Edit Skill

Edit Skill - Skill Editor

View, edit, or create Claude Code skills with guidance on structure and best practices.

Phase 1: Understand the Request

Parse the user's input to determine the action:

If no specific action, ask the user what they want to do.

Phase 2: List Available Skills

When listing skills, scan the skills directory:

.claude/skills/*/skill.md
.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md

For each skill, extract and display:

• Name: from frontmatter name field
• Description: from frontmatter description field
• Location: file path

Present as a formatted table:

## Available Skills

| Skill | Description | Path |
|-------|-------------|------|
| task | Execute complex tasks with planning... | .claude/skills/task/SKILL.md |
| feature | Execute complete feature development... | .claude/skills/feature/skill.md |

Phase 3: View a Skill

When viewing a skill:

1. Read the skill file
2. Display the full content to the user
3. Explain the structure:
   • Frontmatter (name, description, allowed-tools)
   • Skill phases/sections
   • Key patterns used

Phase 4: Edit a Skill

When editing a skill:

1. Read current content - Show the user what exists
2. Ask what to change - Use AskUserQuestion for clarity:

AskUserQuestion(
  questions: [
    {
      question: "What aspect of the skill do you want to modify?",
      header: "Edit Target",
      options: [
        { label: "Description", description: "Update the skill description in frontmatter" },
        { label: "Allowed Tools", description: "Change which tools the skill can use" },
        { label: "Instructions", description: "Modify the skill's workflow or phases" },
        { label: "Add Section", description: "Add a new section to the skill" }
      ],
      multiSelect: true
    }
  ]
)

3. Make the edit - Use Edit tool for targeted changes
4. Show the result - Display the updated section

Phase 5: Create a New Skill

When creating a new skill:

Step 1: Gather Requirements

Use AskUserQuestion to understand:

AskUserQuestion(
  questions: [
    {
      question: "What type of skill is this?",
      header: "Skill Type",
      options: [
        { label: "Orchestrator", description: "Spawns subagents, coordinates work, never does work directly" },
        { label: "Worker", description: "Does the actual implementation work, called by other skills" },
        { label: "Research", description: "Explores codebase, gathers information, no code changes" },
        { label: "Utility", description: "Simple task automation, single-purpose" }
      ],
      multiSelect: false
    }
  ]
)

Step 2: Determine Tools

Based on skill type, recommend tools:

Step 3: Create Skill File

Create the skill at: .claude/skills/<name>/skill.md

Use this template:

---
name: <skill-name>
description: <1-2 sentence description of what the skill does and when to use it>
allowed-tools: <comma-separated list>
---

# <Skill Name> Skill

**<One-line summary of the skill's purpose>**

---

## Overview

<Brief description of what this skill does>

---

## Phase 1: <First Phase>

<Instructions for the first phase>

---

## Phase 2: <Second Phase>

<Instructions for the second phase>

---

## Output Format

<Expected output structure>

---

## Key Principles

1. **Principle 1** - explanation
2. **Principle 2** - explanation

Step 4: Write and Confirm

1. Write the skill file
2. Show the user the created skill
3. Explain how to invoke it: /skill-name

Skill Structure Reference

Frontmatter (Required)

---
name: skill-name           # lowercase, hyphenated
description: Brief desc    # When to use this skill
allowed-tools: Tool1, Tool2 # Comma-separated
---

Common Allowed Tools

Skill Patterns

Orchestrator Pattern (for complex multi-step work):

• Spawns subagents with Task tool
• Never reads files or runs commands directly
• Tracks progress with TodoWrite
• Collects results with TaskOutput

Worker Pattern (for actual implementation):

• Reads and edits files directly
• Runs commands (build, lint, test)
• Creates commits
• Returns structured output to orchestrator

Research Pattern (for exploration):

• Uses Explore subagent type
• Gathers information without changes
• Returns findings for decision-making

Progress Tracking

Use TodoWrite for multi-step operations:

todos:
  - content: "List available skills"
    activeForm: "Listing available skills"
    status: completed
  - content: "Read target skill"
    activeForm: "Reading target skill"
    status: in_progress
  - content: "Make requested edits"
    activeForm: "Making requested edits"
    status: pending

Key Principles

1. Show before edit - Always display current content before modifying
2. Ask for clarity - Use AskUserQuestion when intent is unclear
3. Preserve structure - Maintain consistent skill format
4. Explain changes - Show what was modified
5. Validate frontmatter - Ensure required fields are present