skill-creator-pro

Skill Creator Pro

Create production-grade skills that extend Claude's capabilities.

How This Skill Works

User: "Create a skill for X"
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Claude Code uses this meta-skill as guidance
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Follow Domain Discovery → Ask user clarifying questions → Create skill
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Generated skill with embedded domain expertise

This skill provides guidance and structure for creating skills. Claude Code:

1. Uses this skill's framework to discover domain knowledge
2. Asks user for clarifications about THEIR specific requirements
3. Decides how to structure the generated skill based on domain needs

What This Skill Does

• Guides creation of new skills from scratch
• Helps improve existing skills to production quality
• Provides patterns for 5 skill types (Builder, Guide, Automation, Analyzer, Validator)
• Ensures skills encode procedural knowledge + domain expertise

What This Skill Does NOT Do

• Test skills in production environments
• Deploy or distribute skills
• Handle skill versioning/updates after creation
• Create requirement-specific skills (always create reusable intelligence)

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Domain Discovery Framework

Key Principle: Users want domain expertise IN the skill. They may not BE domain experts.

Phase 1: Automatic Discovery (No User Input)

Proactively research the domain before asking anything:

Discover	How	Example: "Kafka integration"
Core concepts	Official docs, Context7	Producers, consumers, topics, partitions
Standards/compliance	Search "[domain] standards"	Kafka security, exactly-once semantics
Best practices	Search "[domain] best practices 2025"	Partitioning strategies, consumer groups
Anti-patterns	Search "[domain] common mistakes"	Too many partitions, no monitoring
Security	Search "[domain] security"	SASL, SSL, ACLs, encryption
Ecosystem	Search "[domain] ecosystem tools"	Confluent, Schema Registry, Connect

Sources priority: Official docs → Library docs (Context7) → GitHub → Community → WebSearch

Phase 2: Knowledge Sufficiency Check

Before asking user anything, verify internally:

- [ ] Core concepts understood?
- [ ] Best practices identified?
- [ ] Anti-patterns known?
- [ ] Security considerations covered?
- [ ] Official sources found?

If ANY gap → Research more (don't ask user for domain knowledge)
Only if CANNOT discover (proprietary/internal) → Ask user

Phase 3: User Requirements (NOT Domain Knowledge)

Only ask about user's SPECIFIC context:

Ask	Don't Ask
"What's YOUR use case?"	"What is Kafka?"
"What's YOUR tech stack?"	"What options exist?"
"Any existing resources?"	"How does it work?"
"Specific constraints?"	"What are best practices?"

The skill contains domain expertise. User provides requirements.

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⚠️ MANDATORY Before Writing SKILL.md

STOP. DO NOT write SKILL.md until ALL boxes are checked:

- [ ] Fetched official library/framework documentation (Context7 or WebFetch)
- [ ] WebSearched "[domain] official documentation" for authoritative sources
- [ ] WebSearched "[domain] best practices [current year]" for industry standards
- [ ] Listed ALL variations the skill should handle (not just the user's specific case)
- [ ] Verified description covers ALL trigger scenarios (not just primary use case)
- [ ] Confirmed no knowledge gaps remain (Phase 2 complete)

Why this matters: Training knowledge may be outdated or incomplete. Skills that skip discovery produce narrow, requirement-specific tools instead of reusable intelligence.

Common failures when skipped:

• Narrow description that misses auto-invoke triggers
• Missing test types, patterns, or variations
• Outdated best practices from training data
• No source citations in references/

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Required Clarifications

Ask about SKILL METADATA and USER REQUIREMENTS (not domain knowledge):

Skill Metadata

1. Skill Type - "What type of skill?"

Type	Purpose	Example
Builder	Create artifacts	Widgets, code, documents
Guide	Provide instructions	How-to, tutorials
Automation	Execute workflows	File processing, deployments
Analyzer	Extract insights	Code review, data analysis
Validator	Enforce quality	Compliance checks, scoring

2. Domain - "What domain or technology?"

User Requirements (After Domain Discovery)

3. Use Case - "What's YOUR specific use case?"

• Not "what can it do" but "what do YOU need"

4. Tech Stack - "What's YOUR environment?"

• Languages, frameworks, existing infrastructure

5. Existing Resources - "Any scripts, templates, configs to include?"

6. Constraints - "Any specific requirements or limitations?"

• Performance, security, compliance specific to user's context

Note

• Questions 1-2: Ask immediately
• Domain Discovery: Research automatically after knowing domain
• Questions 3-6: Ask after discovery, informed by domain knowledge
• Question pacing: Avoid asking too many questions in a single message. Start with most important, follow up as needed.

