontmatter. Fill required fields per inputs + sensible defaults.
5. Generate body. Scaffold sections:
   • What this skill does — derived from description + seed
   • When to use / When NOT to use — placeholder bullets with TODO markers
   • Inputs — TODO: declare flags
   • Workflow — numbered placeholder steps (operator fills with real logic)
   • Report format — placeholder code block
   • Compliance integration — placeholder note
   • Voice tier note — auto-populated from --voice
   • Failure modes — placeholder bullets
   • Examples — placeholder
   • See also — auto-link related skills based on name similarity
6. Write to scaffolding. scaffolding/01-foundation/skills/<name-without-li->/SKILL.md.
7. Validate frontmatter. Run verify.sh --frontmatter <new-file> (or inline equivalent). Surface any errors.
8. Report path + next steps.

Report format

Skillify: li-regen-mocks

Path: scaffolding/01-foundation/skills/regen-mocks/SKILL.md
Voice: internal
CLI support: claude-code, codex
Tools: Read, Bash, Edit, Glob

## Frontmatter validation
✓ name format (kebab-case, li- prefix)
✓ description present, < 120 chars
✓ color valid (green)
✓ tools listed
✓ voice tier valid
✓ cli_support is array

## Body status
- Scaffold sections present with TODO markers
- Workflow steps placeholder — operator fills with concrete logic
- Examples placeholder — operator adds at least 2

## Next steps
1. Edit the SKILL.md to fill TODOs (workflow, examples)
2. Run /health to validate after edits
3. Symlink to ~/.claude/skills/regen-mocks/SKILL.md (or repo-local) to activate
4. Test in a new session

Failure modes

• Name collides: report existing skill path, exit. Do not auto-rename.
• Template missing or corrupted: report + exit. Do not silently generate without template.
• Frontmatter validation fails: write file anyway BUT mark it INVALID in report. Operator must fix before activation.
• Lesson id (--from-lesson) not found: report + ask operator to supply lesson body inline.

Examples

From a lesson:

> /skillify --name regen-mocks --from-lesson LESSON-042
[Reads lesson body, scaffolds SKILL.md]
✓ Skill draft at scaffolding/01-foundation/skills/regen-mocks/SKILL.md
  Next: fill workflow + examples, then /health

Inline:

> /skillify --name standup-brief --voice mixed --cli claude-code,codex
[Description: "Generate a 3-bullet morning standup from yesterday's commits + open PRs"]
✓ Skill draft scaffolded. 12 TODO markers remain in body.

See also

• TEMPLATE-skill.md — the scaffold this skill uses
• /learn — produces skillify-candidate lessons
• /health — validates a new skill draft
• /retro — surfaces skillify candidates from session activity