create-crate-skill

Create Crate Skill

This skill guides the creation of Claude skills for Rust crates and binaries. It integrates with the exploring-rust-docs skill and the plugin-dev:skill-development skill.

When to Activate

• User wants to create a skill for a Rust crate
• User wants Claude to understand how to use a Rust library
• User wants to document a Rust binary/CLI tool as a skill
• Creating skills based on cargo-generated documentation

Prerequisites

This skill works alongside:

• exploring-rust-docs - For reading cargo doc HTML
• plugin-dev:skill-development - For skill structure and best practices

Workflow

1. Locate the Crate Source

For dependencies in Cargo.toml:

# Check if source is available
ls ~/.cargo/registry/src/*/crate_name-*

# Or check if cloned locally
ls ~/src/**/crate_name

For standalone repos, ask the user:

• Do you have the source cloned locally?
• What directory is it in?
• Should I clone it for you?

2. Generate and Explore Documentation

Use the exploring-rust-docs skill:

cd /path/to/crate
cargo doc --no-deps  # NEVER use --open

Read the key documentation files:

• target/doc/{crate}/index.html - Overview
• target/doc/{crate}/all.html - All items
• Main struct/trait pages

3. Find and Review Examples

# Check for examples directory
ls examples/

# Read example files
cat examples/*.rs

# Check for integration tests with examples
ls tests/

4. Identify Key Components

Document these for the skill:

• Primary types - Main structs, enums, traits
• Entry points - How users start using the crate
• Common patterns - Typical usage flows
• Configuration - Builder patterns, options
• Error handling - Error types, Result patterns

5. Create the Skill Structure

skills/{crate-name}/
├── SKILL.md           # Main skill file
├── reference.md       # API reference
├── examples.md        # Usage examples
└── patterns.md        # Common patterns (optional)

6. Write the Skill

Follow the template in workflow.md.

Key sections:

• When to use this crate
• Quick start example
• Core concepts
• Common operations
• Links to reference files

Quick Links

• Workflow Details
• Example Skills

For Binary Crates

Binary crates require different handling:

1. Check for local clone:

   # Ask user or search common locations
   ls ~/src/**/binary_name
   

2. If not available, offer to clone:

   git clone https://github.com/user/repo ~/src/github.com/user/repo
   

3. Read source directly:

   • src/main.rs - Entry point
   • src/cli.rs or similar - Argument parsing
   • Look for clap/structopt/argh definitions

4. Check README and docs:

   • Usage examples
   • Command-line options
   • Configuration files

5. Run help if possible:

   cargo run -- --help
   

Integration with plugin-dev

After gathering information, use /plugin-dev:add-skill or manually create:

1. Create skill directory in appropriate plugin
2. Write SKILL.md with frontmatter
3. Add reference files
4. Validate with /plugin-dev:validate

Notes

• Always use cargo doc --no-deps (never --open)
• Prefer reading examples/ over just API docs
• For complex crates, focus on the 80% use case
• Include real code examples in the skill
• Link to official docs for comprehensive reference