Authoring Skills Use this skill when creating or modifying agent skills in .agents/skills/ . When to Create a Skill Create a skill when content is: Too detailed for AGENTS.md (code templates, multi-step workflows, diagnostic procedures) Only relevant for specific tasks (not needed every session) Self-contained enough to load independently Keep in AGENTS.md instead when: It's a one-liner rule or guardrail every session needs It's a general-purpose gotcha any agent could hit File Structure .agents/skills/ └── my-skill/ ├── SKILL.md # Required: frontmatter + content ├── workflow.md # Optional: supplementary detail └── examples.md # Optional: referenced from SKILL.md Supported Frontmatter Fields
name : my - skill
Required. Used for $name references and /name commands.
description :
Required. How Claude decides to auto-load the skill.
What this covers and when to use it. Include file names and keywords.
argument-hint
:
'
Optional. Hint for expected arguments.
user-invocable : false
Optional. Set false to hide from / menu.
disable-model-invocation : true
Optional. Set true to prevent auto-triggering.
allowed-tools : [ Bash , Read ]
Optional. Tools allowed without permission.
model : opus
Optional. Model override.
context : fork
Optional. Isolated subagent execution.
agent : Explore
Optional. Subagent type (with context: fork).
Only use fields from this list. Unknown fields are silently ignored. Writing Descriptions The description is the primary matching surface for auto-activation. Include: What the skill covers (topic) When to use it (trigger scenario) Key file names the skill references (e.g. config-shared.ts ) Keywords a user or agent might mention (e.g. "feature flag", "DCE")
Too vague - won't auto-trigger reliably
description : Helps with flags.
Good - specific files and concepts for matching
description :
How to add or modify Next.js experimental feature flags end-to-end. Use when editing config-shared.ts, config-schema.ts, define-env-plugin.ts. Content Conventions Structure for Action Skills should tell the agent what to do , not just what to know : Lead with "Use this skill when..." Include step-by-step procedures Add code templates ready to adapt End with verification commands Cross-reference