Skill-Builder: Claude Code Skill Creation Wizard Skill

Skill-Builder: Claude Code Skill Creation Wizard

Expert skill architect for Claude Code. Help users create well-structured, validated skills through an interactive wizard process.

Core Responsibilities

Interactive Skill Creation: Step-by-step wizard to create new skills
Template Application: Apply minimal-starter template with custom metadata
Deep Validation: Validate YAML frontmatter, tool permissions, structure
Bulk Validation: Validate all installed skills with comprehensive reporting
Interactive Editor (v2.0): Terminal-based editor for refining skills
Dependency Management (v2.0): Check, validate, visualize skill dependencies
Testing Support: Verify skills work after creation
Best Practices: Educate on skill design patterns

Skill Creation Workflow

Phase 1: Information Gathering

Use AskUserQuestion to collect (in sequence):

| # | Question | Format | Validation | |---|----------|--------|------------| | 1 | Skill name | Text | kebab-case required | | 2 | Description | Text | One clear sentence | | 3 | Author | Text | Optional | | 4 | Tools needed | Multi-select | From valid tools list | | 5 | Optional components | Multi-select | README, examples/, templates/, scripts/, docs/ | | 6 | Tags | Text | Comma-separated | | 7 | Location | Choice | Global (~/.claude/skills/) or Project (.claude/skills/) |

Valid tools: Bash, Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, WebFetch, AskUserQuestion, TodoWrite, SlashCommand, Skill, BashOutput, KillShell

Phase 2: Scaffolding

Determine path: Global → ~/.claude/skills/{name}/ | Project → .claude/skills/{name}/
Check existing: If exists, ask to overwrite

Create structure:

mkdir -p {base_path}
# Create optional dirs based on selection: examples/, templates/, scripts/, docs/

Load template:
- Marketplace: Read: ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/sf-skills/skill-builder/templates/minimal-starter.md
- Project: Read: [project-root]/skill-builder/templates/minimal-starter.md
Replace placeholders: {{SKILL_NAME}}, {{SKILL_DESCRIPTION}}, {{VERSION}}, {{AUTHOR}}, {{TAGS}}, {{ALLOWED_TOOLS}}
Write files: SKILL.md + optional README.md, examples/example-usage.md

Phase 3: Deep Validation

python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/validate_yaml.py {base_path}/SKILL.md

Validation checks:

YAML syntax valid
Required fields: name, description, version
Name is kebab-case
Version is semver (X.Y.Z)
All tools in allowed-tools are valid (case-sensitive)
SKILL.md has content after frontmatter

If validation fails: Report errors with line numbers and fixes. See docs/validation-errors.md (in skill-builder folder) for detailed examples.

Phase 4: Testing (Optional)

Ask: "Test this skill now?" → Explain restart required, provide invocation example.

Phase 5: Completion Summary

✓ Skill '{name}' created successfully!
📍 Location: {full_path}
📄 Files: SKILL.md [+ README.md, examples/, ...]

Next Steps:
1. Customize SKILL.md with your logic
2. Restart Claude Code to load skill
3. Test: "Use the {name} skill to [task]"

Resources: `docs/skill-structure.md`, `docs/frontmatter-reference.md`, `docs/best-practices.md` (in skill-builder folder)

Validation Errors

| Error | Fix | |-------|-----| | YAML syntax | Quote strings with : or # | | Missing field | Add required field to frontmatter | | Invalid tool | Use exact case: Bash not bash | | Bad version | Use X.Y.Z format | | Bad name | Use kebab-case |

See docs/validation-errors.md (in skill-builder folder) for details.

Bulk Validation (v2.0)

When user asks to validate all skills:

python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/bulk_validate.py [--errors-only] [--format json]

Interpret results: Total skills, valid count, warnings, errors. Guide fixes: Use interactive editor or manual edits.

See docs/workflow-examples.md (in skill-builder folder) for output examples.

Interactive Editor (v2.0)

For editing existing skills:

python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/interactive_editor.py /path/to/skill/

Features: Real-time validation, field editing, tool management, preview changes, auto-backup.

See docs/workflow-examples.md for UI example.

Dependency Management (v2.0)

Dependency syntax in SKILL.md:

dependencies:
  - name: other-skill
    version: ">=1.2.0"  # or ^1.2.0, ~1.2.0, *, exact
    required: true

Version constraints: ^ (compatible) | ~ (approximate) | >= | exact | * (any)

Commands:

python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/dependency_manager.py check my-skill      # Check deps
python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/dependency_manager.py tree my-skill       # Visualize tree
python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/dependency_manager.py circular my-skill   # Detect cycles
python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/dependency_manager.py validate --all      # Validate all

See docs/workflow-examples.md (in skill-builder folder) for output examples.

Patterns & Best Practices

Skill types: Code analysis (Glob→Read→Grep→Report) | Documentation (Read→Write) | Interactive (AskUserQuestion→Validate→Execute) | Testing (Bash→Analyze→Report)

Best practices: Single responsibility | Clear kebab-case names | Minimal tools | Include examples | Proper semver

Troubleshooting

| Issue | Check | |-------|-------| | Creation fails | Permissions on ~/.claude/skills/, Python 3, disk space | | Validation fails | YAML syntax, tool case-sensitivity (Bash not bash) | | Skill doesn't load | Restart Claude Code, verify path, check frontmatter |

Notes

Restart Claude Code after creating skills
Test with real scenarios
This meta-skill can create other meta-skills!

Agent Skills: Skill-Builder: Claude Code Skill Creation Wizard

Skill Files