Agent skill
add-skill
Create new joelclaw skills with the idiomatic process — repo-canonical, symlinked, git-tracked, slogged. Triggers on 'add a skill', 'create skill', 'new skill', 'canonical skill', 'make a skill for', or any request to formalize a process or domain into a reusable skill.
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/joelhooks/joelclaw/tree/main/skills/add-skill
SKILL.md
Add Skill
Create a new joelclaw skill. Skills are modular instruction sets that extend agent capabilities with specialized knowledge, workflows, or tool integrations.
Process
1. Create the skill directory
mkdir -p ~/Code/joelhooks/joelclaw/skills/<skill-name>
2. Write SKILL.md
Every skill needs a SKILL.md with frontmatter and instructions:
---
name: <skill-name>
displayName: <Human Readable Name>
description: <One-line description. This shows in the skill list and is used for trigger matching.>
version: 0.1.0
author: joel
tags:
- <relevant>
- <tags>
---
# <Skill Title>
<Instructions for the agent. Write for another Claude instance — include non-obvious procedural knowledge, domain-specific details, gotchas, and reusable patterns.>
## When to Use
<Trigger phrases and situations that should activate this skill.>
## Operations
<Step-by-step procedures, commands, API calls, etc.>
## Rules
<Constraints, safety boundaries, things to never do.>
3. Add references (optional)
For complex skills, add supporting files:
skills/<skill-name>/
├── SKILL.md # Required
├── references/ # Optional — detailed docs, examples
│ └── operations.md
├── scripts/ # Optional — helper scripts
└── assets/ # Optional — logos, templates
├── small-logo.svg # For Codex desktop
└── large-logo.png # For Codex desktop
4. Symlink to all consumer directories
ln -sf ~/Code/joelhooks/joelclaw/skills/<skill-name> ~/.pi/agent/skills/<skill-name>
ln -sf ~/Code/joelhooks/joelclaw/skills/<skill-name> ~/.agents/skills/<skill-name>
ln -sf ~/Code/joelhooks/joelclaw/skills/<skill-name> ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>
5. Slog it
slog write --action configure --tool skills --detail "created <skill-name> skill: <what it does>" --reason "<why>"
6. Commit
The skills/ directory is sacred and fully git-tracked. Every skill must be committed.
cd ~/Code/joelhooks/joelclaw
git add skills/<skill-name>
git commit -m "feat(skills): add <skill-name> — <short description>"
Key Rules
- Repo is canonical:
~/Code/joelhooks/joelclaw/skills/is the source of truth. Home dirs symlink to it. - Directory name must match
namefield in SKILL.md frontmatter. Mismatch causes[Skill conflicts]warning on pi load. - Never copy skills — always symlink.
cat > symlinkwrites through and destroys the target. - External/third-party skill packs stay external (global install), not copied into repo unless intentionally curated.
- Pi extensions load at session startup only — new skills are available immediately (loaded on demand), but if you modify an existing skill mid-session, run
/reload. - One skill per concern — don't overload a skill with unrelated capabilities. Split into focused skills.
- Write for another agent — the consumer is another Claude instance, not Joel. Include what's non-obvious.
- Include trigger phrases in the description — this is how pi matches user requests to skills.
Updating Existing Skills
- Edit the SKILL.md (or references) in the repo copy
- Symlinks mean all consumers see the change immediately
- Slog the change
- Commit
Codex Desktop Metadata (optional)
For skills that should appear in Codex desktop:
skills/<skill-name>/
├── agents/
│ └── openai.yaml # Codex agent config
└── assets/
├── small-logo.svg
└── large-logo.png
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