skill-authoringlisted

# Skill Authoring Skill ## Purpose Methodology for authoring scaffolding-compatible skills. A skill is a single `SKILL.md` file under `skills/<name>/` that encodes a reusable methodology Claude Code can auto-invoke. This skill defines the frontmatter contract, the recommended body structure, the description-writing rules, and the quality bar every authored skill must meet before it ships. ## When to Apply Apply this skill when: - Running the `/create-skill` command to scaffold a new skill - Hand-writing or editing a `skills/<name>/SKILL.md` file - Reviewing a skill for frontmatter correctness or auto-invocation quality - Deciding whether a repeatable procedure deserves promotion into its own skill Do NOT apply this skill for: - Distilling a conversation into knowledge candidates — use `distill` - Writing into the 3-tier file memory — use `agent-memory` --- ## Frontmatter Contract Every `SKILL.md` MUST begin with a YAML frontmatter block delimited by `---`: | Field | Rule | |-------|------| | `name` | Required. Kebab-case `^[a-z][a-z0-9-]*$`. MUST equal the parent directory name. | | `description` | Required. Non-empty, 1–340 characters. Follows the Description Contract below. | | `context` | Optional. Only value: `fork` — run the skill in an isolated forked subagent. See "Context: fork". | | `agent` | Optional. Sub-agent for a forked skill: `Explore`, `Plan`, or `general-purpose`. | | `effort` | Optional. Reasoning-effort hint: `low`, `medium`, or `high`. | `name`