Create ToolUniverse Skill

Systematic workflow for creating production-ready ToolUniverse skills.

Core Principles

Build on the 10 pillars from

devtu-optimize-skills

:

TEST FIRST - never document untested tools

Verify tool contracts - don't trust function names

Handle SOAP tools - add

operation

parameter

Implementation-agnostic docs - no Python/MCP code in SKILL.md

Foundation first - query aggregators before specialized tools

Disambiguate carefully - resolve IDs properly

Implement fallbacks - Primary -> Fallback -> Default

Grade evidence - T1-T4 tiers on claims

Quantified completeness - numeric minimums per section

Synthesize - models and hypotheses, not just lists

See

OPTIMIZE_INTEGRATION.md

for detailed application of each pillar.

7-Phase Workflow

Phase

Duration

Description

1. Domain Analysis

15 min

Understand use cases, data types, analysis phases

2. Tool Discovery

30-45 min

Search, read configs, test tools (MANDATORY)

3. Tool Creation

0-60 min

Create missing tools via devtu-create-tool

4. Implementation

30-45 min

Write python_implementation.py with tested tools

5. Documentation

30-45 min

Write SKILL.md (agnostic) + QUICK_START.md

6. Validation

15-30 min

Run test suite, validate checklist, manual verify

7. Packaging

15 min

Create summary, update tracking

Total

~1.5-2 hours (without tool creation).

Phase 1: Domain Analysis

Gather concrete use cases and expected outputs

Identify inputs, outputs, and intermediate data types

Break workflow into logical phases

Review existing skills in

skills/

for patterns

Phase 2: Tool Discovery and Testing

Search tools in

/src/tooluniverse/data/*.json

(186 tool files). For each tool, read its config to understand parameters and return schema. See

PARAMETER_VERIFICATION.md

for common pitfalls.

Create and run a test script

using

test_tools_template.py

. For each tool: call with known-good params, verify response format, document corrections. See

TESTING_GUIDE.md

for the full test suite template and procedures.

Phase 3: Tool Creation (If Needed)

Invoke

devtu-create-tool

when required functionality is missing and analysis is blocked. Use

devtu-fix-tool

if new tools fail tests.

Phase 4: Implementation

Create

skills/tooluniverse-[domain]/

with:

python_implementation.py

- use only tested tools, try/except per phase, progressive report writing

test_skill.py

- test each input type, combined inputs, error handling

Use templates from

CODE_TEMPLATES.md

.

Phase 5: Documentation

Write implementation-agnostic SKILL.md using

SKILL_TEMPLATE.md

. Write multi-implementation QUICK_START.md using

QUICKSTART_TEMPLATE.md

. Key rules: zero Python/MCP code in SKILL.md, equal treatment of both interfaces in QUICK_START.

See

IMPLEMENTATION_AGNOSTIC.md

for format guidelines with examples.

Phase 6: Validation

Run the comprehensive test suite (see

TESTING_GUIDE.md

). Validate against

VALIDATION_CHECKLIST.md

. Perform manual verification: load ToolUniverse fresh, copy-paste QUICK_START example, verify output works.

Phase 7: Packaging

Create summary document using

PACKAGING_TEMPLATE.md

. Update session tracking if creating multiple skills.

Skill Integration

Skill

When to Use

devtu-create-tool

Critical functionality missing

devtu-fix-tool

Tool returns errors or unexpected format

devtu-optimize-skills

Evidence grading, report optimization

Quality Indicators

High quality

100% test coverage before docs, agnostic SKILL.md, multi-implementation QUICK_START, fallback strategies, parameter corrections table, response format docs.

Red flags

Docs before testing, Python in SKILL.md, assumed parameters, no fallbacks, SOAP tools missing operation , no test script. Reference Files File Content SKILL_TEMPLATE.md Template for writing SKILL.md QUICKSTART_TEMPLATE.md Template for writing QUICK_START.md TESTING_GUIDE.md Test suite template and procedures VALIDATION_CHECKLIST.md Pre-release quality checklist PACKAGING_TEMPLATE.md Summary document template PARAMETER_VERIFICATION.md Tool parameter verification guide OPTIMIZE_INTEGRATION.md devtu-optimize-skills 10-pillar integration IMPLEMENTATION_AGNOSTIC.md Implementation-agnostic format guide with examples CODE_TEMPLATES.md Python implementation and test templates test_tools_template.py Tool testing script template