Edit Skill - Skill Editor

View, edit, or create Claude Code skills with guidance on structure and best practices.

Phase 1: Understand the Request

Parse the user's input to determine the action:

Action	Triggers
List	"list skills", "show skills", "what skills exist"
View	"show skill X", "view skill X", "read skill X"
Edit	"edit skill X", "update skill X", "modify skill X"
Create	"create skill X", "new skill X", "add skill X"

If no specific action, ask the user what they want to do.

Phase 2: List Available Skills

When listing skills, scan the skills directory:

code

.claude/skills/*/skill.md
.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md

For each skill, extract and display:

•Name: from frontmatter name field
•Description: from frontmatter description field
•Location: file path

Present as a formatted table:

markdown

## Available Skills

| Skill | Description | Path |
|-------|-------------|------|
| task | Execute complex tasks with planning... | .claude/skills/task/SKILL.md |
| feature | Execute complete feature development... | .claude/skills/feature/skill.md |

Phase 3: View a Skill

When viewing a skill:

•Read the skill file
•Display the full content to the user
•
Explain the structure:
- •Frontmatter (name, description, allowed-tools)
- •Skill phases/sections
- •Key patterns used

Phase 4: Edit a Skill

When editing a skill:

•Read current content - Show the user what exists
•Ask what to change - Use AskUserQuestion for clarity:

code

AskUserQuestion(
  questions: [
    {
      question: "What aspect of the skill do you want to modify?",
      header: "Edit Target",
      options: [
        { label: "Description", description: "Update the skill description in frontmatter" },
        { label: "Allowed Tools", description: "Change which tools the skill can use" },
        { label: "Instructions", description: "Modify the skill's workflow or phases" },
        { label: "Add Section", description: "Add a new section to the skill" }
      ],
      multiSelect: true
    }
  ]
)

•Make the edit - Use Edit tool for targeted changes
•Show the result - Display the updated section

Phase 5: Create a New Skill

When creating a new skill:

Step 1: Gather Requirements

Use AskUserQuestion to understand:

code

AskUserQuestion(
  questions: [
    {
      question: "What type of skill is this?",
      header: "Skill Type",
      options: [
        { label: "Orchestrator", description: "Spawns subagents, coordinates work, never does work directly" },
        { label: "Worker", description: "Does the actual implementation work, called by other skills" },
        { label: "Research", description: "Explores codebase, gathers information, no code changes" },
        { label: "Utility", description: "Simple task automation, single-purpose" }
      ],
      multiSelect: false
    }
  ]
)

Step 2: Determine Tools

Based on skill type, recommend tools:

Type	Recommended Tools
Orchestrator	Task, TodoWrite, TaskOutput
Worker	Read, Grep, Glob, Write, Edit, Bash, TodoWrite
Research	Task, TodoWrite, TaskOutput, Read, Glob, Grep
Utility	Depends on use case

Step 3: Create Skill File

Create the skill at: .claude/skills/<name>/skill.md

Use this template:

markdown

---
name: <skill-name>
description: <1-2 sentence description of what the skill does and when to use it>
allowed-tools: <comma-separated list>
---

# <Skill Name> Skill

**<One-line summary of the skill's purpose>**

---

## Overview

<Brief description of what this skill does>

---

## Phase 1: <First Phase>

<Instructions for the first phase>

---

## Phase 2: <Second Phase>

<Instructions for the second phase>

---

## Output Format

<Expected output structure>

---

## Key Principles

1. **Principle 1** - explanation
2. **Principle 2** - explanation

Step 4: Write and Confirm

•Write the skill file
•Show the user the created skill
•Explain how to invoke it: /skill-name

Skill Structure Reference

Frontmatter (Required)

yaml

---
name: skill-name           # lowercase, hyphenated
description: Brief desc    # When to use this skill
allowed-tools: Tool1, Tool2 # Comma-separated
---

Common Allowed Tools

Tool	Use Case
Read	Reading files
Glob	Finding files by pattern
Grep	Searching file contents
Write	Creating new files
Edit	Modifying existing files
Bash	Running commands
Task	Spawning subagents
TaskOutput	Getting subagent results
TodoWrite	Tracking progress
AskUserQuestion	User interaction

Skill Patterns

Orchestrator Pattern (for complex multi-step work):

•Spawns subagents with Task tool
•Never reads files or runs commands directly
•Tracks progress with TodoWrite
•Collects results with TaskOutput

Worker Pattern (for actual implementation):

•Reads and edits files directly
•Runs commands (build, lint, test)
•Creates commits
•Returns structured output to orchestrator

Research Pattern (for exploration):

•Uses Explore subagent type
•Gathers information without changes
•Returns findings for decision-making

Progress Tracking

Use TodoWrite for multi-step operations:

yaml

todos:
  - content: "List available skills"
    activeForm: "Listing available skills"
    status: completed
  - content: "Read target skill"
    activeForm: "Reading target skill"
    status: in_progress
  - content: "Make requested edits"
    activeForm: "Making requested edits"
    status: pending

Key Principles

•Show before edit - Always display current content before modifying
•Ask for clarity - Use AskUserQuestion when intent is unclear
•Preserve structure - Maintain consistent skill format
•Explain changes - Show what was modified
•Validate frontmatter - Ensure required fields are present