Skill Creator
A meta-skill for creating well-structured Claude Code skills.
When to Use
- •User asks to "create a skill" or "make a skill"
- •Setting up reusable automation patterns
- •Creating project-specific Claude instructions
Creating a New Skill
Step 1: Gather Requirements
Ask the user:
- •What should the skill do? (specific capability)
- •When should it trigger? (keywords users would say)
- •What tools does it need? (Read, Write, Bash, etc.)
Step 2: Create Directory Structure
bash
mkdir -p .claude/skills/skill-name
Step 3: Write SKILL.md
yaml
--- name: skill-name description: What it does. When to use it. Include trigger keywords. allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Glob --- # Skill Title ## Instructions Clear step-by-step guidance. ## Examples Show concrete usage.
Best Practices
Descriptions (Critical!)
Bad: "Helps with files" Good: "Extract and analyze log files. Use when debugging errors, searching logs, or when user mentions 'logs', 'errors', or 'stack trace'."
Keep It Focused
- •One skill = one specific capability
- •Under 500 lines in SKILL.md
- •Put detailed docs in separate files (reference.md, examples.md)
Tool Restrictions
Use allowed-tools to limit permissions:
- •Read-only:
allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Glob - •Full access: omit the field
Template
When creating a skill, use this template:
yaml
--- name: [lowercase-with-hyphens] description: [What it does]. [When to use it]. Use when [trigger keywords]. allowed-tools: [comma-separated tools, or omit for full access] --- # [Skill Title] ## Purpose [One sentence explaining what this skill accomplishes] ## Instructions 1. [Step one] 2. [Step two] 3. [Step three] ## Examples ### Example 1: [Scenario] [Show concrete usage] ## Notes - [Important consideration] - [Common pitfall to avoid]
Skill Locations
| Location | Path | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | ~/.claude/skills/ | All your projects |
| Project | .claude/skills/ | This repo only |
After Creating
- •Restart Claude Code to load the skill
- •Test by asking a question with keywords from description
- •Iterate on description if skill doesn't trigger