bitovi/ai-enablement-prompts/claude

Create Skill

Help the user create a new Claude Code skill in this project.

Step 1: Clarify the Skill's Purpose

Ask the user (or infer from context):

• What task should the skill perform?
• Is it reference content (conventions, patterns, domain knowledge that applies inline) or task content (step-by-step actions like deploy/commit/generate)?
• Should Claude invoke it automatically, or only the user manually?
• Are there specific trigger phrases or situations?

Step 2: Determine Placement

Project skills live at:

.claude/skills/<skill-name>/
├── SKILL.md          # Main instructions (required)
├── references/       # background knowledge, specs, checklists
├── examples/         # example inputs/outputs
└── scripts/          # helper shell scripts

Step 3: Write the SKILL.md

Use this frontmatter template:

---
name: skill-name
description: Use this skill when the user asks to "...", mentions "...", or wants to "...". Include specific trigger phrases.
---

Complete Frontmatter Reference

All fields are optional. Only description is recommended.

Invocation & Context Loading Matrix

Dynamic Context Injection

The !command`` syntax runs shell commands before the skill content is sent to Claude. The output replaces the placeholder — Claude only sees the result, not the command.

-Current branch: !`git branch --show-current`
-Staged files: !`git diff --name-only --cached`

Arguments & String Substitutions

Example with positional arguments:

---
name: migrate-component
description: Migrate a component from one framework to another
argument-hint: [component] [from-framework] [to-framework]
---
 
Migrate the $0 component from $1 to $2.
Preserve all existing behavior and tests.

Step 4: Write Effective Instructions

The body of SKILL.md is the prompt Claude follows. Best practices:

• State the goal clearly at the top
• Use numbered steps for sequential workflows
• Reference supporting files with relative markdown links: [checklist.md](checklist.md)
• Keep it focused — one skill per domain
• Keep SKILL.md under 500 lines. Move detailed reference material to separate files.
• Include "ultrathink" in skill content to enable extended thinking
• For context: fork, the skill content becomes the subagent's prompt — must include an explicit task, not just guidelines

Add Supporting Files

Supporting files keep SKILL.md focused. Reference them so Claude knows when to load each:

## Additional resources
 
-For complete API details, see [reference.md](reference.md)
-For usage examples, see [examples.md](examples.md)

Step 5: Create the Files

Create .claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md with:

1. Frontmatter with name and description
2. Clear, step-by-step instructions
3. Any supporting files the skill references

Step 6: Register in Project Memory

If a CLAUDE.md file exists at the project root, append the new skill to reinforce discoverability. Add a bullet with the skill name and short description to the skills list:

-**skill-name**: Short description of what the skill does

If no CLAUDE.md exists, skip this step — skills are still auto-discovered from .claude/skills/.

Confirm the skill was created and explain how to test it: the user can invoke it with /<skill-name> or describe the situation that should auto-trigger it.

Troubleshooting

• Skill not triggering: Check description includes keywords users would naturally say. Verify with "What skills are available?" or invoke directly with /skill-name.
• Skill triggers too often: Make description more specific, or add disable-model-invocation: true.
• Claude doesn't see all skills: Skill descriptions share a context budget (2% of context window, fallback 16K chars). Run /context to check for warnings. Override with SLASH_COMMAND_TOOL_CHAR_BUDGET env var.
• Permission control: Use Skill(name) for exact match or Skill(name *) for prefix match in permission rules. Deny all with Skill in deny rules.