Skill Creator

Table of Contents

• Read This First
• Workflow
  • Step 1: Inspectional Reading
  • Step 2: Structural Analysis
  • Step 3: Component Extraction
  • Step 4: Synthesis and Application
  • Step 5: Skill Construction
  • Step 6: Validation and Refinement

Read This First

What This Skill Does

This skill helps you transform documents containing theoretical knowledge into actionable, reusable skills. It applies systematic reading methodology from "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler to extract, analyze, and structure knowledge from documents.

The Process Overview

The skill follows a six-step progressive reading approach:

1. Inspectional Reading - Quick overview to understand structure and determine if the document contains skill-worthy material
2. Structural Analysis - Deep understanding of what the document is about and how it's organized
3. Component Extraction - Systematic extraction of actionable components from the content
4. Synthesis and Application - Critical evaluation and transformation of theory into practical application
5. Skill Construction - Building the actual skill files (SKILL.md, resources, rubric)
6. Validation and Refinement - Scoring the skill quality and making improvements

Why This Approach Works

This methodology prevents common mistakes like:

• Reading entire documents without structure (information overload)
• Missing key concepts by not understanding the overall framework first
• Extracting theory without identifying practical applications
• Creating skills that can't be reused because they're too specific or too vague

Collaborative Process

This skill is always collaborative with you, the user. At decision points, you'll be presented with options and trade-offs. The final decisions always belong to you. This ensures the skill created matches your needs and mental model.

Workflow

COPY THIS CHECKLIST and work through each step:

Skill Creation Workflow
- [ ] Step 0: Initialize session workspace
- [ ] Step 1: Inspectional Reading
- [ ] Step 2: Structural Analysis
- [ ] Step 3: Component Extraction
- [ ] Step 4: Synthesis and Application
- [ ] Step 5: Skill Construction
- [ ] Step 6: Validation and Refinement

Step 0: Initialize Session Workspace

Create working directory and global context file. See resources/inspectional-reading.md#session-initialization for setup commands.

Step 1: Inspectional Reading

Skim document systematically, classify type, assess skill-worthiness. Writes to step-1-output.md. See resources/inspectional-reading.md#why-systematic-skimming for skim approach, resources/inspectional-reading.md#why-document-type-matters for classification, resources/inspectional-reading.md#why-skill-worthiness-check for assessment criteria.

Step 2: Structural Analysis

Reads global-context.md + step-1-output.md. Classify content, state unity, enumerate parts, define problems. Writes to step-2-output.md. See resources/structural-analysis.md#why-classify-content, resources/structural-analysis.md#why-state-unity, resources/structural-analysis.md#why-enumerate-parts, resources/structural-analysis.md#why-define-problems.

Step 3: Component Extraction

Reads global-context.md + step-2-output.md. Choose reading strategy, extract terms/propositions/arguments/solutions section-by-section. Writes to step-3-output.md. See resources/component-extraction.md#why-reading-strategy for strategy selection, resources/component-extraction.md#section-based-extraction for programmatic approach, resources/component-extraction.md#why-extract-terms through resources/component-extraction.md#why-extract-solutions for what to extract.

Step 4: Synthesis and Application

Reads global-context.md + step-3-output.md. Evaluate completeness, identify applications, transform to actionable steps, define triggers. Writes to step-4-output.md. See resources/synthesis-application.md#why-evaluate-completeness, resources/synthesis-application.md#why-identify-applications, resources/synthesis-application.md#why-transform-to-actions, resources/synthesis-application.md#why-define-triggers.

Step 5: Skill Construction

Reads global-context.md + step-4-output.md. Determine complexity, plan resources, create SKILL.md and resource files, create rubric. Writes to step-5-output.md. See resources/skill-construction.md#why-complexity-level, resources/skill-construction.md#why-plan-resources, resources/skill-construction.md#why-skill-md-structure, resources/skill-construction.md#why-resource-structure, resources/skill-construction.md#why-evaluation-rubric.

Step 6: Validation and Refinement

Reads global-context.md + step-5-output.md + actual skill files. Score using rubric, present analysis, refine based on user decision. Writes to step-6-output.md. See resources/evaluation-rubric.json for criteria.

Notes

• File-Based Context: Each step writes output files to avoid context overflow
• Global Context: All steps read global-context.md for continuity
• Sequential Dependencies: Each step reads previous step's output
• User Collaboration: Always present findings and get approval at decision points
• Quality Standards: Use evaluation rubric (threshold ≥ 3.5) before delivery