Skill Creator

Generate new Claude Code skills with correct directory structure, YAML frontmatter, and optional bundled resources.

When to Use

• Creating a new custom skill for a project
• Standardizing skill structure across a team
• Generating skill templates with scripts, references, and assets
• Packaging skills for distribution

Skill Directory Structure

skill-name/
├── SKILL.md          # Required: Main skill file with YAML frontmatter
├── scripts/          # Optional: Executable code for deterministic tasks
├── references/       # Optional: Documentation loaded contextually
└── assets/           # Optional: Templates, images, boilerplate (not loaded into context)

Workflow

1. Create the Skill

Create a new skill called "my-skill-name" in ~/.claude/skills/

Or with a specific purpose:

Create a skill for generating release notes from git commits,
with templates for CHANGELOG.md and Slack announcements

Or via the initialization script:

bash
python3 ~/.claude/skills/skill-creator/scripts/init_skill.py <skill-name> --path <output-directory>

2. Generated SKILL.md Template

The created SKILL.md follows this structure:

markdown
---
name: skill-name
description: "What the skill does. Use when [trigger conditions]."
---

# Skill Name

## When to Use
- Trigger condition 1
- Trigger condition 2

## What This Skill Does
1. **Step 1**: Description
2. **Step 2**: Description

## How to Use
[Usage examples]

## Example
**User**: "Example prompt"
**Output**: [Example output]

3. Validate the Skill

After creation, verify:

1. Frontmatter: name is kebab-case, 1-64 chars; description is a quoted string with "Use when" clause
2. Content: Has "When to Use" section with trigger conditions and at least one usage example
3. Structure: SKILL.md is under 5000 words; references and assets are in correct subdirectories
4. Test: Invoke the skill with a real use case and confirm expected output

4. Package for Distribution (Optional)

bash
python3 ~/.claude/skills/skill-creator/scripts/package_skill.py <path/to/skill-folder> [output-directory]

Organizational Patterns

| Pattern | Best For | Structure | |---------|----------|-----------| | Workflow-Based | Sequential procedures | Step-by-step instructions | | Task-Based | Multiple operations | Collection of tasks | | Reference/Guidelines | Standards, specs | Rules and examples | | Capabilities-Based | Interrelated features | Feature descriptions |

Example: Creating a Release Notes Skill

User: "Create a skill for generating release notes with 3 output formats"

Steps:

1. Initialize: init_skill.py release-notes-generator --path ~/.claude/skills/
2. Add templates to assets/: changelog-template.md, pr-release-template.md, slack-template.md
3. Add rules to references/: tech-to-product-mappings.md
4. Complete SKILL.md with usage instructions
5. Validate: check frontmatter, test with a real commit range
6. Package: package_skill.py ~/.claude/skills/release-notes-generator

Tips

• Keep SKILL.md under 5000 words for efficient context usage
• Use references/ for domain knowledge that doesn't change often
• Put templates in assets/ so they're not auto-loaded into context
• Always include a "Use when" clause in the description frontmatter
• Test with real use cases before packaging