name: skill-creator
description: Create new Agent Skills interactively or from templates. Use when user wants to create, generate, scaffold, or build a new skill, or mentions creating skills, writing skills, skill templates, skill development.
allowed-tools:
- Read
- Write
- Edit

Skill Creator

Creates new Agent Skills through interactive wizard or template-based generation. A meta-skill for bootstrapping Claude Code capabilities.

When This Skill Activates

• User asks to "create a skill", "make a skill", "generate a skill", "scaffold a skill"
• User mentions "skill template", "new skill", "custom skill", "skill development"
• User wants to extend Claude with custom capabilities or workflows
• User asks about building, authoring, or writing skills

Workflow

Step 1: Choose Mode

Ask the user which mode they prefer:

1. Interactive Wizard: Guided Q&A to build a skill from scratch
2. Template-Based: Start from a pre-built template and customize
3. Hybrid: Template foundation + interactive customization

Step 2: Gather Requirements (Interactive Mode)

Ask these questions in order:

1. Skill Name: What should the skill be called? (kebab-case, max 64 chars)
2. Purpose: What does this skill do? (one sentence)
3. Trigger Phrases: When should Claude use this skill? (list 3-5 specific phrases users might say)
4. Tool Permissions: Which tools does the skill need? (Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Grep, Glob - request minimal)
5. Skill Type:
6. Simple: Single SKILL.md only
7. With Scripts: SKILL.md + Python/bash helper scripts
8. With Reference: SKILL.md + reference.md for technical docs
9. With Examples: SKILL.md + examples.md for use cases
10. Complex: All of the above
11. Target Location:
12. Personal: ~/.claude/skills/ (just for you)
13. Project: .claude/skills/ (shared with team)
14. Standalone: Portable plugin structure (for distribution)

Step 3: Select Template (Template Mode)

Available templates in templates/:

Step 4: Generate Core Files

Always generate:

1. SKILL.md - Complete with:
2. YAML frontmatter (name, description, allowed-tools)
3. When This Skill Activates section
4. Main workflow/instructions
5. Examples section

6. Troubleshooting section

7. .claude-plugin/plugin.json - With:

8. Skill name and version
9. Description matching SKILL.md
10. Author info (prompt for name/email)

11. License (default: MIT)

12. README.md - With:

13. Skill overview
14. Installation instructions
15. Quick start example

16. Requirements

17. examples.md (if skill type includes it) - With:

18. 2-3 complete usage examples
19. Input/output samples
20. Common scenarios

Conditionally generate:

• scripts/ directory for automation skills
• reference.md for technical/API skills
• templates/ for generator skills

Step 5: Validate Before Writing

Before creating files, validate:

• [ ] Name is kebab-case (lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens only)
• [ ] Name is <= 64 characters
• [ ] Description is <= 1024 characters
• [ ] Description includes specific trigger phrases
• [ ] Tool permissions are minimal (don't request tools the skill won't use)
• [ ] YAML frontmatter is valid (proper --- delimiters)
• [ ] File paths use forward slashes

Step 6: Create Files

Use Write tool to create files in the selected location.

For target location = "standalone", create full plugin structure:

skill-name/
├── SKILL.md
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json
├── README.md
└── examples.md

Step 7: Verification

After creating files, tell the user:

1. Where files were created
2. How to verify the skill works:
3. What Skills are available? should list the new skill
4. Test with a query matching the description
5. Next steps (edit SKILL.md to customize, test with example queries)

Template Details

pr-reviewer.md

Reviews pull requests against team standards. Checks for common issues, provides structured feedback format, integrates with git workflow.

commit-helper.md

Generates conventional commit messages from git diffs. Supports custom commit conventions, formats summaries and body, handles commit types.

api-caller.md

Integrates with external APIs. Handles authentication (API keys, OAuth), rate limiting, error responses, request/response parsing.

code-analyzer.md

Analyzes code quality. Detects anti-patterns, suggests improvements, generates quality reports, supports multiple languages.

data-processor.md

Processes data files (CSV, JSON, YAML). Validates schemas, transforms data, handles large files, generates outputs.

Best Practices for Generated Skills

Description Writing

• Start with "Use when..." for clarity
• Include 3-5 specific trigger scenarios
• Mention what makes this skill unique
• Keep under 1024 characters

Tool Permissions

• Request only necessary tools
• Use specific constraints (e.g., Bash(python:*))
• Explain why each tool is needed

Progressive Disclosure

• Keep SKILL.md focused (under 500 lines)
• Reference supporting files for deep details
• Don't duplicate content across files

Common Patterns

Skill with Scripts

When a skill needs helper scripts:

## Utility Scripts

This skill includes helper scripts for complex operations:

```bash
# Validate input
python scripts/validate.py input.txt

# Transform data
python scripts/transform.py input.csv output.json

### Skill with Reference
For technical/API skills, reference detailed docs:

```markdown
## Technical Reference

For complete API details, see [reference.md](reference.md).

Skill with Environment Variables

If the skill needs environment setup:

## Requirements

Set these environment variables:
- `API_KEY`: Your service API key
- `ENDPOINT`: API endpoint URL

Install dependencies:
```bash
pip install requests pydantic

```

Troubleshooting

Skill Not Appearing

• Verify SKILL.md path is correct
• Check YAML frontmatter is valid
• Run claude --debug to see loading errors

Description Not Triggering

• Add more specific trigger phrases
• Include keywords users would naturally say
• Test with different query phrasings

Validation Errors

• Check name is kebab-case only
• Verify description length < 1024 chars
• Ensure YAML has proper --- delimiters

Examples

See examples.md for complete walkthroughs of creating skills in each mode.