create-skill

SKILL.md

Create Skill

Create a new skill in .agents/skills/<skill-name>/ following the workflow defined in .agents/skills/README.md.

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Intent

Before creating anything, ask the user:

  1. Skill name: What should the skill be called? (lowercase, digits, hyphens only, e.g., gh-create-pr, prepare-release)
  2. Description: What should this skill do? Include specific trigger contexts (e.g., "Use when user asks to create PRs")
  3. Is this a public skill?: Should it be synced to .claude/skills/ for shared use? (default: no, private only)
  4. Test cases (optional): Does the user want to set up evals for this skill?

If the user provides partial info (e.g., just a name), proceed with reasonable defaults and ask to confirm.

Step 2: Read Guidelines

Always read .agents/skills/README.md before creating a new skill to ensure compliance with the current workflow.

Step 3: Create Skill Structure

Create the following directory structure:

.agents/skills/<skill-name>/
└── SKILL.md

SKILL.md template:

---
name: <skill-name>
description: <description>
---

# <Skill Name>

[Instructions for the skill]

Frontmatter fields:

  • name: Skill identifier (lowercase, digits, hyphens)
  • description: When to trigger (what the skill does + specific contexts)

Step 4: Sync (if public)

If the user wants a public skill, before validation:

  1. Add the skill name to .agents/skills/public-skills.txt (one per line, no inline comments)
  2. Run sync:
    pnpm skills:sync
    

This copies the skill to .claude/skills/<skill-name>/.

Note: pnpm skills:check primarily validates public skills (those in public-skills.txt) and also verifies related governance files, so you must sync first before validating.

Step 5: Validate

Run the validation command:

pnpm skills:check

If there are issues, fix them and re-run.

Step 6: Summary

Present the user with:

  • Created files
  • Validation result
  • Next steps (how to use the skill)

Naming Rules

  • Use lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens only
  • Prefer short, action-oriented names (e.g., gh-create-pr)

Public vs Private Skills

Type Location Sync Requires
Private .agents/skills/ No Just create the folder
Public Both Yes Add to public-skills.txt + run pnpm skills:sync

Commands Reference

# Validate skill structure
pnpm skills:check

# Sync public skills to Claude
pnpm skills:sync

Constraints

  • Never create skills outside .agents/skills/<skill-name>/
  • Always run pnpm skills:check before completing
  • Public skills require both adding to public-skills.txt AND running pnpm skills:sync
  • If the skill-creator skill is available, you may use it for advanced skill development (evals, iterations), but this skill handles the basic creation workflow.
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