Example Skill

This skill demonstrates all available frontmatter fields for Claude Code skills.

Purpose

Use this as a reference when creating new skills. All fields shown above are valid skill frontmatter options.

Field Descriptions

Field	Type	Purpose	Constraints	Default
`name`	string	Display name	kebab-case, lowercase	directory name
`description`	string	When to load this skill	Must include trigger keywords	first paragraph
`argument-hint`	string	Autocomplete hint for `/` menu	Brief hint text	none
`allowed-tools`	string	Tools without permission prompts	Comma-separated tool names	none
`model`	string	Model when skill is active	sonnet, opus, haiku, or inherit	inherit
`user-invocable`	boolean	Show in `/` menu	true or false	true
`disable-model-invocation`	boolean	Prevent Claude auto-loading	true or false	false
`hooks`	object	Scoped hooks for skill lifecycle	Valid hook configuration object	none

Note: The fields context and agent are deprecated and not documented in the official Skills reference as of January 2026.

Validation

Validate your skill using:

bash

# Frontmatter and structure validation (checks token complexity, links, references)
uvx skilllint@latest check ./path/to/skill/SKILL.md

# Plugin validation (if skill is part of a plugin)
claude plugin validate ./path/to/plugin/

Common Validation Errors

Error	Cause	Fix
`allowed-tools must be string`	Used YAML array format	Change to comma-separated string
`model must be sonnet/opus/haiku`	Invalid model name	Use valid model identifier
`YAML array detected`	Used `- Tool1` format	Change to `Tool1, Tool2` format
`Skill body exceeds 500 lines`	Skill is too large	Split into multiple skills
`Internal link points to missing file`	Referenced file doesn't exist	Create file or fix path
`Description too short`	Less than 20 characters	Add trigger keywords and context

Usage

This skill is for demonstration purposes only. When creating real skills, include only the fields you need.

Skill Location

Skills can be located in:

User-level: ~/.claude/skills/skill-name/SKILL.md - Available across all projects
Project-level: .claude/skills/skill-name/SKILL.md - Version controlled, team shared
Plugin: plugins/plugin-name/skills/skill-name/SKILL.md - Bundled in a plugin

Sources

Skills Reference (accessed 2026-01-28)
Skills Overview - Complete reference
Plugin Creator Validation Scripts

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example-skill

Install this agent skill to your Project

SKILL.md