Skill Creator

Automates creation of Claude Code skills through interactive guidance, template generation, and quality validation.

When to Use

Trigger Phrases:

• •"create a new skill for [purpose]"
• •"generate a skill called [name]"
• •"scaffold a [type] skill"
• •"set up a new skill"

Use Cases:

• •Creating new skills from scratch
• •Following Claudex marketplace standards
• •Learning skill structure through examples

Quick Decision Matrix

Mode 1: Guided Creation (Default)

Use when: User wants full guidance and customization

Process:

1. •Gather basic info (name, description, author)
2. •Define purpose, category, triggers
3. •Assess complexity → determine skill type
4. •Customize directory structure
5. •Select pattern (mode-based, phase-based, validation, data-processing)
6. •Generate files from templates
7. •Run quality validation
8. •Provide installation and next steps

Workflow: workflow/guided-creation.md

Mode 2: Quick Start

Use when: User specifies skill type directly (minimal, standard, complex)

Process:

1. •Confirm skill type
2. •Gather minimal required info
3. •Generate with standardized defaults
4. •Flag ALL customization points

Advantages: Fast, minimal questions Trade-off: More TODO sections to customize

Mode 3: Clone & Modify

Use when: User wants to base skill on existing one

Process:

1. •Read existing skill's structure
2. •Extract organizational pattern (not content)
3. •Generate new skill with same structure
4. •Clear example-specific content

Advantages: Proven structure, familiar patterns

Mode 4: Validation Only

Use when: User wants to check existing skill quality

Process:

1. •Read existing skill files
2. •Run quality checklist
3. •Generate validation report
4. •Offer to fix issues automatically

Use Case: Before submission, after modifications

Skill Types

Generated Files

Required (all skills):

• •SKILL.md - Main skill manifest (with YAML frontmatter)
• •README.md - User documentation
• •CHANGELOG.md - Version history

Optional (based on type):

• •modes/ - Mode-specific workflows
• •data/ - Reference materials
• •examples/ - Example outputs
• •templates/ - Reusable templates
• •scripts/ - Automation scripts

Note: plugin.json is NOT required. The marketplace.json is the single source of truth for plugin metadata.

Quality Validation

Validates against data/quality-checklist.md:

• •File existence (all required files)
• •Syntax (YAML frontmatter, JSON)
• •Content completeness
• •Security (no secrets)
• •Naming conventions (kebab-case)
• •Quality grade (A-F)

Success Criteria

• • All required files generated (SKILL.md, README.md, CHANGELOG.md)
• • Valid YAML frontmatter with name and description
• • name matches directory name (Anthropic spec requirement)
• • No security issues (no secrets in files)
• • Kebab-case naming (lowercase + hyphens only)
• • Version 0.1.0 for new skills
• • Description includes capabilities AND trigger context
• • Quality grade C or better

Reference Materials

Templates

• •templates/SKILL.md.j2 - Main manifest with frontmatter
• •templates/README.md.j2 - User documentation
• •templates/CHANGELOG.md.j2 - Version history

Patterns

• •patterns/mode-based.md - Multi-mode skills
• •patterns/phase-based.md - Sequential workflows
• •patterns/validation.md - Audit skills
• •patterns/data-processing.md - Data analysis

Reference Data

• •data/categories.yaml - Valid categories
• •data/skill-types.yaml - Type definitions
• •data/quality-checklist.md - Validation criteria

Examples

• •examples/minimal-skill/
• •examples/standard-skill/
• •examples/complex-skill/

Quick Commands

# Check existing skills
ls ~/.claude/skills/

# View skill structure
tree ~/.claude/skills/[skill-name]/

# Validate frontmatter syntax
head -20 ~/.claude/skills/[skill-name]/SKILL.md

# Run marketplace validation
python3 scripts/validate-skills.py

Error Handling

Version: 0.1.0 | Author: Connor