Skill Authoring

Use this skill when the work is creating or repairing an agent skill, not generic documentation.

This skill is intentionally self-contained. Use the references in this folder, not external repo docs, while doing the runtime work.

Install

npx skills add https://github.com/aelaguiz/authoring-skills.git -g -a codex -a openclaw --skill skill-authoring -y

When to use

• The user wants a new shared or local skill with a real SKILL.md contract.
• An existing skill needs better triggers, scope boundaries, packaging, or references.
• The user wants to decide whether a workflow should be a skill rather than a prompt, repo note, or ordinary doc.
• The user wants a findings-first audit of a skill's leverage, progressive disclosure, self-containment, or validation plan.
• The user wants to refactor an overgrown or heuristic skill without losing useful workflow knowledge.
• The target runtime is OpenClaw and the skill needs slash-command behavior, loader gating, metadata rules, or per-agent/shared installation guidance.

When not to use

• The task is ordinary copy editing, summarization, or README writing rather than skill design.
• The right artifact is repo-local AGENTS.md guidance, a project plan, or a one-shot prompt rather than a reusable skill.
• The workflow is so small or one-off that the packaging overhead would exceed the leverage.
• The work is only an OpenClaw config or tools.allow change; capabilities and permissions still live in the host runtime, not in skill prose.
• The existing skill package or binding brief cannot be inspected.

Non-negotiables

• Start from 2-3 concrete user asks and the leverage claim before designing files.
• Decide whether a skill is the right mechanism before writing one.
• Teach reusable workflow, judgment, and invariants; do not replace reasoning with slogans, keyword rules, canned menus, or giant checklists.
• Treat the description field as runtime trigger logic, not marketing copy.
• Encode runtime-specific behavior in machine-readable fields when the host supports them; do not hide load, gating, or invocation rules only in prose.
• Keep the shipped skill self-contained; do not depend on repo docs, hidden context, or local prompt packs at runtime.
• Keep SKILL.md lean and move heavy detail into references/.
• Add scripts/ only when deterministic reliability or repeated complexity justifies them.
• Debug undertriggering, overtriggering, and poor execution separately.
• Validate the skill on representative tasks without leaking the intended answer into the evaluation surface.
• If the brief or existing package is missing, stop and say so instead of inventing a skill contract.

First move

1. Classify the job as author, edit, refactor, or audit.
2. Read references/skill-pattern-contract.md.
3. Read the smallest additional reference that matches the job:
   • references/workflow-and-modes.md for mode routing and output expectations
   • references/leverage-and-scope.md for deciding what the skill should own and whether it should exist at all
   • references/packaging-trigger-and-validation.md for file layout, trigger quality, and shipping checks
   • references/openclaw-skills.md when the target runtime is OpenClaw or mirrors OpenClaw skill semantics
   • references/examples-and-anti-examples.md when you need grounded examples or want to sanity-check framing

Workflow

1. Lock the job-to-be-done, the leverage claim, and 2-3 canonical user asks before touching wording.
2. Choose the right mechanism: skill, prompt, AGENTS.md, plan doc, or ordinary docs.
3. Define scope, one strong out-of-scope lookalike, and the runtime boundaries.
4. Write the trigger description so it says what the skill does, when to use it, and when not to.
5. Encode any runtime-specific load, gating, slash-command, or invocation behavior in the runtime's machine-readable schema before treating the prose as done.
6. Build the minimum viable package: SKILL.md first, then only the references/, scripts/, assets/, and agents/ metadata the workflow truly needs.
7. Use progressive disclosure aggressively: core contract in SKILL.md, deeper guidance in references/, determinism in scripts/.
8. Validate trigger quality, package integrity, runtime-specific behavior, and execution quality before shipping.

Output expectations

• author: return or create the finished skill package with the leanest viable file set.
• edit: patch the existing skill and briefly explain which part of the contract changed.
• refactor: preserve useful workflow knowledge while re-homing it into the correct layer.
• audit: return findings first. For each finding, state the problem, why it matters, and which file or layer should change.

Reference map

• references/skill-pattern-contract.md - the contract for high-impact, anti-heuristic skills
• references/workflow-and-modes.md - choose the right mode and keep the output shape honest
• references/leverage-and-scope.md - decide whether the skill should exist and what it should own
• references/packaging-trigger-and-validation.md - file layout, trigger quality, progressive disclosure, and shipping checks
• references/openclaw-skills.md - OpenClaw-only frontmatter, gating, slash-command, fleet-isolation, and security rules
• references/examples-and-anti-examples.md - grounded good and bad patterns; use them to teach, not to cargo-cult