Creating Skills

How to create effective AI agent skills

Creating Skills

This guide covers best practices for creating skills that work well with AI agents.

Skill Structure

Every skill needs a SKILL.md file with:

  1. Frontmatter (required metadata)
  2. Description (what the skill does)
  3. Instructions (how to use it)

Basic Template

---
name: my-skill
description: Brief description of what this skill does
version: 1.0.0
---
 
# My Skill
 
[One paragraph explaining the skill's purpose]
 
## When to Use
 
Use this skill when [specific scenarios].
 
## Instructions
 
[Detailed instructions for the AI]

Writing Good Instructions

Be Specific

Instead of:

"Review the code"

Write:

"Review the code for: 1) Security vulnerabilities 2) Performance issues 3) Code style violations"

Provide Examples

Show the expected output format:

## Output Format
 
Provide feedback in this format:
 
### Issues Found
- [severity] Description of issue
  - File: path/to/file.ts
  - Line: 42
  - Suggestion: How to fix it

Set Boundaries

Define what the skill should and shouldn't do:

## Scope
 
DO:
- Check for SQL injection
- Validate input sanitization
 
DO NOT:
- Modify code automatically
- Run tests

Testing Skills

Test your skill by:

  1. Installing it locally
  2. Asking your AI agent to use it
  3. Verifying the output matches expectations

Sharing Skills

Once tested, share skills by:

  1. Pushing to a GitHub repository
  2. Adding the repo: skilluse repo add owner/repo
  3. Installing: skilluse install skill-name