Write your own skill and add it to the hub

30 to 60 minutes ยท 7 steps

A good first skill is a workflow you keep re-explaining to your agent. Pick one you have typed out more than twice. This route starts with skill-writer from the personal collection and ends with the result published here.

Before you start

  1. Draft the skill

    /personal:skill-writer

    Walks through scope, frontmatter and structure. The description matters most: it is what the agent reads when deciding whether to load the skill at all.

    /personal:skill-writer Help me write a skill for <the workflow>.

    Done when: You have a SKILL.md whose description says what it does and when to use it.

  2. Tighten it for an agent reader

    /pocock:writing-for-agents

    Use this to catch instructions that are vague, or that cost context without changing what the agent does.

    /pocock:writing-for-agents Review this SKILL.md.

    Done when: Every section changes what the agent does.

  3. Cut the filler

    /pstack:unslop

    Removes AI tells from the prose. Shorter skills also cost less context each time they load.

    /pstack:unslop this SKILL.md

    Done when: You would be comfortable reading it aloud.

  4. Put it in the hub

    The folder name becomes the skill name. Then add "personal/<name>": "<phase>" to catalog/phases.json so it lands in the right lifecycle group.

    mkdir -p plugins/personal/skills/<name> && cp SKILL.md plugins/personal/skills/<name>/

    Done when: The folder and the phase entry both exist.

  5. Validate and preview it

    The validator catches a missing description or phase. The site reads plugins/ directly, so the new page appears with no other change.

    npm run validate && npm run dev

    Done when: The skill has its own page at /skills/personal/<name>/.

  6. Try it for real

    Starts a Claude Code session with your working copy of the plugin loaded. Give it a real task, without naming the skill, and see whether it loads by itself.

    claude --plugin-dir plugins/personal

    Done when: It loads when it should and stays quiet when it should not. If not, rewrite the description.

  7. Improve it from real use

    /pstack:reflect

    At the end of a session that used the skill, this reviews the transcript and routes what it learned into concrete skill edits.

    /pstack:reflect

    Done when: You have applied the edits you agree with.

What you end up with

A skill of your own, in your hub, tested on real work, with a way to keep improving it.

โ† All tutorials Next: run skills in loops โ†’