skill-creator

Skills are modular, self-contained packages that extend Claude's capabilities by providing specialized knowledge, workflows, and tools. Think of them as "onboarding guides" for specific domains or tasks—they transform Claude from a general-purpose agent into a specialized agent equipped with procedural knowledge that no model can fully possess.

What Skills Provide

1. Specialized workflows - Multi-step procedures for specific domains
2. Tool integrations - Instructions for working with specific file formats or APIs
3. Domain expertise - Company-specific knowledge, schemas, business logic
4. Bundled resources - Scripts, references, and assets for complex and repetitive tasks

Concise is Key

The context window is a public good. Skills share the context window with everything else Claude needs: system prompt, conversation history, other Skills' metadata, and the actual user request.

Default assumption: Claude is already very smart. Only add context Claude doesn't already have. Challenge each piece of information: "Does Claude really need this explanation?" and "Does this paragraph justify its token cost?"

Prefer concise examples over verbose explanations.

Set Appropriate Degrees of Freedom

Match the level of specificity to the task's fragility and variability:

High freedom (text-based instructions): Use when multiple approaches are valid, decisions depend on context, or heuristics guide the approach.

Medium freedom (pseudocode or scripts with parameters): Use when a preferred pattern exists, some variation is acceptable, or configuration affects behavior.

Low freedom (specific scripts, few parameters): Use when operations are fragile and error-prone, consistency is critical, or a specific sequence must be followed.

Anatomy of a Skill

Every skill consists of a required SKILL.md file and optional bundled resources:

```

skill-name/

├── SKILL.md (required)

│ ├── YAML frontmatter metadata (required)

│ │ ├── name: (required)

│ │ └── description: (required)

│ └── Markdown instructions (required)

└── Bundled Resources (optional)

├── scripts/ - Executable code (Python/Bash/etc.)

├── references/ - Documentation intended to be loaded into context as needed

└── assets/ - Files used in output (templates, icons, fonts, etc.)

```

Skill creation involves these steps:

1. Understand the skill with concrete examples
2. Plan reusable skill contents (scripts, references, assets)
3. Initialize the skill
4. Edit the skill (implement resources and write SKILL.md)
5. Package the skill
6. Iterate based on real usage

SKILL.md Structure

Frontmatter (YAML): Contains name and description fields. These are the only fields that Claude reads to determine when the skill gets used, thus it is very important to be clear and comprehensive in describing what the skill is, and when it should be used.

Body (Markdown): Instructions and guidance for using the skill. Only loaded AFTER the skill triggers (if at all).

Progressive Disclosure

Skills use a three-level loading system to manage context efficiently:

1. Metadata (name + description) - Always in context (~100 words)
2. SKILL.md body - When skill triggers (<5k words)
3. Bundled resources - As needed by Claude (Unlimited because scripts can be executed without reading into context window)