Creating Team Skills

Turn novel discoveries into reusable, future-proof skills for the entire team.

When to Trigger

Recognize these moments during work:

•Solved a problem that wasn't obvious
•Found a workflow others would benefit from
•Learned something from external research
•User explicitly asks to share knowledge
•Pattern could apply across projects/frameworks

When recognized, ASK the user:

"This seems like useful knowledge for the team. Want me to create a shared skill from this?"

Skill Creation Workflow

dot

digraph create_skill {
    rankdir=TB;
    "Novel discovery" [shape=box];
    "Ask user to share?" [shape=diamond];
    "Generalize the pattern" [shape=box];
    "Find authoritative sources" [shape=box];
    "Write dynamic skill" [shape=box];
    "Create in .claude/skills/" [shape=box];
    "Commit to repo" [shape=box];
    "Skip" [shape=box];

    "Novel discovery" -> "Ask user to share?";
    "Ask user to share?" -> "Generalize the pattern" [label="yes"];
    "Ask user to share?" -> "Skip" [label="no"];
    "Generalize the pattern" -> "Find authoritative sources";
    "Find authoritative sources" -> "Write dynamic skill";
    "Write dynamic skill" -> "Create in .claude/skills/";
    "Create in .claude/skills/" -> "Commit to repo";
}

Step 1: Generalize the Pattern

Transform specific solution into general technique:

Specific	Generalized
"Fixed login page tab order"	"Form keyboard navigation optimization"
"Used BUN ORM with quoted aliases"	"ORM query patterns for complex joins"
"Set up Bruno API tests"	"API testing workflow"

Questions to ask:

•Would this apply to other projects/frameworks?
•What's the core principle, not the implementation?
•What problem category does this solve?

Step 2: Find Authoritative Sources

Never hardcode patterns. Find dynamic sources:

•Official documentation - Framework docs, MDN, language specs
•Living guidelines - Repos that update (like vercel-labs/web-interface-guidelines)
•Search patterns - WebSearch queries that find current best practices

Template for dynamic sourcing:

markdown

## Guidelines Sources

### Primary Source
Use WebFetch:

[URL to authoritative, maintained source]

code


### Search Pattern
Use WebSearch:

[topic] [framework] best practices [current year]

code

Step 3: Write the Skill

Location: .claude/skills/[skill-name]/SKILL.md

Required structure:

yaml

---
name: skill-name-with-hyphens
description: Use when [specific triggers]. Triggers on [symptoms/situations].
metadata:
  author: moto-nrw
  version: "1.0.0"
---

Content principles:

•Describe HOW to find answers, not THE answers
•Reference sources, don't copy them
•Framework-agnostic when possible
•Include "Why Dynamic?" section

Step 4: Commit

bash

git add .claude/skills/[skill-name]/
git commit -m "feat: add [skill-name] skill for team"

Anti-Patterns

Don't	Do Instead
Hardcode specific solutions	Reference dynamic sources
Copy documentation	Link to authoritative URLs
Be framework-specific	Generalize with search patterns
Include project-specific paths	Use generic descriptions
Write long detailed guides	Keep it focused on process

Quality Checklist

Before committing a new skill:

• Would this help someone on a different project?
• Are all patterns sourced dynamically (WebFetch/WebSearch)?
• Is the description trigger-focused ("Use when...")?
• Does it follow existing skill format in .claude/skills/?
• Is it under 100 lines? (concise > comprehensive)

Example: Good vs Bad

Bad (hardcoded):

markdown

## Tab Order Rules
- Always put submit after inputs
- Use tabIndex={-1} for decorative buttons
- Use focus-visible not focus

Good (dynamic):

markdown

## Guidelines Sources
WebFetch: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/.../command.md
WebSearch: "[framework] form accessibility [current year]"

The dynamic version stays current as standards evolve.