Skill Authoring

Create and refine reusable agent skills with better trigger quality, cleaner structure, stronger behavioral guidance, and more reliable evaluation.

When to use this skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Create a new SKILL.md
• Improve an existing skill's name or description
• Review whether a skill is too broad, too narrow, or poorly structured
• Audit a local skill collection such as config/source/skills for redundancy, trigger overlap, or weak boundaries
• Split a large skill into SKILL.md plus references/, assets/, or scripts/
• Design evaluation prompts and review whether a skill triggers and behaves correctly

Do NOT use for:

• General documentation writing that is not about skills
• README polish or marketing copy
• Prompt tweaks that do not affect skill structure or behavior
• Rule files unrelated to SKILL.md

How to use this skill (for a coding agent)

1. Identify the task class first

   • Determine whether the request is about creating a new skill, reviewing an existing skill, or improving trigger quality, structure, or evaluation

2. Optimize the trigger surface early

   • Draft name and especially description before expanding the body
   • Put realistic trigger language into description, not only into the body

3. Design behavior, not just documentation

   • Make the main SKILL.md tell the agent what to do after the skill triggers
   • Use references for deeper guidance, not as a substitute for behavioral rules

4. Load supporting materials only when needed

   • Use the routing table to decide which reference file to read
   • Avoid loading every reference file by default

5. Use collection-level review when the request is about many skills

   • When reviewing config/source/skills, check overlap, duplication, trigger boundaries, and progressive disclosure across neighboring skills
   • Prefer evidence-based findings with concrete file references and rewrite guidance

6. Evaluate before considering the skill complete

   • Create should-trigger and should-not-trigger prompts
   • Run them, review the results, and iterate on the skill

Routing

Quick workflow

1. Identify the skill's job, boundary, and closest neighboring skills.
2. Draft name and description with realistic trigger language.
3. If the task targets config/source/skills, read references/repo-skill-review.md and review neighboring skills before proposing rewrites.
4. Write the main SKILL.md so it changes agent behavior after trigger.
5. Move deep detail into references/, assets/, or scripts/ as needed.
6. Run evaluation prompts and revise until trigger quality and behavior are stable.

Minimum self-check

• Is the name short, intentional, and stable?
• Does the description explain both capability and trigger conditions?
• Does the main SKILL.md change agent behavior after trigger?
• Are non-applicable scenarios explicit?
• Does routing point to the right reference file for each task?
• Are evaluation prompts present for both should-trigger and should-not-trigger cases?
• Can you explain why this skill stays distinct from its nearest neighbors?
• If reviewing a skill collection, can you point to redundancy, overlap, and missing boundaries with concrete evidence?