meta-skill

Meta-Skill: Dynamic Skill Library

A system for managing on-demand skills that are loaded dynamically instead of at session startup. Skills are stored in skill-library/ and registered in SKILLUSE.md at the project root.

How It Works

Automatic Matching (via CLAUDE.md)

During initialization, a section is added to CLAUDE.md that instructs Claude to check SKILLUSE.md on every user request. When the user's request matches a skill description:

1. Read skill-library/<skill-name>/SKILL.md from the project root
2. If the skill references supporting files, read those too
3. Follow the skill's instructions to handle the user's request

SKILLUSE.md Format

A markdown file at the project root. Each ## heading is a skill name (maps to skill-library/<heading>/), followed by a natural language description:

# Skill Library

## code-review
Code review skill. Perform quality reviews, identify potential issues, and provide improvement suggestions.

## api-design
RESTful API design patterns. Naming conventions, error handling, and versioning.

skill-library/ Structure

skill-library/
├── code-review/
│   ├── SKILL.md            # Main instructions (required)
│   ├── templates/           # Optional supporting files
│   └── examples/            # Optional examples
└── api-design/
    └── SKILL.md

Compatible with .claude/skills/ — skills can be moved between the two systems.

Management Operations

Initialize

When user asks to initialize the skill library:

1. Create skill-library/ directory in the project root
2. Create SKILLUSE.md in the project root with this template:

# Skill Library

Skills listed below are available for on-demand loading.

3. Append Meta-Skill section to CLAUDE.md:

   Read the template from the plugin's templates/claude-md-section.md.

   Replace {VERSION} with the version from .claude-plugin/plugin.json.

   Then apply to CLAUDE.md in the project root:

   • If CLAUDE.md exists and contains <!-- META-SKILL:START -->: Replace everything between <!-- META-SKILL:START --> and <!-- META-SKILL:END --> (inclusive) with the new content
   • If CLAUDE.md exists but has no markers: Append the content to the end of the file (with a blank line separator)
   • If CLAUDE.md does not exist: Create a new CLAUDE.md with the content

4. Display summary:

Meta-Skill initialized!

Files created/updated:
  - SKILLUSE.md (skill registry)
  - skill-library/ (skill definitions folder)
  - CLAUDE.md (matching instructions added)

You can now add skills with "add a skill for <topic>".

List

When user asks what skills are available:

1. Read SKILLUSE.md to show active (registered) skills
2. Optionally scan skill-library/ directories to show unregistered skills that exist but aren't active

Add

When user asks to create a new skill:

1. Confirm the skill name and purpose with the user
2. Create skill-library/<name>/SKILL.md with appropriate content
3. Add a ## <name> section to SKILLUSE.md with a description
4. The SKILL.md should follow this structure:

# Skill Title

## When to Use
Describe conditions for using this skill.

## Workflow
Step-by-step instructions for Claude to follow.

Remove

When user asks to remove a skill:

1. Remove the ## <name> section from SKILLUSE.md
2. Files in skill-library/<name>/ are preserved (not deleted)
3. The skill becomes inactive but can be re-enabled later

Enable

When user asks to enable an existing but unregistered skill:

1. Check that skill-library/<name>/SKILL.md exists
2. Read the SKILL.md to generate an appropriate description
3. Add a ## <name> section to SKILLUSE.md

Edit

When user asks to modify a skill:

1. Read the current skill-library/<name>/SKILL.md
2. Make the requested changes
3. Update the description in SKILLUSE.md if the skill's purpose changed