name: Building Agent Skills description: Assists in creating Agent Skills of varying complexity levels (simple, moderate, complex). Use when the user wants to create, design, or build a new Agent Skill, or when they need guidance on skill architecture, workflow design, schema validation, or template structure.
Overview
This skill enables the creation of Agent Skills following established best practices and patterns. It provides a structured workflow for gathering requirements, determining appropriate complexity (archetype), planning structure, generating artifacts, and validating the resulting skill.
The skill supports three archetypes:
- Simple: Single SKILL.md with inline instructions
- Moderate: SKILL.md with separate reference files
- Complex: Full Phase/Stage/Step hierarchy with schemas and scripts
Table of Contents
- Overview
- Table of Contents
- Prerequisites
- Workflow: Building Agent Skills
Prerequisites
Before starting the workflow you MUST:
- Present complete workflow structure (Phases, Stages, Steps) to user
- Explain Phase approval gates
- Wait for user acknowledgment
Workflow: Building Agent Skills
This workflow guides you through creating an Agent Skill from requirements to validation. The workflow is organized into five distinct phases:
Phase 1: Discovery - Gather requirements and analyze complexity needs.
Phase 2: Planning - Design the skill structure and file organization.
Phase 3: Implementation - Generate all skill artifacts.
Phase 4: Validation - Verify skill correctness and quality.
Phase 5: Iteration - Refine based on feedback and ensure readiness.
Important Workflow Guidelines
When executing this workflow you MUST:
- Follow Phases, Stages, and Steps in order
- Announce Stage completions to the user
- Present complete Phase output at Phase boundaries
- Obtain explicit user approval before proceeding to the next Phase
Phase 1: Discovery
Stage 1: Requirements Gathering
Objective: Understand what the user needs to build
Step 1: Gathering Requirements
See Gathering Requirements Workflow Step Reference for detailed guidance.
Stage 2: Analysis
Objective: Determine appropriate skill architecture
Step 2: Determining Archetype
See Determining Archetype Workflow Step Reference for detailed guidance.
Phase 1 Approval Gate: Present complete requirements and archetype decision. Obtain explicit user approval before Phase 2.
Phase 2: Planning
Stage 3: Design
Objective: Create approved blueprint for the skill
Step 3: Planning Structure
See Planning Structure Workflow Step Reference for detailed guidance.
Phase 2 Approval Gate: Present complete structure plan including file manifest and generation order. Obtain explicit user approval before Phase 3.
Phase 3: Implementation
Stage 4: Foundation
Objective: Generate core skill definition
Step 4: Generating SKILL.md
See Generating SKILL.md Workflow Step Reference for detailed guidance.
Stage 5: References
Objective: Generate supporting documentation
Step 5: Generating Workflow References
See Generating Workflow References Step Reference for detailed guidance.
Step 6: Generating Schemas
See Generating Schemas Workflow Step Reference for detailed guidance.
Stage 6: Automation
Objective: Generate executable components
Step 7: Generating Scripts
See Generating Scripts Workflow Step Reference for detailed guidance.
Phase 3 Approval Gate: Present all generated artifacts for review. Obtain explicit user approval before Phase 4.
Phase 4: Validation
Stage 7: Quality Assurance
Objective: Verify skill correctness
Step 8: Validating Skill
See Validating Skill Workflow Step Reference for detailed guidance.
Phase 4 Approval Gate: Present validation results. Obtain explicit user approval before Phase 5.
Phase 5: Iteration
Stage 8: Refinement
Objective: Incorporate user feedback
Step 9: Iterating on Feedback
See Iterating on Feedback Workflow Step Reference for detailed guidance.