# Create Skill > Creates, rewrites, reviews, and evidence-backed improves Agent Skills that are concise, unambiguous, progressively disclosed, and agent-actionable. Use this skill when authoring or revising a SKILL.md, its routing description, references, assets, scripts, or reusable workflow guidance. Do not use for installing third-party skills or one-off preferences without reusable evidence. - Skill: `maxedapps/create-skill` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add maxedapps/create-skill` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/maxedapps/create-skill/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - License: MIT - Author: maxedapps (https://skillmd.com/u/maxedapps) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/maxedapps/create-skill --- # Create Skill ## Required resources and checks - Before using a starter, read and adapt [`assets/skill-template.md`](assets/skill-template.md). Replace every sentinel and remove unused sections. - Before finalizing or reviewing, read [`references/skill-quality-checklist.md`](references/skill-quality-checklist.md). Record applicable evidence. - When this catalog's root scripts exist, run: - `node scripts/validate-skill-metadata.mjs ` - `node scripts/validate-skill-links.mjs ` - Otherwise perform equivalent checks manually. Report the unavailable gate. Follow user and higher-priority constraints. Keep one coherent job. Preserve behavior outside an evidence-backed requested change. ## Skill contract - Put all activation guidance in frontmatter `description`. The body loads only after activation. - Use: `[Third-person capability]. Use this skill when [intents/triggers]. Do not use when/for [material near misses].` - Keep the description under 1024 characters. Focus on intent, outcomes, and adjacent boundaries—not mechanics. - Keep `SKILL.md` concise and actionable. Put critical constraints, mandatory resources, fragile sequencing, validation, and safety early. - Default to short headings, compact bullets, numbered procedures, and small tables. Use prose paragraphs only when they communicate necessary nuance more clearly. - Keep each bullet focused on one instruction or tightly coupled behavior. Prefer direct wording; remove throat-clearing, repeated rationale, and paragraph-length bullets. - Match the surrounding skill catalog's density. A longer main file requires execution-critical justification; move conditional detail into `references/`. - Use progressive disclosure deliberately. Do not squeeze useful reusable detail into `SKILL.md` merely to avoid a resource. - Use `references/` for detailed workflows, schemas, examples, tool guidance, and gotchas. - Use `assets/` for reusable templates and static output shapes. - Use `scripts/` for repeated or fragile deterministic operations. - Add resources when they improve repeated execution, clarity, consistency, or maintenance. - Keep references one level deep. - Add a resource pointer only after its file exists. Give its exact path, purpose, and read/use/run condition. - Repeat mandatory resource loading at the relevant workflow step. Delete stale pointers and empty directories. - Refer to other skills by name, such as `create-plan`. Do not use relative paths to their `SKILL.md` files. - Ground changes in real tasks, artifacts, recurring failures, user corrections, or evaluation evidence. - Reject one-off or speculative preferences. Prefer the smallest durable correction. - Check tools, schemas, commands, and examples for staleness. Ask when reusability is unclear. - Prescribe fragile, destructive, security-sensitive, and validation-critical sequences. Allow judgment elsewhere. ## Workflow ### 1. Define observable use cases - Record two or three realistic tasks. - For each, record inputs, expected output, success criteria, and constraints. - Record two or three strong near misses. Name the correct adjacent skill or direct workflow. - For an existing skill, record reusable change evidence and the smallest durable correction. - Do not broaden scope because related guidance is available. ### 2. Inspect the ecosystem - Read the target skill and project instructions. - Inspect nearby global and project skills, conventions, scripts, tools, and schemas. - Identify duplicated policy and resource boundaries. - Reuse good patterns. Do not copy generic advice or another skill's whole workflow. ### 3. Draft frontmatter first - Write the description before the body. - Include realistic user phrasing, useful co-activation, and material near misses. - Use lowercase kebab-case for `name`. Keep it under 64 characters and match the directory. ### 4. Build the post-activation contract - Include only rules needed after activation. - Define critical constraints, sequence, resources, validation, failure handling, and safety. - Remove redundant explanation, excessive menus, stale examples, vague guidance, and unrelated content. - Perform a compression pass: shorten wording, split overloaded bullets, convert scannable prose to lists, and remove content that does not change execution. - Create supporting resources when detail is reusable or would crowd the main file. - Make scripts non-interactive. Support `--help`, bounded output, clear exit codes, and safe idempotent defaults. - Require `--dry-run` or confirmation for destructive scripts. - Print structured data to stdout and diagnostics to stderr. Document prerequisites. ### 5. Evaluate routing and execution - Test three to five realistic should-trigger prompts and two to three strong near misses. - Judge routing from the description alone. Expand cases only for broadly distributed or high-risk skills. - Run one representative task with realistic input. Compare its output with the recorded success criteria. - Prefer a fresh, safely available subagent for unbiased execution or review. - Otherwise record the direct fallback and its independence limit. Treat child claims as evidence, not acceptance. - Revise only material evidence-backed gaps. Rerun affected routing and output checks once. - Do not build a benchmark framework for a small skill. ### 6. Validate and finalize Run applicable checks from the repository root: ```sh node scripts/validate-skill-metadata.mjs path/to/skill node scripts/validate-skill-links.mjs path/to/skill npx -y skills-ref validate path/to/skill ``` - Run each added or changed script's `--help`, focused tests, and one representative safe execution. - Complete the quality checklist after the final revision. - Report changed files, evaluated cases, exact results, skipped checks, reasons, and remaining risks. - Never claim resources or artifacts that do not exist.