loom-skill-authoring

loom-skill-authoring

Use this skill to author Loom-compatible skills.

What This Skill Owns

• skill activation descriptions
• skill frontmatter and metadata conventions
• skill boundaries and overlap review
• skill review and pressure-scenario validation
• skill directory structure
• reference/template placement
• anti-pattern review for hidden runtimes or vague ownership

What Good Loom Skills Do

A good Loom skill:

• has a clear activation description
• uses frontmatter metadata consistently with the skill boundary
• owns one subsystem or one coherent capability
• tells the agent what it governs and what it does not
• teaches a practical procedure
• provides references for nuanced judgment
• provides templates when artifact creation is part of the workflow

Use This Skill When

• you are adding a new skill
• you are collapsing duplicate skills
• you are tightening a vague skill description
• you are deciding whether a subsystem should exist as its own skill

Do Not Use This Skill When

• the work really belongs to a canonical project record
• the "new skill" is just a one-off task
• you are trying to hide core rules inside a skill that should really be always-on doctrine

Done Means

• the skill has a clear activation description
• frontmatter names name, description, compatibility, and appropriate metadata fields
• the skill states what it owns and what it does not own
• references and templates are placed only where they serve the skill boundary
• the skill does not duplicate another owner or create a hidden runtime

Read In This Order

Read immediately for skill authoring:

1. references/principles.md when deciding whether a skill should exist and what it should own.
2. references/structure.md when laying out files, references, and templates.

Then read conditionally:

3. references/anti-patterns.md when checking overlap, hidden runtime dependency, or vague activation.
4. references/skill-review.md when a skill changes operator behavior, discipline, routing, or protocol authority and needs pressure-testing or critique before acceptance.
5. The relevant template only when creating a new skill.