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Core Principles

Reusable Intelligence, Not Requirement-Specific

Skills must handle VARIATIONS, not single requirements:

❌ Bad: "Create bar chart with sales data using Recharts"
✅ Good: "Create visualizations - adaptable to data shape, chart type, library"

❌ Bad: "Deploy to AWS EKS with Helm"
✅ Good: "Deploy applications - adaptable to platform, orchestration, environment"

Identify what VARIES vs what's CONSTANT in the domain. See references/reusability-patterns.md.

Concise is Key

Context window is a public good (~1,500+ tokens per skill activation). Challenge each piece:

• "Does Claude really need this explanation?"
• "Does this paragraph justify its token cost?"

Prefer concise examples over verbose explanations.

Appropriate Freedom

Match specificity to task fragility:

Freedom Level	When to Use	Example
High	Multiple approaches valid	"Choose your preferred style"
Medium	Preferred pattern exists	Pseudocode with parameters
Low	Operations are fragile	Exact scripts, few parameters

Progressive Disclosure

Three-level loading system:

1. Metadata (~100 tokens) - Always in context (description ≤1024 chars)
2. SKILL.md body (<500 lines) - When skill triggers
3. References (unlimited) - Loaded as needed by Claude

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Anatomy of a Skill

Generated skills are zero-shot domain experts with embedded knowledge.

skill-name/
├── SKILL.md (required)
│   ├── YAML frontmatter (name, description, allowed-tools?, model?)
│   └── Procedural knowledge (workflows, steps, decision trees)
└── Bundled Resources
    ├── references/   - Domain expertise (structure based on domain needs)
    ├── scripts/      - Executable code (tested, reliable)
    └── assets/       - Templates, boilerplate, images

SKILL.md Requirements

Component	Requirement
Line count	<500 lines (extract to references/)
Frontmatter	See references/skill-patterns.md for complete spec
name	Gerund form (verb-ing); lowercase, hyphens; ≤64 chars; no "anthropic"/"claude"
description	[What] + [When]; ≤1024 chars (≤200 for claude.ai); third-person
allowed-tools	Optional; CLI only (not SDK or claude.ai)
Form	Imperative ("Do X" not "You should X")
Scope	What it does AND does not do
Paths	Always use forward slashes (/), even on Windows

What Goes in references/

Embed domain knowledge gathered during discovery:

Gathered Knowledge	Purpose in Skill
Library/API documentation	Enable correct implementation
Best practices	Guide quality decisions
Code examples	Provide reference patterns
Anti-patterns	Prevent common mistakes
Domain-specific details	Support edge cases

Structure references/ based on what the domain needs.

Reference file rules:

• Keep references one level deep (no nested references)
• Files >100 lines should include a table of contents at top
• If >10k words total, include grep search patterns in SKILL.md

When to Generate scripts/

Generate scripts when domain requires deterministic, executable procedures:

Domain Need	Example Scripts
Setup/installation	Install dependencies, initialize project
Processing	Transform data, process files
Validation	Check compliance, verify output
Deployment	Deploy services, configure infrastructure

Decision: If procedure is complex, error-prone, or needs to be exactly repeatable → create script. Otherwise → document in SKILL.md or references/.

When to Generate assets/

Generate assets when domain requires exact templates or boilerplate:

Domain Need	Example Assets
Starting templates	HTML boilerplate, component scaffolds
Configuration files	Config templates, schema definitions
Code boilerplate	Base classes, starter code

What NOT to Include

• README.md (SKILL.md IS the readme)
• CHANGELOG.md
• LICENSE (inherited from repo)
• Duplicate information

Platform Constraints

Cross-platform sync: Skills do NOT sync across surfaces—upload separately to each platform.

