name: publish-skill description: > Convert a personal agent skill into a distributable, open-source-ready skill. Runs PII audit, generalization, license compatibility check, cross-platform adapter review, and packaging workflow. triggers: publish skill, distribute skill, open-source skill, package skill, universalize skill tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Grep, Glob model: inherit
Skill: publish-skill
Convert a personal agent skill into a clean, distributable, open-source-ready skill package. This skill walks through a 7-phase pipeline that audits for personally identifiable information, generalizes language and role assumptions, verifies license compatibility, checks cross-platform adapter needs, and prepares the final package for commit.
Communication Rules
- Communicate with the user in their preferred language
- Use English for technical terms (PII, MIT, CC BY, GPL, YAML frontmatter)
- Present audit findings in structured tables
Phase 0: Init and Identify Source
Required Inputs
Collect from the user:
- Source skill path: directory containing the personal skill (e.g.,
~/.claude/skills/my-skill/or~/.agents/skills/my-skill/) - Target package path: directory of the distributable package (e.g.,
~/workspace/<your-package>/) - Target license: license of the package (default: MIT)
Actions
- Read
SKILL.mdfrom the source skill directory - Inventory all files recursively (
ls -R) - Classify skill type:
- Standalone: self-contained skill with no agent delegation
- Orchestrator: delegates to sub-agents (NOT suitable for distribution without refactoring)
- Wrapper: thin wrapper around another tool/API
- Present inventory table to the user:
| File | Lines | Type | Notes |
|------|-------|------|-------|
Gate: User confirms source skill and target package before proceeding.
Phase 1: Originality Check
Verify the skill is original work suitable for open-source distribution.
Checks
- External source: Is this skill adapted from another package or author? Check for attribution headers, license blocks, or "based on" comments.
- Third-party content: Do any files in
references/come from external sources (published guidelines, textbooks, standards bodies)? - Competitive sensitivity: Does the skill reveal proprietary business logic or competitive advantage that should remain private?
Decision Matrix
| Finding | Action |
|---|---|
| Fully original | Proceed to Phase 2 |
| Adapted with compatible license | Add attribution header, proceed |
| Contains non-compatible third-party content | Flag for removal or URL manifest conversion |
| Orchestrator with private agent references | STOP -- requires refactoring to standalone first |
| Competitive/proprietary logic | STOP -- not suitable for open-source |
Phase 2: PII De-identification Audit
Zero tolerance: the skill must have exactly 0 PII matches before proceeding.
Pre-scan Setup
Before running, ask the user for everything that should also count as a PII hit but is unique to them:
- Their name(s) in all languages and romanizations (a placeholder shape:
<First Last>|<native-script name>) - Their institutional affiliation(s) (a placeholder shape:
<Institution>|<Hospital>) - Any collaborator surnames that may appear in drafts or filenames
Combine the inputs into a single grep -E alternation pattern (pipe-separated).
Automated Scan
Run the bundled audit script. The first argument is the skill directory; the second is the user-specific alternation pattern from Pre-scan Setup.
bash ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/audit_skill.sh <source_skill_path> \
"<First Last>|<native-script name>|<Institution>|<Hospital>"
The script runs nine categories that mirror the medsci-skills monorepo linter (scripts/validate_skills.sh):
- Hardcoded paths (
/Users/<name>/,/home/<name>/,~/Documents,~/Desktop,~/Downloads,~/Projects) - Email addresses (any address-shaped string)
- IP addresses / internal URLs (
*.internal,*.local,*.corp) - Institutional references (SNUH / AMC / SMC / KAIST / SNU / ASAN / MGH / Mayo Clinic / Johns Hopkins / Samsung Medical / Severance / Asan Medical)
- Academic roles with names (
professor <Surname>,Prof. <Surname>,Dr. <Surname>,PGY[0-9],<한글이름> 교수님) - Language hardcoding ("in Korean", "한국어로", "in Japanese", "in Chinese")
- Location specifics (Seoul / Busan / Daegu / Tokyo / Beijing / Shanghai / Boston / Stanford and Korean variants)
- Blockquote dated precedent (
> YYYY-MM-DD ...lines that reveal an internal review timeline) - Author-style filenames (
<Surname>{Year}_*pattern, e.g.,<Surname>2025_<Journal>_Fig01.png; allow-list excludes generic tokens likeIssue2024_,Sample2025_) - Binary EXIF metadata (DOCX / PPTX / XLSX / PDF / PNG / JPG / TIFF — scanned via
exiftoolwhen installed; skipped silently otherwise with an install hint)
False-positive guard: text scans use grep --binary-files=without-match so byte-stream collisions inside .pyc, .png, or .docx files do not trigger findings. __pycache__/ is also explicitly skipped.
