skill-development_skill

Overview

This skill helps create, organize, and validate skills for Claude Code plugins. It provides a clear, repeatable process for planning reusable content, structuring skill directories, writing the required SKILL.md, and bundling scripts, references, and assets. Use this skill to make skills discoverable, context-efficient, and easy for Claude to execute.

How this skill works

Inspect plugin use cases and concrete examples to determine reusable resources (scripts, references, assets). Create the skill directory under the plugin's skills/ folder, author precise frontmatter trigger phrases in SKILL.md, and keep the body lean while referencing bundled files. Validate structure, trigger phrases, writing style, and script executability; iterate after real-world testing.

When to use it

• Create a new skill for a Claude Code plugin
• Add an additional skill to an existing plugin
• Convert repeated workflows into reusable scripts or assets
• Improve or slim down a SKILL.md for progressive disclosure
• Validate that a skill follows plugin-specific discovery rules

Best practices

• Write frontmatter in third-person and include exact trigger phrases
• Keep SKILL.md lean (target ~1,500–2,000 words); move large details to references/
• Use imperative/infinitive language in SKILL.md body (verb-first instructions)
• Include only needed bundled directories (references/, examples/, scripts/) and avoid duplication
• Provide executable scripts for deterministic work and references for large domain docs
• Test skills locally with cc --plugin-dir and verify automated discovery

Example use cases

• Create a pdf-editor skill with scripts/rotate_pdf.py and assets/template.pdf
• Add a hooks skill that contains scripts/validate-hook-schema.sh and references/patterns.md
• Refactor a bloated SKILL.md by moving API docs to references/api-reference.md
• Build a frontend-template skill with assets/hello-world/ to bootstrap projects
• Use skill-reviewer to check trigger phrases, structure, and progressive disclosure