Create a Claude Code Skill

---

description: Create a new Claude Code skill with proper structure. Use when user wants to scaffold, initialize, or create a new skill. argument-hint: "[skill-name] [description] [--personal|--project]" allowed-tools: Read, Write, Bash, Glob

Create a reusable Claude Code skill — a portable capability that will be used in other projects, not the current repo. Do NOT analyze the current repo for how to use the skill's subject matter.

Inputs: $ARGUMENTS parsed as: SKILL_NAME (kebab-case, max 64 chars), DESCRIPTION (quoted string, max 1024 chars) Flags: --personal (default: ~/.claude/skills/) or --project (.claude/skills/) Output: STATUS=<CREATED|EXISTS|FAIL> PATH=<path>

Instructions

1. Validate:

   • Name: lowercase letters/numbers/hyphens only, max 64 chars
   • Description: non-empty, max 1024 chars, no angle brackets

2. Check existence: If skill exists, output STATUS=EXISTS PATH=<path> and stop.

3. Analyze and decide bundled resources. State your reasoning, then create only what's needed:

   • scripts/ — when skill involves file manipulation, data processing, or repeated code
   • references/ — when skill needs docs/schemas that would make SKILL.md exceed 500 lines
   • assets/ — when skill uses templates, boilerplate, or brand files

4. Create structure:

   {{SKILL_NAME}}/
   ├── SKILL.md (required)
   ├── scripts/example.py (executable, if needed)
   ├── references/.gitkeep (if needed)
   └── assets/.gitkeep (if needed)
   

5. Generate SKILL.md:

   ---
   name: {{SKILL_NAME}}
   description: {{DESCRIPTION}}
   ---
   
   # {{Title Case Name}}
   
   ## Overview
   [TODO: What this skill does]
   
   ## When to Use
   [TODO: Triggers and scenarios]
   
   ## Instructions
   [TODO: Step-by-step guidance]
   
   ## Examples
   [TODO: Realistic user requests and responses]
   

6. Output: Print STATUS=CREATED PATH={{path}} and list what was created.

Skill Frontmatter

Required: name, description Optional: allowed-tools, metadata, license

Examples

/create-skill commit-helper "Generate git commit messages. Use when writing commits."
/create-skill pdf-processor "Extract text from PDFs. Use for document extraction." --project