skill-creator

What this skill does

# Skill Creator

This skill provides guidance for creating effective skills.

## About Skills

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 file formats or APIs
3. Domain expertise - Company-specific knowledge, schemas, business logic
4. Bundled resources - Scripts, references, and assets for repetitive tasks

## Core Principles

### 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 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?" and "Does this justify its token cost?"

Prefer concise examples over verbose explanations.

### Set Appropriate Degrees of Freedom

Match 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 config affects behavior.

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

Think of Claude as exploring a path: a narrow bridge needs specific guardrails
(low freedom), while an open field allows many routes (high freedom).

### Anatomy of a Skill

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

```text
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 to be loaded as needed
    └── assets/           - Files used in output (templates, etc.)
```

#### SKILL.md (required)

Every SKILL.md consists of:

- **Frontmatter** (YAML): Contains `name` and `description` fields.
  These are the only fields that Claude reads to determine when the skill gets
  used, so be clear about 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).

#### Bundled Resources (optional)

**Scripts (`scripts/`)**: Executable code (Python/Bash/etc.) for tasks
that require deterministic reliability or are repeatedly rewritten.

- **When to include**: When code is being rewritten repeatedly or reliability needed
- **Example**: `scripts/rotate_pdf.py` for PDF rotation tasks
- **Benefits**: Token efficient, deterministic, executed without loading context
- **Note**: Scripts may still need to be read for patching or env adjustments

**References (`references/`)**: Documentation and reference material
intended to be loaded as needed to inform Claude's process and thinking.

- **When to include**: For documentation that Claude should reference while working
- **Examples**: `references/finance.md` for financial schemas, `references/mnda.md`
  for company NDA template, `references/api_docs.md` for API specifications
- **Use cases**: Database schemas, API documentation, domain knowledge, policies
- **Benefits**: Keeps SKILL.md lean, loaded only when Claude determines it's needed
- **Best practice**: If files are large (>10k words), include grep patterns
- **Avoid duplication**: Information should live in either SKILL.md or references,
  not both. Prefer references for detailed info unless truly core to the skill.

**Assets (`assets/`)**: Files not intended to be loaded into context,
but rather used within the output Claude produces.

- **When to include**: When the skill needs files for the final output
- **Examples**: `assets/logo.png` for brand assets, `assets/slides.pptx` for
  templates, `assets/frontend-template/` for boilerplate, `assets/font.ttf`
- **Use cases**: Templates, images, icons, boilerplate code, fonts, samples
- **Benefits**: Separates output resources from docs, use files without context

#### What to Not Include in a Skill

A skill should only contain essential files that directly support its
functionality. Do NOT create extraneous documentation or auxiliary files:

- README.md
- INSTALLATION_GUIDE.md
- QUICK_REFERENCE.md
- CHANGELOG.md
- etc.

The skill should only contain information needed for an AI agent to do the job.
Do not include auxiliary context, setup procedures, or user-facing documentation.

### Progressive Disclosure Design Principle

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 (scripts can execute without context)

#### Progressive Disclosure Patterns

Keep SKILL.md body under 500 lines to minimize context bloat.
Split content into separate files when approaching this limit.
Reference them from SKILL.md and describe when to read them.

**Key principle:** When a skill supports multiple variations or frameworks,
keep only core workflow and selection guidance in SKILL.md.
Move variant-specific details into separate reference files.

##### Pattern 1: High-level guide with references

```markdown
# PDF Processing

## Quick start

Extract text with pdfplumber:
[code example]

## Advanced features

- **Form filling**: See [FORMS.md](FORMS.md) for complete guide
- **API reference**: See [REFERENCE.md](REFERENCE.md) for all methods
- **Examples**: See [EXAMPLES.md](EXAMPLES.md) for common patterns
```

Claude loads FORMS.md, REFERENCE.md, or EXAMPLES.md only when needed.

##### Pattern 2: Domain-specific organization

For Skills with multiple domains, organize content by domain
to avoid loading irrelevant context:

```text
bigquery-skill/
├── SKILL.md (overview and navigation)
└── reference/
    ├── finance.md (revenue, billing metrics)
    ├── sales.md (opportunities, pipeline)
    ├── product.md (API usage, features)
    └── marketing.md (campaigns, attribution)
```

When a user asks about sales metrics, Claude only reads sales.md.

Similarly, for skills supporting multiple frameworks, organize by variant:

```text
cloud-deploy/
├── SKILL.md (workflow + provider selection)
└── references/
    ├── aws.md (AWS deployment patterns)
    ├── gcp.md (GCP deployment patterns)
    └── azure.md (Azure deployment patterns)
```

When the user chooses AWS, Claude only reads aws.md.

##### Pattern 3: Conditional details

Show basic content, link to advanced content:

```markdown
# DOCX Processing

## Creating documents

Use docx-js for new documents. See [DOCX-JS.md](DOCX-JS.md).

## Editing documents

For simple edits, modify the XML directly.

**For tracked changes**: See [REDLINING.md](REDLINING.md)
**For OOXML details**: See [OOXML.md](OOXML.md)
```

Claude reads REDLINING.md or OOXML.md only when user needs those features.

**Important guidelines:**

- **Avoid deeply nested references** - Keep references one level deep from
  SKILL.md. All reference files should link directly from SKILL.md.
- **Structure longer reference files** - For files longer than 100 lines,
  include a TOC at the top so Claude can see the full scope when previewing.

## Skill Creation Process

Skill creation involves these steps:

1. **Understanding** - Understand the skill with co