name: writing-alto-skills description: Use when creating or editing ALTO skills (skills//SKILL.md) or agents (agents/.md). Guide for skill structure, frontmatter format, and content organization.

Writing ALTO Skills

Frontmatter (Required)

---
name: skill-name
description: Use when [triggering conditions]. [What the skill does].
---

Field	Constraints
`name`	Letters, numbers, hyphens. Max 64 chars.
`description`	Start with "Use when...". Max 1024 chars.

Description Examples

# Specific triggering conditions
description: Use when testing ALTO protocol and finding issues. Run protocol tests, analyze artifacts.

# File-based triggers
description: Use when creating or editing ALTO skills (skills/*/SKILL.md) or agents (agents/*.md).

Content Guidelines

Start with key action - What should agent do first?
Numbered steps for procedures
Tables for reference data
Code blocks for commands/examples
Bullets over paragraphs - Keep prose minimal

Word limit: 500 words (excludes code blocks). Validator warns above this.

Validate Before Commit

devenv shell -- alto-validate

Reference: superpowers/writing-skills

Name	writing-alto-skills
Description	Use when creating or editing ALTO skills (skills//SKILL.md) or agents (agents/.md). Guide for skill structure, frontmatter format, and content organization.