How do I install the Skill Creating skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add zalom/skill-creating in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Skill Creating safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: executes scripts, reads secrets. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Skill Creating?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Skill Creating free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free. This skill is licensed under MIT.

Who published Skill Creating?

zalom (@zalom) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Skill Creating by zalom — Agent Skill

Name: Skill Creating
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: zalom

Skill Creating

Author or revise an Agent Skill, a subagent or agent role file, or a lifecycle hook with progressive disclosure. Use when creating or editing a SKILL.md, writing its description or frontmatter, designing the slim body, or scaffolding a new skill. Also use when a skill is over budget, prompts are bloated, or an agent keeps missing a step or ignoring instructions.

zalom Updated Sep 22, 2026

File contents

Creating Skills

Author skills, agents, and hooks as thin routers over deep references. This body carries the rules that must stay correct without opening anything, then routes each authoring task to the reference that holds the depth.

Rules (must be right even if no reference is opened)

Three load levels, hard budgets: metadata around 100 tokens (always loaded), body under 5000 tokens and under 500 lines (loaded on trigger), references on demand. Keep the body well under budget, not at the ceiling.
Progressive disclosure first: the body routes, the references hold the depth. Any deep how-to in the body belongs in a reference instead.
Description states WHEN to use, not the workflow. Write it in third person, front-load concrete trigger keywords, and include at least one indirect trigger (a request that never names the domain). Never summarize the steps.
Bind every reference link to an observable trigger condition. Never leave a bare pointer to a reference.
References stay one level deep. Any reference over 100 lines opens with a table of contents.
Build at least three evals before writing extensive docs.
Match determinism to fragility: a deterministic script for fragile or repeated mechanical steps, prose for judgment calls.
Imperative voice, no second person. Never use em dashes or en dashes in user-facing docs or newly authored skill text; use commas, periods, parentheses, or colons.

Route the authoring task to its reference

Authoring task	Open
Starting any authoring task: load the load-level model and the thin-router pattern first	`references/progressive-disclosure.md`
Authoring an Agent Skill (frontmatter, description, slim body, voice)	`references/skills.md`
Authoring a subagent or Agent role file	`references/agents.md`
Authoring a lifecycle hook	`references/hooks.md`
Deciding script versus prose, or writing a script	`references/scripts.md`
Building evals for a skill	`references/evals.md`
Naming an external skill as a default or dependency	`references/progressive-disclosure.md` (Optional dependencies)

Shrink context, or let a skill self-improve

When prompts or tool output blow the context budget, open references/hooks.md (E7) for the global token levers: a PostToolUse hook that trims noisy tool output before it enters context, and Programmatic Tool Calling that keeps looped tool results in code, not context.
When a skill should learn from its own real runs, open references/hooks.md (E8) for the propose-only Stop or SubagentStop loop (transcript to proposed edits to human approval to git, effort-gated). The dedicated skill is the future improving-skills skill.

Scaffolder and evals

To start a new skill, agent, or hook from a born-slim file, run scripts/scaffold.rb.
To design, run, and grade evals in depth (paired runs, assertions after observing, pass rates), use the skill-evaluating skill.

---name: skill-creatingdescription: Author or revise an Agent Skill, a subagent or agent role file, or a lifecycle hook with progressive disclosure. Use when creating or editing a SKILL.md, writing its description or frontmatter, designing the slim body, or scaffolding a new skill. Also use when a skill is over budget, prompts are bloated, or an agent keeps missing a step or ignoring instructions.license: MIT---# Creating SkillsAuthor skills, agents, and hooks as thin routers over deep references. Thisbody carries the rules that must stay correct without opening anything, thenroutes each authoring task to the reference that holds the depth.## Rules (must be right even if no reference is opened)- Three load levels, hard budgets: metadata around 100 tokens (always loaded), body under 5000 tokens and under 500 lines (loaded on trigger), references on demand. Keep the body well under budget, not at the ceiling.- Progressive disclosure first: the body routes, the references hold the depth. Any deep how-to in the body belongs in a reference instead.- Description states WHEN to use, not the workflow. Write it in third person, front-load concrete trigger keywords, and include at least one indirect trigger (a request that never names the domain). Never summarize the steps.- Bind every reference link to an observable trigger condition. Never leave a bare pointer to a reference.- References stay one level deep. Any reference over 100 lines opens with a table of contents.- Build at least three evals before writing extensive docs.- Match determinism to fragility: a deterministic script for fragile or repeated mechanical steps, prose for judgment calls.- Imperative voice, no second person. Never use em dashes or en dashes in user-facing docs or newly authored skill text; use commas, periods, parentheses, or colons.## Route the authoring task to its reference| Authoring task | Open ||---|---|| Starting any authoring task: load the load-level model and the thin-router pattern first | `references/progressive-disclosure.md` || Authoring an Agent Skill (frontmatter, description, slim body, voice) | `references/skills.md` || Authoring a subagent or Agent role file | `references/agents.md` || Authoring a lifecycle hook | `references/hooks.md` || Deciding script versus prose, or writing a script | `references/scripts.md` || Building evals for a skill | `references/evals.md` || Naming an external skill as a default or dependency | `references/progressive-disclosure.md` (Optional dependencies) |## Shrink context, or let a skill self-improve- When prompts or tool output blow the context budget, open `references/hooks.md` (E7) for the global token levers: a PostToolUse hook that trims noisy tool output before it enters context, and Programmatic Tool Calling that keeps looped tool results in code, not context.- When a skill should learn from its own real runs, open `references/hooks.md` (E8) for the propose-only Stop or SubagentStop loop (transcript to proposed edits to human approval to git, effort-gated). The dedicated skill is the future `improving-skills` skill.## Scaffolder and evals- To start a new skill, agent, or hook from a born-slim file, run `scripts/scaffold.rb`.- To design, run, and grade evals in depth (paired runs, assertions after observing, pass rates), use the `skill-evaluating` skill.

Frequently asked questions