Cross-validation
For categories the script flags, also manually verify with the Grep tool against ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/pii-patterns.md. Pay particular attention to:
- Names not in the EXTRA_PATTERNS argument (e.g., a co-author who appeared only in one early draft)
- Domain-specific institutional acronyms (your institution may not be in the default list)
- Project-specific identifiers like
CK-NN,MA-NN, dated cohort names
Output Format
Present all findings in a remediation table:
| # | File:Line | Category | Match | Suggested Fix |
|---|-----------|----------|-------|---------------|
Gate: User reviews all findings. Fix each one. Re-run audit. Proceed only when 0 hits confirmed.
Phase 3: Generalization
Transform personal assumptions into universal defaults.
Language
- Replace:
"in Korean"/"한국어로"/"Korean language"→"in the user's preferred language" - Replace:
"communicate in [specific language]"→"Communicate with the user in their preferred language" - Keep: multilingual trigger keywords in the
triggers:field (these aid discovery)
Role
- Replace:
"radiology researcher"→"medical researcher"(if the skill is domain-general) - Replace:
"professor"/"fellow"→"researcher"or"user"(context-dependent) - Keep: domain-specific terms that define the skill's scope (e.g., "diagnostic accuracy" is fine)
Paths
- Replace: hardcoded absolute paths →
${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}for bundled reference files - Replace:
~/Documents/...→ user-provided output directory - Keep: relative paths within the skill directory structure
Environment
- Remove: assumptions about specific OS (macOS, Linux)
- Remove: assumptions about specific editors or IDEs
- Remove: references to personal infrastructure (agents, other personal skills)
- Keep: tool requirements listed in frontmatter
tools:field
Interoperability
- Check: does the skill reference other skills by name (e.g., "route to
analyze-stats")? - If referenced skill exists in target package: keep the reference
- If referenced skill does NOT exist in target package: make it optional with fallback instructions
Output
Show a unified diff of all generalization changes for user review.
Phase 4: License Compatibility Check
Verify all bundled files are compatible with the target package license.
Scan Process
For each file in the skill's references/ and scripts/ directories:
- Check for license headers or declarations within the file
- Check for LICENSE files in the same directory
- If the file contains content from a known standard (reporting guidelines, clinical scores, etc.), identify the source and its license
Compatibility Matrix
Reference ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/license-compatibility-matrix.md for the full matrix.
Quick reference for MIT target:
| Source License | Can Bundle? | Action |
|---|---|---|
| CC0 / Public Domain | Yes | No changes needed |
| CC BY 4.0 / 3.0 | Yes | Add attribution header |
| MIT / BSD / Apache 2.0 | Yes | Include license notice |
| CC BY-NC | No | Convert to URL reference |
| CC BY-NC-ND | No | Convert to URL reference |
| CC BY-SA | No | Copyleft risk -- convert to URL reference |
| GPL v2/v3 | No | Mark as optional external dependency |
| Unknown / Proprietary | No | Assume incompatible -- remove or get permission |
URL Manifest Pattern
For non-compatible content, convert from bundled file to a URL manifest:
## [Checklist Name]
This checklist is not bundled due to license restrictions ([License Type]).
**Official source**: [URL]
**How to use**: Download the checklist from the official source and place it in
`references/` before using this skill's reporting check feature.
