Automated summary

This skill explains the structure and creation of SKILL.md files for Claude Code skills, including frontmatter metadata and discovery best practices.

Strengths

Clearly defines the description field for automatic triggering
Distinguishes skills from plugins, hooks, and slash commands
Provides examples of good and bad descriptions
Documents required and optional frontmatter fields

Limitations

Only covers file format, not skill content
Specific to Claude Code, not applicable to other platforms
No template for advanced use cases

When to use it

Use this skill when creating or editing a SKILL.md file to define a new skill.

When not to use it

Do not use it for implementing advanced functionality like CLI tools, MCP servers, or hooks, which require a plugin.

Security analysis

Safe

Quality score90/100

The skill only uses safe tools (Read, Glob, Grep) that do not alter the system. It contains no destructive commands, exfiltration attempts, or obfuscated content. It is purely informational documentation.

No concerns found

How this analysis is made

Examples

Explain SKILL.md format

I want to create a new skill for my project. Can you explain the SKILL.md format and what fields are required?

Write a good description

How do I write a good description for skill discovery in SKILL.md? Give me examples of good and bad descriptions.

Difference between skill and plugin

What is the difference between a skill and a plugin in Claude Code? When should I use each?

name: example-skill description: Use when working with examples, tutorials, or skill documentation. Invoke when the user asks about skill configuration, manifest structure, or creating new skills. allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep

Example Skill

Name: Skill Creation and Configuration
Author: Skills Guide Bot

This is an example skill demonstrating the SKILL.md format.

What Skills Provide

Skills are instructions and context injected into the agent's system prompt. They help the agent understand:

When to use certain techniques or tools
Project-specific conventions and patterns
Domain knowledge and best practices

What Skills Do NOT Provide

Skills are not for:

CLI tools (use package managers or plugins)
MCP servers (use plugins with plugin.json)
Hooks (use plugins)
Slash commands (use plugins)

For those capabilities, create a full Claude Code plugin with .claude-plugin/plugin.json.

SKILL.md Format

Skills are defined by a single SKILL.md file with YAML frontmatter:

---
name: my-skill
description: When to use this skill...
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Bash
---

# My Skill

Instructions and documentation here...

Required Frontmatter Fields

| Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | name | Skill identifier (kebab-case, 1-64 chars) | | description | Critical - tells Claude when to invoke the skill |

Optional Frontmatter Fields

| Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | allowed-tools | Comma-separated or YAML array of allowed tools |

Discovery

The description field is crucial for skill discovery. Claude uses it to decide when to invoke the skill.

Good descriptions:

"Use when managing git branches, resolving merge conflicts, or reviewing commit history"
"Use when working with React components, hooks, or state management"

Bad descriptions:

"Git utilities" (too vague)
"React helper" (won't trigger reliably)

Example Use Cases

This skill covers:

Explaining skill structure and format
Helping users create new skills
Demonstrating best practices for skill documentation

From the file to a first result

The download contains exactly the content displayed on this page. This copy may differ from the latest version in the source repository.

View the source and supporting files

This download contains SKILL.md only. Any scripts, references, templates and dependencies are not included. Get the required files from the source, preserving their directory structure, before continuing.

1. Download the file

Download SKILL.md

From the root of a test project, save the file as .skill-downloads/skill-creation-and-configuration-mm5t8al7/SKILL.md, or use the command below. This folder is for inspecting the skill before installation.

Command for macOS/Linux or WSL: requires a POSIX shell and curl. On Windows without WSL, use the download button and create the folder manually.

mkdir -p '.skill-downloads/skill-creation-and-configuration-mm5t8al7' && curl --fail --show-error --location 'https://skills-guides.com/api/skills/skill-creation-and-configuration-mm5t8al7/download' --output '.skill-downloads/skill-creation-and-configuration-mm5t8al7/SKILL.md.part' && mv '.skill-downloads/skill-creation-and-configuration-mm5t8al7/SKILL.md.part' '.skill-downloads/skill-creation-and-configuration-mm5t8al7/SKILL.md'

2. Check prerequisites

Read SKILL.md before using it. If it references scripts or external services, inspect them and prepare the required access in your test environment.

Tools declared by the author (check availability in your agent): Read, Glob, Grep

No recognized prerequisites section in this file. This does not mean it is self-contained: libraries, tools and access requirements may be mentioned elsewhere in the content or source repository.

The platforms on this page are catalog indications. The paths below follow tool documentation; they do not prove this skill has been run in those tools. No minimum tool version is confirmed for this listing.

3. Load the skill

After inspection, copy the complete folder into your project using one of the commands below, then open a new tool session. The command stops if a folder with the same name already exists: compare the files before replacing it.

Claude Code

test -f '.skill-downloads/skill-creation-and-configuration-mm5t8al7/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/skill-creation-and-configuration-mm5t8al7/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.claude/skills' && test ! -e '.claude/skills/example-skill' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/skill-creation-and-configuration-mm5t8al7' '.claude/skills/example-skill'

OpenSkills

OpenSkills must already be installed. The local install/read procedure is checked with OpenSkills 1.5.0, which requires Node.js ≥ 20.6.0. Catalog slugs are not resolved automatically.

Official OpenSkills installation

openskills install './.skill-downloads/skill-creation-and-configuration-mm5t8al7'

openskills read 'skill-creation-and-configuration-mm5t8al7'

Reading should display the installed file content and its base directory. It does not run the skill or install its dependencies.

For an agent that reads AGENTS.md, then sync the index. This command changes AGENTS.md: review the diff before using it.

openskills sync

Manual method or another tool: attach SKILL.md to a conversation, or open it in an agent that can read files. Include any required supporting resources. No universal folder is recognized by every tool.

4. Try a first task

Use a short, synthetic input: an API endpoint, a small document or an interface brief. In a new conversation, attach the file or give the agent its path, then adapt this request:

Read .skill-downloads/skill-creation-and-configuration-mm5t8al7/SKILL.md and apply its instructions to this example: [describe a test input]. Identify any missing files, dependencies or access. Produce the result requested by the skill without inventing data or running unreviewed scripts.

Expected result: output matching the skill instructions, or a precise list of missing prerequisites. A read confirmation alone does not validate a first use. If an external resource is unavailable, that path remains untested.

Related skills

Supabase Docs Authoring

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Write, edit, and review Supabase documentation content including guides, tutorials, reference docs, and partials. Follow style guides and MDX/TOML validation rules.

Claude CodeintermediateSafe 108,544

Skills Guide Bot