Integrate Claude Skill into Project Guidelines

VerifiedCaution

Learn how to adapt and integrate a Claude skill into your project's development guidelines, including file structure and best practices.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevelopmentIntermediate
108/31/2026
Claude Code
#skill-integration#project-guidelines#trellis#documentation#code-examples

Recommended for

Our review

Integrates an existing Claude skill into a project's development guidelines by adding documentation, code examples, and index entries under the .trellis spec directory.

Strengths

  • Structured approach with clear directory conventions
  • Separates guidelines from code examples to avoid IDE errors
  • Generates an integration report for compatibility tracking
  • Provides explicit mapping of skill categories to targets

Limitations

  • Written specifically for Trellis project structure; not generic
  • Relies on external `openskills read` command
  • Does not directly generate project code, so may disappoint if expecting implementation
When to use it

Use when you want to institutionalize a reusable Claude skill as documented project guidelines rather than applying it ad hoc.

When not to use it

Do not use when you need immediate code generation or when the project does not follow the .trellis spec structure.

Security analysis

Caution
Quality score85/100

The skill primarily guides documentation and code example integration, which is benign. However, it includes command execution for reading skills and installing dependencies, which if combined with a malicious or compromised skill could introduce risks. No destructive or exfiltrating actions are directly instructed, so it is not 'risky', but the use of package managers and shell commands warrants caution.

Findings
  • Instructs execution of bash commands (`openskills read`, `npm install`, `pnpm add`, `yarn add`) to read skills and install dependencies.
  • Dependency installation could pull in untrusted packages if the skill content is malicious or outdated.
  • No explicit safety checks or sandboxing mentioned for command execution.

Examples

Integrate frontend-design
/trellis:integrate-skill frontend-design
Integrate mcp-builder
/trellis:integrate-skill mcp-builder
Add testing skill to guidelines
/trellis:integrate-skill webapp-testing

Integrate Claude Skill into Project Guidelines

Adapt and integrate a Claude global skill into your project's development guidelines (not directly into project code).

Usage

/trellis:integrate-skill <skill-name>

Examples:

/trellis:integrate-skill frontend-design
/trellis:integrate-skill mcp-builder

Core Principle

[!] Important: The goal of skill integration is to update development guidelines, not to generate project code directly.

  • Guidelines content -> Write to .trellis/spec/{target}/doc.md
  • Code examples -> Place in .trellis/spec/{target}/examples/skills/<skill-name>/
  • Example files -> Use .template suffix (e.g., component.tsx.template) to avoid IDE errors

Where {target} is frontend or backend, determined by skill type.

Execution Steps

1. Read Skill Content

openskills read <skill-name>

If the skill doesn't exist, prompt user to check available skills:

# Available skills are listed in AGENTS.md under <available_skills>

2. Determine Integration Target

Based on skill type, determine which guidelines to update:

| Skill Category | Integration Target | |----------------|-------------------| | UI/Frontend (frontend-design, web-artifacts-builder) | .trellis/spec/frontend/ | | Backend/API (mcp-builder) | .trellis/spec/backend/ | | Documentation (doc-coauthoring, docx, pdf) | .trellis/ or create dedicated guidelines | | Testing (webapp-testing) | .trellis/spec/frontend/ (E2E) |

3. Analyze Skill Content

Extract from the skill:

  • Core concepts: How the skill works and key concepts
  • Best practices: Recommended approaches
  • Code patterns: Reusable code templates
  • Caveats: Common issues and solutions

4. Execute Integration

4.1 Update Guidelines Document

Add a new section to the corresponding doc.md:

@@@section:skill-<skill-name>
## # <Skill Name> Integration Guide

### Overview
[Core functionality and use cases of the skill]

### Project Adaptation
[How to use this skill in the current project]

### Usage Steps
1. [Step 1]
2. [Step 2]

### Caveats
- [Project-specific constraints]
- [Differences from default behavior]

### Reference Examples
See `examples/skills/<skill-name>/`

@@@/section:skill-<skill-name>

4.2 Create Examples Directory (if code examples exist)

# Directory structure ({target} = frontend or backend)
.trellis/spec/{target}/
|-- doc.md                      # Add skill-related section
|-- index.md                    # Update index
+-- examples/
    +-- skills/
        +-- <skill-name>/
            |-- README.md               # Example documentation
            |-- example-1.ts.template   # Code example (use .template suffix)
            +-- example-2.tsx.template

File naming conventions:

  • Code files: <name>.<ext>.template (e.g., component.tsx.template)
  • Config files: <name>.config.template (e.g., tailwind.config.template)
  • Documentation: README.md (normal suffix)

4.3 Update Index File

Add to the Quick Navigation table in index.md:

| <Skill-related task> | <Section name> | `skill-<skill-name>` |

5. Generate Integration Report


Skill Integration Report: <skill-name>

# Overview

  • Skill description: [Functionality description]
  • Integration target: .trellis/spec/{target}/

# Tech Stack Compatibility

| Skill Requirement | Project Status | Compatibility | |-------------------|----------------|---------------| | [Tech 1] | [Project tech] | [OK]/[!]/[X] |

# Integration Locations

| Type | Path | |------|------| | Guidelines doc | .trellis/spec/{target}/doc.md (section: skill-<name>) | | Code examples | .trellis/spec/{target}/examples/skills/<name>/ | | Index update | .trellis/spec/{target}/index.md |

{target} = frontend or backend

# Dependencies (if needed)

# Install required dependencies (adjust for your package manager)
npm install <package>
# or
pnpm add <package>
# or
yarn add <package>

[OK] Completed Changes

  • [ ] Added @@@section:skill-<name> section to doc.md
  • [ ] Added index entry to index.md
  • [ ] Created example files in examples/skills/<name>/
  • [ ] Example files use .template suffix

# Related Guidelines

  • [Existing related section IDs]

6. Optional: Create Usage Command

If this skill is frequently used, create a shortcut command:

/trellis:create-command use-<skill-name> Use <skill-name> skill following project guidelines

Common Skill Integration Reference

| Skill | Integration Target | Examples Directory | |-------|-------------------|-------------------| | frontend-design | frontend | examples/skills/frontend-design/ | | mcp-builder | backend | examples/skills/mcp-builder/ | | webapp-testing | frontend | examples/skills/webapp-testing/ | | doc-coauthoring | .trellis/ | N/A (documentation workflow only) |

Example: Integrating mcp-builder Skill

Directory Structure

.trellis/spec/backend/
|-- doc.md                           # Add MCP section
|-- index.md                         # Add index entry
+-- examples/
    +-- skills/
        +-- mcp-builder/
            |-- README.md
            |-- server.ts.template
            |-- tools.ts.template
            +-- types.ts.template

New Section in doc.md

@@@section:skill-mcp-builder
## # MCP Server Development Guide

### Overview
Create LLM-callable tool services using MCP (Model Context Protocol).

### Project Adaptation
- Place services in a dedicated directory
- Follow existing TypeScript and type definition conventions
- Use project's logging system

### Reference Examples
See `examples/skills/mcp-builder/`

@@@/section:skill-mcp-builder
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