Output
Present license audit table:
| File | Source | License | Compatible? | Action |
|------|--------|---------|------------|--------|
Phase 5: Validate and Test
Structural Validation
- YAML frontmatter: Parse and verify all required fields (name, description, tools)
- File references: Every
${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/...path resolves to an actual file - Script executability: Scripts in
scripts/have appropriate shebangs - Line count: SKILL.md should be under 500 lines for optimal loading
- Description quality: Description should start with a verb and include trigger keywords
Final PII Re-check
Run audit_skill.sh one final time. Must return exit code 0.
Cross-Platform Adapter Review
Check whether the skill can run in common desktop-agent environments:
| Platform | Check |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | No hardcoded dependency on private ~/.claude paths unless documented. |
| Codex | SKILL.md is self-contained and installable under ~/.agents/skills/. |
| Cursor | A short .cursor/rules/*.mdc adapter can point to the canonical SKILL.md. |
| Windows | Commands avoid Unix-only assumptions or provide PowerShell/Python alternatives. |
| macOS/Linux | Shell examples use portable paths where possible. |
If the package is intended for a workshop or classroom, prepare direct-download ZIPs rather than asking users to navigate GitHub manually:
https://github.com/{owner}/{repo}/releases/latest/download/{package}-classroom-windows.zip
https://github.com/{owner}/{repo}/releases/latest/download/{package}-classroom-macos.zip
README Entry Draft
Generate a table row matching the target package's README format:
| **{skill-name}** | {One-sentence description of what the skill does.} |
User Testing
Instruct the user to:
- Copy the cleaned skill to a test location:
cp -r <cleaned_skill> ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name> - Restart Claude Code
- Test the skill triggers by typing
/<skill-name>or relevant trigger phrases - Verify all phases work end-to-end on a sample input
Gate: User confirms testing is complete.
Phase 6: Package and Commit
Copy to Target Package
cp -r <cleaned_skill_path> <target_package>/skills/<skill-name>/
Update README
Apply the README entry drafted in Phase 5:
- Add row to the appropriate table (Available Now / Coming Soon)
- Update pipeline diagram if the skill adds a new stage
- Update skill count if mentioned in prose
Generate Commit Commands
Present the exact commands but do NOT auto-execute push:
cd <target_package>
git add skills/<skill-name>/
git add README.md
git diff --cached # User reviews
git commit -m "Add <skill-name>: <one-line description>"
Gate: User reviews git diff --cached and explicitly approves the commit. Push is always manual.
Post-Publish
Remind the user to:
- Update any memory files tracking package status
- Add the skill to any marketplace listings if applicable
- Test installation from a clean clone:
git clone <repo> && cp -r <repo>/skills/<skill-name> ~/.claude/skills/ - For classroom distribution, create or update GitHub Release ZIP assets and test direct download links.
Classroom Package Checklist (if applicable)
- Full skill set is installed once; lesson tasks use only 1-2 skills at a time
- Windows ZIP includes
installers/install-windows.cmd - macOS ZIP includes
installers/install-macos.command -
README_FIRST.mdexplains unzip -> double-click -> restart -> test prompt - Email announcement uses direct GitHub Release download links
- WSL is documented as an advanced option, not a default requirement
- First prompts avoid full end-to-end orchestration
What This Skill Does NOT Do
- Never auto-executes
git push-- push is always manual - Never modifies the source skill in place -- works on a copy or the target directory
- Never makes judgment calls on competitive sensitivity -- always asks the user
- Never bundles content with incompatible licenses -- converts to URL references
- Never assumes a specific package license -- asks in Phase 0
- Never skips the PII audit -- zero tolerance is enforced at Phase 2 and Phase 5
Anti-Hallucination
- Never fabricate file paths, URLs, DOIs, or package names. Verify existence before recommending.
- Never invent journal metadata, impact factors, or submission policies without verification at the journal's website.
- If a tool, package, or resource does not exist or you are unsure, say so explicitly rather than guessing.