Agent skill · writing content · aiskillstore
creating-skills
Use when creating new Claude Code skills or improving existing ones - ensures skills are discoverable, scannable, and effective through proper structure, CSO optimization, and real examples
Why this skill is useful
Provides structured guidelines and examples for creating effective Claude skills, enhancing discoverability and usability.
What it needs
About 8k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 405 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Creating Skills Overview Skills are reference guides for proven techniques, patterns, or tools. Write them to help future Claude instances quickly find and apply effective approaches. Skills must be discoverable (Claude can find them), scannable (quick to evaluate), and actionable (clear examples). Core principle: Default assumption is Claude is already very smart. Only add context Claude doesn't already have. When to Use Create a skill when: Technique wasn't intuitively obvious Pattern applies broadly across projects You'd reference this again Others would benefit Don't create for: One-off solutions specific to single project Standard practices well-documented elsewhere Project conventions (put those in .claude/CLAUDE.md) Required Structure Frontmatter (YAML) Rules: Only name and description fields supported (max 1024 chars total) Name: letters, numbers, hyphens only (max 64 chars). Use gerund form (verb + -ing) Avoid reserved words: "anthropic", "claude" in names Description: Third person, starts with "Use when..." (max 1024 chars) Include BOTH triggering conditions AND what skill does Match specificity to task complexity (degrees of freedom) Document Structure Degrees of Freedom Match specificity to task complexity: High freedom: Flexible tasks requiring judgment Use broad guidance, principles, examples Let Claude adapt approach to context Example: "Use when designing APIs - provides REST principles and patterns" Low freedom: Fragile or critical operations Be explicit about exact steps Include validation checks Example: "Use when deploying to production - follow exact deployment checklist with rollback procedures" Red flag: If skill tries to constrain Claude too much on creative tasks, reduce specificity. If skill is too vague on critical operations, add explicit steps. Claude Search Optimization (CSO) Critical: Future Claude reads the description to decide if skill is relevant. Optimize for discovery. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills aiskillstore/creating-skills