create-skill
Creates new Claude Code skills, optimizes existing skills, or audits all skills/rules/references following Anthropic best practices. Use when adding workflows, improving skill quality, or checking configuration consistency.
SKILL.md
| Name | create-skill |
| Description | Creates new Claude Code skills, optimizes existing skills, or audits all skills/rules/references following Anthropic best practices. Use when adding workflows, improving skill quality, or checking configuration consistency. |
name: create-skill description: Creates new Claude Code skills, optimizes existing skills, or audits all skills/rules/references following Anthropic best practices. Use when adding workflows, improving skill quality, or checking configuration consistency. argument-hint: '[new <skill-name> | optimize <skill-name> | audit]' user-invocable: true
Create Skill
Creates, optimizes, or audits Claude Code configuration for the helix portfolio.
Modes
Create new skill: /create-skill new <skill-name>
Optimize existing skill: /create-skill optimize <skill-name>
Audit all configuration: /create-skill audit
Helix Structure
.claude/
├── rules/ # Code conventions (auto-loaded)
│ ├── vue-components.md
│ ├── typescript.md
│ ├── styling.md
│ ├── content-system.md
│ └── git-workflow.md
├── skills/
│ └── <skill-name>/
│ ├── SKILL.md # Required: Main instructions
│ ├── references/ # Optional: Supporting documentation
│ │ └── *.md
│ └── scripts/ # Optional: Python utilities
└── settings.local.json # Permissions
YAML Frontmatter
Required fields:
---
name: skill-name
description: Third-person description of what and when.
allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Bash
---
Optional fields:
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
argument-hint | Autocomplete hint, e.g. [filename] |
user-invocable | Set true for /skill-name commands |
context | Set fork for subagent execution |
Naming Conventions
Use verb-noun pattern:
create-*for generation workflowsreview-*for analysis workflowsresolve-*for fix workflows
Rules:
- Lowercase, hyphens, numbers only
- Maximum 64 characters
- No reserved words:
anthropic,claude
Description Best Practices
Third person (injected into system prompt):
- Good: "Generates minimalist images for the portfolio"
- Bad: "I generate images for you"
Include what + when:
description: Audits SEO compliance. Use before deployment or when optimizing search visibility.
Under 200 characters for clean display.
Instruction Quality
Skills are prompts. Apply prompt engineering:
Be Specific
# Bad
"create an image"
# Good
"generate a 1080x1080 black and white abstract image representing [concept]"
State Constraints
- What NOT to do: "don't use color"
- What to reference: "follow visual-identity.md guidelines"
- Expected output: "return CDN URLs for all variants"
Emphasize Critical Rules
IMPORTANT: Never upload without --name flag.
Provide Examples
For output-sensitive skills, show concrete input/output pairs.
Content Guidelines
Conciseness
- Challenge each paragraph: "Does Claude need this?"
- Assume Claude knows standard tools/patterns
- No verbose explanations
Progressive Disclosure
- SKILL.md: Essential workflow (under 200 lines)
- references/: Detailed guidelines, examples
Checklists for Complex Tasks
- [ ] Step 1: Gather requirements
- [ ] Step 2: Generate output
- [ ] Step 3: Verify quality
- [ ] Step 4: Update content files
Create New Skill Workflow
-
Determine category: create-, review-, resolve-*
-
Create structure:
mkdir -p .claude/skills/{skill-name} mkdir -p .claude/skills/{skill-name}/references # if needed -
Write SKILL.md:
- Frontmatter (name, description, allowed-tools)
- When to Use section
- Commands section
- Workflow steps
-
Add references/ if detailed guidelines needed
-
Update CLAUDE.md skills table
-
Test with
/skill-name
Optimize Existing Skill Workflow
-
Read current skill files
-
Audit against checklist:
- Description third person, under 200 chars
- Description includes what + when
- SKILL.md under 200 lines
- No verbose explanations
- Critical rules use IMPORTANT
- References in references/ (not inline)
- Examples for output-sensitive tasks
-
Apply fixes to SKILL.md
-
Update CLAUDE.md if description changed
Audit All Configuration Workflow
Run /create-skill audit to check all configuration:
1. Audit Skills
For each skill in .claude/skills/:
| Check | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Frontmatter | name, description, allowed-tools present |
| Description | Third person, what + when, < 200 chars |
| Length | SKILL.md < 200 lines |
| References | Detailed content in references/, not SKILL.md |
| Emphasis | Critical rules marked IMPORTANT |
2. Audit Rules
For each rule in .claude/rules/:
| Check | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Focused | Single topic per file |
| Concise | < 50 lines |
| Actionable | Concrete guidelines, not explanations |
| No overlap | Each rule covers unique content |
3. Audit References
For each references/*.md in skills:
| Check | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Necessary | Contains info Claude can't infer |
| Current | No outdated information |
| Linked | Referenced from SKILL.md |
4. Check CLAUDE.md Alignment
- All user-invocable skills listed in table
- Descriptions match skill files
- No stale entries
5. Output Report
## Configuration Audit Report
### Skills
| Skill | Status | Issues |
|-------|--------|--------|
| create-image | PASS | - |
| review-seo | WARN | Description too long |
### Rules
| Rule | Status | Issues |
|------|--------|--------|
| vue-components.md | PASS | - |
| typescript.md | PASS | - |
### References
| File | Status | Issues |
|------|--------|--------|
| visual-identity.md | PASS | - |
| seo-guidelines.md | PASS | - |
### CLAUDE.md
- [ ] All skills listed: YES/NO
- [ ] Descriptions match: YES/NO
### Summary
- Items audited: X
- Passing: Y
- Warnings: Z
- Failures: W
Anti-Patterns
- First-person descriptions ("I help you...")
- Verbose explanations of common concepts
- SKILL.md over 200 lines without references/
- Inconsistent naming patterns
- Missing IMPORTANT on critical rules
- Deeply nested references (SKILL.md → ref.md → detail.md)
Related
- After creating skill: Update CLAUDE.md skills table
- For code changes: Follow
.claude/rules/conventions