Platform	Network	Packages	allowed-tools
Claude Code CLI	Full	Discouraged	✅ Works
Claude.ai	Varies	Yes	❌ Ignored
Claude API	None	No	❌ Ignored

What Generated Skill Does at Runtime

User invokes skill → Gather context from:
  1. Codebase (if existing project)
  2. Conversation (user's requirements)
  3. Own references/ (embedded domain expertise)
  4. User-specific guidelines
→ Ensure all information gathered → Implement ZERO-SHOT

Include in Generated Skills

Every generated skill should include:

## Before Implementation

Gather context to ensure successful implementation:

| Source | Gather |
|--------|--------|
| **Codebase** | Existing structure, patterns, conventions to integrate with |
| **Conversation** | User's specific requirements, constraints, preferences |
| **Skill References** | Domain patterns from `references/` (library docs, best practices, examples) |
| **User Guidelines** | Project-specific conventions, team standards |

Ensure all required context is gathered before implementing.
Only ask user for THEIR specific requirements (domain expertise is in this skill).

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Type-Aware Creation

After determining skill type, follow type-specific patterns:

Type	Key Sections	Reference
Builder	Clarifications → Output Spec → Standards → Checklist	skill-patterns.md#builder
Guide	Workflow → Examples → Official Docs	skill-patterns.md#guide
Automation	Scripts → Dependencies → Error Handling	skill-patterns.md#automation
Analyzer	Scope → Criteria → Output Format	skill-patterns.md#analyzer
Validator	Criteria → Scoring → Thresholds → Remediation	skill-patterns.md#validator

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Skill Creation Process

Metadata → Discovery → Requirements → Analyze → Embed → Structure → Implement → Validate

See references/creation-workflow.md for detailed steps.

Quick Steps

1. Metadata: Ask skill type + domain (Questions 1-2)
2. Discovery: Research domain automatically (Phase 1-2 above)
3. ⚠️ CHECKPOINT: Verify MANDATORY checklist is complete (see above)
4. Requirements: Ask user's specific needs (Questions 3-6)
5. Analyze: Identify procedural (HOW) + domain (WHAT) knowledge
6. Embed: Put gathered domain expertise into references/
7. Structure: Initialize skill directory
8. Implement: Write SKILL.md + resources following type patterns
9. Validate: Run scripts/package_skill.py and test

SKILL.md Template

---
name: processing-something          # prefer gerund form, lowercase, hyphens, ≤64 chars
                                    # Cannot contain "anthropic" or "claude"
description: |                      # ≤1024 chars (≤200 for claude.ai)
  [What] Capability statement (third-person).
  [When] This skill should be used when users ask to <triggers>.
allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Glob     # optional: restrict tools (CLI only)
---

See references/skill-patterns.md for complete frontmatter spec and body patterns.

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Output Checklist

Before delivering a skill, verify:

Domain Discovery Complete

• Core concepts discovered and understood
• Best practices identified from authentic sources
• Anti-patterns documented
• Security considerations covered
• Official documentation linked
• User was NOT asked for domain knowledge

Frontmatter

• name: prefer gerund form, lowercase, hyphens, ≤64 chars, matches directory
• name: Does NOT contain "anthropic" or "claude"
• description: [What]+[When], ≤1024 chars (≤200 for claude.ai), third-person
• allowed-tools: Set if restricted (CLI only—ignored on other platforms)

Structure

• SKILL.md <500 lines
• Progressive disclosure (details in references/)
• References one level deep, TOC if >100 lines
• Forward slashes in all paths

Knowledge Coverage

• Procedural (HOW): Workflows, decision trees, error handling
• Domain (WHAT): Concepts, best practices, anti-patterns

Zero-Shot Implementation (in generated skill)

• Includes "Before Implementation" section
• Gathers runtime context (codebase, conversation, user guidelines)
• Domain expertise embedded in references/ (structured per domain needs)
• Only asks user for THEIR requirements (not domain knowledge)

Reusability

• Handles variations (not requirement-specific)
• Clarifications capture variable elements (user's context)
• Constants encoded (domain patterns, best practices)

Type-Specific (see references/skill-patterns.md)

• Builder: Clarifications, output spec, standards, checklist
• Guide: Workflow, examples, official docs
• Automation: Scripts, dependencies, error handling
• Analyzer: Scope, criteria, output format
• Validator: Criteria, scoring, thresholds, remediation

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Reference Files

File	When to Read
references/creation-workflow.md	Detailed step-by-step creation process
references/skill-patterns.md	Frontmatter spec, naming, type-specific patterns, assets
references/reusability-patterns.md	Procedural+domain knowledge, varies vs constant
references/quality-patterns.md	Clarifications, checklists, testing methodology
references/technical-patterns.md	Error handling, security, dependencies, anti-patterns
references/workflows.md	Sequential and conditional workflow patterns
references/output-patterns.md	Template and example patterns