Skill Improver
Research current best practices and improve existing Claude skills.
Process Overview
- •Identify target skill and its domain
- •Research current best practices (web search)
- •Analyze existing skill against best practices
- •Generate improvement recommendations
- •Apply improvements (if requested)
Step 1: Identify Target
Locate the skill to improve:
bash
# Find skill location ls -la .claude/skills/<skill-name>/
Read SKILL.md and all references to understand current implementation.
Step 2: Research Best Practices
Use subagents (Task tool) to parallelize research across multiple topics:
code
Spawn parallel research agents for: 1. "<domain> best practices 2026" 2. "<domain> common mistakes to avoid" 3. "Claude AI <domain> techniques" (if applicable)
Each subagent should return:
- •Key findings with sources
- •Actionable recommendations
Focus areas:
- •Industry standards and conventions
- •Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
- •Performance optimizations
- •Security considerations (if relevant)
- •Token efficiency for LLM skills
Step 3: Analyze Skill
Compare existing skill against:
| Aspect | Check |
|---|---|
| Clarity | Instructions unambiguous? |
| Completeness | All use cases covered? |
| Efficiency | Minimal tokens for max utility? |
| Accuracy | Reflects current best practices? |
| Triggers | Description covers all valid triggers? |
| Structure | Follows skill-creator guidelines? |
Step 4: Generate Recommendations
Create improvement report:
markdown
## Skill Improvement Report: <skill-name> ### Summary - Current state assessment - Key findings from research ### Recommendations #### High Priority 1. [Issue]: [Recommended fix] #### Medium Priority 1. [Issue]: [Recommended fix] #### Low Priority / Nice-to-Have 1. [Suggestion] ### Best Practices Found - [Practice 1]: [Source] - [Practice 2]: [Source]
Step 5: Apply Improvements
If user approves changes:
- •Edit SKILL.md with improvements
- •Update/add references if needed
- •Update scripts if applicable
- •Validate with
scripts/validate_skill.py
Guidelines
- •Preserve intent - Improvements should enhance, not change skill purpose
- •Cite sources - Link to best practice sources when recommending changes
- •Prioritize impact - Focus on changes that meaningfully improve skill quality
- •Maintain conciseness - Don't bloat skills with unnecessary content
- •Test triggers - Ensure description still triggers appropriately after changes
See references/research-strategies.md for search query templates and source evaluation guidelines.