Skill Factory

Skill Factory

Convert demonstrated workflows into reusable skills. This is a meta-skill: it creates other skills.

When to Use

• User explicitly asks to create a skill from a workflow
• User says "remember how to do this" or "save this process"
• After a complex task (5+ tool calls) that could be reusable
• When user corrects your approach and the correction is generalizable
• Hungarian triggers: "tanítsd meg magad", "csinálj skill-t", "jegyezd meg"

Procedure

Step 1: Extract the Workflow

Analyze the current conversation (or specified workflow) and identify:

1. Trigger conditions: When should this skill activate?
2. Input: What does the skill need to start?
3. Steps: What are the concrete steps (in order)?
4. Tools used: Which tools/commands were involved?
5. Decision points: Where did you need to make choices?
6. Error handling: What went wrong and how was it fixed?
7. Output: What's the expected result?

Step 2: Generalize

Don't just copy the specific instance. Abstract it:

• Replace specific file names with [input-file] patterns
• Replace specific URLs with [target-url] patterns
• Identify which parts are constant vs. variable
• Note any prerequisites or dependencies
• Think about edge cases the original workflow didn't cover

Step 3: Write SKILL.md

SKILL_NAME="[kebab-case-name]"
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/$SKILL_NAME

cat > ~/.claude/skills/$SKILL_NAME/SKILL.md << 'EOF'
---
name: [skill-name]
description: [What it does + when to trigger. Be specific and "pushy" -- include multiple trigger phrases so the skill activates when needed.]
---

# [Skill Name]

## When to Use
[List concrete trigger conditions and contexts]

## Prerequisites
[Dependencies, tools, access needed -- skip if none]

## Procedure
1. [First step -- be specific, include commands]
2. [Second step]
...

## Pitfalls
- **[Problem]**: [How to solve it]

## Verification
- [How to confirm the result is correct]

## Examples
**Example 1:**
Input: [what the user said]
Output: [what was produced]
EOF

Step 4: Add Supporting Files (if needed)

If the workflow involves scripts or templates:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/$SKILL_NAME/scripts
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/$SKILL_NAME/references

• scripts/: Executable code for deterministic/repetitive tasks
• references/: Documentation loaded into context as needed
• assets/: Templates, icons, or other static files

Step 5: Update Skill Index

bash scripts/skill-index.sh

Step 6: Validate

Test the skill mentally:

• Would the description trigger on a realistic user message?
• Are the steps clear enough to follow without the original context?
• Are edge cases covered in Pitfalls?
• Is the SKILL.md under 500 lines?

Pitfalls

• Overfitting to one example: Don't just save the exact steps you did. Generalize so it works for similar but different inputs.
• Too vague descriptions: The description field is the primary trigger. Be specific and include multiple phrasings.
• Missing error handling: If you hit errors during the original workflow, document them in Pitfalls.
• Too long: Keep SKILL.md under 500 lines. Move large content to references/ subdirectory.
• Duplicate skills: Before creating, check ~/.claude/skills/.skill-index.md for existing similar skills. Patch instead of creating a new one.

Skill Quality Checklist

Before finalizing, verify:

• Description includes multiple trigger phrases
• Steps are numbered and concrete
• Commands are copy-pasteable (no pseudocode)
• Variables are clearly marked with [brackets]
• Pitfalls section has at least one entry
• Verification section explains how to confirm success
• Under 500 lines