Claude Skills Meta-Skill

Turn scattered domain material into a Skill that is reusable, maintainable, and reliably activatable:

• SKILL.md as the entrypoint (triggers, constraints, patterns, examples)
• references/ for long-form evidence and navigation
• optional scripts/ and assets/ for scaffolding and templates

When to Use This Skill

Trigger this meta-skill when you need to:

• Create a new Skill from scratch from docs/specs/repos
• Refactor an existing Skill (too long, unclear, inconsistent, misfires)
• Design reliable activation (frontmatter + triggers + boundaries)
• Extract a clean Quick Reference from large material
• Split long content into navigable references/
• Add a quality gate and a validator

Not For / Boundaries

This meta-skill is NOT:

• A domain Skill by itself (it builds domain Skills)
• A license to invent external facts (if the material does not prove it, say so and add a verification path)
• A substitute for required inputs (if inputs are missing, ask 1-3 questions before proceeding)

Quick Reference

Deliverables (What You Must Produce)

Your output MUST include:

1. A concrete directory layout (typically skills/<skill-name>/)
2. An actionable SKILL.md with decidable triggers, boundaries, and reproducible examples
3. Long-form docs moved to references/ with a references/index.md
4. A pre-delivery checklist (Quality Gate)

Recommended Layout (Minimal -> Full)

skill-name/
|-- SKILL.md              # Required: entrypoint with YAML frontmatter
|-- references/           # Optional: long-form docs/evidence/index
|   `-- index.md          # Recommended: navigation index
|-- scripts/              # Optional: helpers/automation
`-- assets/               # Optional: templates/configs/static assets

The truly minimal version is just SKILL.md (you can add references/ later).

YAML Frontmatter (Required)

---
name: skill-name
description: "What it does + when to use (activation triggers)."
---

Frontmatter rules:

• name MUST match ^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*$ and SHOULD match the directory name
• description MUST be decidable (not "helps with X") and include concrete trigger keywords

Minimal SKILL.md Skeleton (Copy/Paste)

---
name: my-skill
description: "[Domain] capability: includes [capability 1], [capability 2]. Use when [decidable triggers]."
---

# my-skill Skill

One sentence that states the boundary and the deliverable.

## When to Use This Skill

Trigger when any of these applies:
- [Trigger 1: concrete task/keyword]
- [Trigger 2]
- [Trigger 3]

## Not For / Boundaries

- What this skill will not do (prevents misfires and over-promising)
- Required inputs; ask 1-3 questions if missing

## Quick Reference

### Common Patterns

**Pattern 1:** one-line explanation
```text
[command/snippet you can paste and run]

Examples

Example 1

• Input:
• Steps:
• Expected output / acceptance:

Example 2

Example 3

References

• references/index.md: navigation
• references/...: long-form docs split by topic

Maintenance

• Sources: docs/repos/specs (do not invent)
• Last updated: YYYY-MM-DD
• Known limits: what is explicitly out of scope

Authoring Rules (Non-negotiable)

1. Quick Reference is for short, directly usable patterns
   • Keep it <= 20 patterns when possible.
   • Anything that needs paragraphs of explanation goes to references/.
2. Activation must be decidable
   • Frontmatter description should say "what + when" with concrete keywords.
   • "When to Use" must list specific tasks/inputs/goals, not vague help text.
   • "Not For / Boundaries" is mandatory for reliability.
3. No bluffing on external details
   • If the material does not prove it, say so and include a verification path.

Workflow (Material -> Skill)

Do not skip steps:

1. Scope: write MUST/SHOULD/NEVER (three sentences total is fine)
2. Extract patterns: pick 10-20 high-frequency patterns (commands/snippets/flows)
3. Add examples: >= 3 end-to-end examples (input -> steps -> acceptance)
4. Define boundaries: what is out-of-scope + required inputs
5. Split references: move long text into references/ + write references/index.md
6. Apply the gate: run the checklist and the validator

Quality Gate (Pre-delivery Checklist)

Minimum checks (see references/quality-checklist.md for the full version):

1. name matches ^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*$ and matches the directory name
2. description states "what + when" with concrete trigger keywords
3. Has "When to Use This Skill" with decidable triggers
4. Has "Not For / Boundaries" to reduce misfires
5. Quick Reference is <= 20 patterns and each is directly usable
6. Has >= 3 reproducible examples
7. Long content is in references/ and references/index.md is navigable
8. Uncertain claims include a verification path (no bluffing)
9. Reads like an operator's manual, not a documentation dump

Validate locally:

# From repo root (basic validation)
./skills/claude-skills/scripts/validate-skill.sh skills/<skill-name>

# From repo root (strict validation)
./skills/claude-skills/scripts/validate-skill.sh skills/<skill-name> --strict

# From skills/claude-skills/ (basic validation)
./scripts/validate-skill.sh ../<skill-name>

# From skills/claude-skills/ (strict validation)
./scripts/validate-skill.sh ../<skill-name> --strict

Tools & Templates

Generate a new Skill skeleton:

# From repo root (generate into ./skills/)
./skills/claude-skills/scripts/create-skill.sh my-skill --full --output skills

# From skills/claude-skills/ (generate into ../ i.e. ./skills/)
./scripts/create-skill.sh my-skill --full --output ..

# Minimal skeleton
./skills/claude-skills/scripts/create-skill.sh my-skill --minimal --output skills

Templates:

• assets/template-minimal.md
• assets/template-complete.md

Examples

Example 1: Create a Skill from Docs

• Input: an official doc/spec + 2-3 real code samples + common failure modes
• Steps:
  1. Run create-skill.sh to scaffold skills/<skill-name>/
  2. Write frontmatter description as "what + when"
  3. Extract 10-20 high-frequency patterns into Quick Reference
  4. Add >= 3 end-to-end examples with acceptance criteria
  5. Put long content into references/ and wire references/index.md
  6. Run validate-skill.sh --strict and iterate

Example 2: Refactor a "Doc Dump" Skill

• Input: an existing SKILL.md with long pasted documentation
• Steps:
  1. Identify which parts are patterns vs. long-form explanation
  2. Move long-form text into references/ (split by topic)
  3. Rewrite Quick Reference as short copy/paste patterns
  4. Add or fix Examples until they are reproducible
  5. Add "Not For / Boundaries" to reduce misfires

Example 3: Validate and Gate a Skill

• Input: skills/<skill-name>/
• Steps:
  1. Run validate-skill.sh (non-strict) to get warnings
  2. Fix frontmatter/name mismatches and missing sections
  3. Run validate-skill.sh --strict to enforce the spec
  4. Run the scoring rubric in references/quality-checklist.md before shipping

References

Local docs:

• references/index.md
• references/skill-spec.md
• references/quality-checklist.md
• references/anti-patterns.md
• references/README.md (upstream official reference)

External (official):

• https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12512176-what-are-skills
• https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12512180-using-skills-in-claude
• https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12512198-creating-custom-skills
• https://docs.claude.com/en/api/skills-guide

Maintenance

• Sources: local spec files in skills/claude-skills/references/ + upstream official docs in references/README.md
• Last updated: 2025-12-14
• Known limits: validate-skill.sh is heuristic; strict mode assumes the recommended section headings