skill2-create

Create Agent Skills

Create the smallest reusable instruction set that changes agent behavior without duplicating existing ownership.

Scope

Signal	Landing
Distinct reusable trigger and standalone workflow	Top-level skills/<name>/SKILL.md
More depth under the same trigger and workflow	references/ under the owning skill
Repo-bound paths, commands, or conventions	Project-local skill
One-off answer or pure mechanical rule	No skill → script / validator / docs / lint / CI

When uncertain, prefer references/ or project-local placement over expanding the top-level namespace.

Authoring

1. Define user trigger, desired behavior, output, and hard constraints.
2. Find existing ownership before creating a new top-level skill.
3. Choose scope and name from user intent, not implementation or one harness.
4. Write minimal SKILL.md; add resources only when they reduce noise or make execution deterministic.
5. Apply changes only when requested. Run repository validator when available.

SKILL.md

• Plain Markdown with YAML frontmatter
• name: kebab-case; match directory name
• description: trigger conditions only; do not summarize workflow
• Body: principles, decisions, constraints, and output contract
• Keep instructions terse; explain only non-obvious choices
• Use relative paths; never embed secrets or accidental machine-local paths
• Preserve existing user rules unless change is required

Resources

Resource	Use
references/	Heavy detail loaded under the same trigger
scripts/	Deterministic, repeated, or fragile execution
assets/	Files copied or transformed into deliverables

Create only needed directories. Keep references one hop from SKILL.md. Do not nest discoverable skills. Do not create optional metadata unless the target repository or distribution format requires it.

Commands

Skill-owned scaffold:

uv run --script <skill-dir>/scripts/run -- scaffold skill <name>

Library decisions

• Split when users invoke workflows independently or ownership diverges
• Merge when triggers overlap, shared rules dominate, and one owner can maintain both
• Keep shared content with the narrowest owner serving every consumer
• Avoid duplicate instructions across sibling skills
• Keep top-level namespace flat and minimal

Common mistakes

Mistake	Better choice
Workflow summary inside description	Trigger-only description; workflow in body
New skill for a long table under the same trigger	references/ under the owner
Global skill for one repo's conventions	Project-local skill or repo instructions
Skill for a regex-enforceable rule	Validator, lint, or CI
Empty resource directories	Create resources only when used
Harness-specific instructions in shared behavior	Harness-neutral rule or adapter-specific helper

Output

1. Scope decision: top-level / reference / project-local / no skill
2. Skill topology and ownership boundary
3. Created or updated files
4. Deterministic validation result, when available