ReddRadar
Agent skill
creating-skills
Creates new Claude Code skills following best practices. Guides through skill structure, naming, descriptions, and progressive disclosure. Use when user wants to create a skill, build a skill, make a new capability, or asks about skill best practices.
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/aiskillstore/marketplace/tree/main/skills/brendanshields/creating-skills
SKILL.md
Creating Skills
Guides creation of Claude Code skills using documented best practices.
Quick Start
For a new skill:
- Ask user for skill purpose and target users
- Generate using appropriate template
- Validate against checklist
For reviewing existing skill:
- Read SKILL.md and supporting files
- Check against anti-patterns in reference.md
- Report issues with fixes
Workflow: Create New Skill
Progress:
- [ ] Gather requirements (purpose, triggers, complexity)
- [ ] Choose template (basic or advanced)
- [ ] Generate skill structure
- [ ] Customize content
- [ ] Validate against checklist
Step 1: Gather Requirements
Ask user with AskUserQuestion:
- What should this skill do? (purpose)
- When should it activate? (trigger words)
- Simple or complex? (affects structure)
Step 2: Choose Structure
| Complexity | Structure | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Single SKILL.md | Simple workflows, < 200 lines |
| Advanced | SKILL.md + references | Complex domains, multiple workflows |
Step 3: Generate Skill
Use templates from templates/ directory:
- templates/basic.md - Single file skill
- templates/advanced.md - Multi-file with references
Create in appropriate location:
~/.claude/skills/- Personal skills.claude/skills/- Project skills (git-tracked)
Step 4: Validate
Run through checklist before finishing:
Validation Checklist:
- [ ] Name: gerund format (verb-ing), lowercase, hyphens only
- [ ] Name: max 64 characters, no reserved words
- [ ] Description: explains WHAT and WHEN to use
- [ ] Description: third person, max 1024 characters
- [ ] SKILL.md: under 500 lines (ideally under 300)
- [ ] References: one level deep from SKILL.md
- [ ] No time-sensitive info (dates, versions)
- [ ] Consistent terminology throughout
- [ ] Examples: concrete input/output pairs
- [ ] Paths: Unix-style only (forward slashes)
Naming Rules
Format: verb-ing-noun (gerund form)
processing-pdfsanalyzing-spreadsheetsmanaging-databases
Constraints:
- Max 64 characters
- Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens only
- No:
anthropic,claude, XML tags
Description Best Practices
The description determines when Claude activates the skill.
Include:
- What the skill does
- When to use it
- Trigger words users might say
Format: Third person, active voice
# Good
description: |
Extracts text and tables from PDF files. Use when working with
PDFs, forms, or document extraction.
# Bad - first person
description: I help you process PDF files
Progressive Disclosure
Keep SKILL.md lean. Move details to reference files:
skill-name/
├── SKILL.md # Overview, workflow (always loaded)
├── reference.md # Detailed guidelines (loaded when needed)
├── examples.md # Extended examples
└── templates/ # Reusable templates
Key rule: References should be one level deep. All reference files link directly from SKILL.md.
See reference.md for detailed best practices and anti-patterns.
Frontmatter Schema
---
name: skill-name-here
description: |
What it does and when to use it. Include trigger words.
allowed-tools: Read, Grep # Optional: restrict available tools
---
Anti-Patterns (Quick Reference)
| Avoid | Do Instead |
|---|---|
Windows paths scripts\file.py |
Unix paths scripts/file.py |
| Too many options | Provide sensible default |
| Assuming tools installed | List required packages |
| Vague descriptions | Specific with trigger words |
| Deeply nested references | One level deep |
| Time-sensitive info | Avoid dates/versions |
Full anti-patterns guide: reference.md
Example: Basic Skill
---
name: formatting-markdown
description: |
Formats and lints Markdown files. Use when user mentions
markdown formatting, MD files, or document styling.
---
# Formatting Markdown
## Workflow
1. Read target file
2. Apply formatting rules
3. Report changes
## Rules
- Headers: ATX style (#)
- Lists: consistent markers
- Code blocks: fenced with language
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