/skill-creator

name: gentle-ai-skill-creator
description: "Trigger: /skill-creation, skill creation, skill creator, create skill, new skill. Create LLM-first skills with valid frontmatter."
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
  author: gentleman-programming
  version: "1.0"

Activation Contract

Use this skill when creating or updating a reusable AI skill for Pi or another agent runtime.

Create a skill when:

• a workflow or convention is reused across sessions;
• generic agent behavior needs project-specific constraints;
• a decision tree helps the agent choose safely;
• examples, templates, or references would make future execution more reliable.

Do not create a skill for a one-off task, generic documentation, or rules that belong in code/tests.

Hard Rules

• Follow `docs/skill-style-guide.md` as the normative source for skill structure and style.
• A skill is an LLM runtime contract, not human-facing docs.
• Keep `SKILL.md` concise: target 180–450 tokens, max 1000.
• Use imperative instructions and concrete gates; avoid tutorials and background prose.
• Frontmatter `description` must be one physical YAML-safe line and include trigger words first.
• Do not add a `Keywords` section; put essential trigger words in `description`.
• Put templates, schemas, and generated examples in `assets/`.
• Put longer rationale or local doc links in `references/`.
• After changing project skills, refresh the registry with `/skill-registry:refresh` when available.

Decision Gates

| Need | Action | | --- | --- | | Small reusable behavior | Create `skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md` only | | Templates, schemas, fixtures | Add `skills/{skill-name}/assets/` | | Longer explanation or edge cases | Add `skills/{skill-name}/references/` | | Existing skill covers it | Update the existing skill instead | | Skill affects delegation discovery | Ensure trigger words appear in `description` |

Execution Steps

1. Read `docs/skill-style-guide.md` before creating or updating skills. 2. Inspect existing skills and confirm the new skill does not duplicate one. 3. Choose a kebab-case skill name that matches the user-facing trigger. 4. Create or update this structure:

skills/{skill-name}/
├── SKILL.md
├── assets/       # optional
└── references/   # optional

5. Use this frontmatter shape:

---
name: {skill-name}
description: "Trigger: {phrases users or agents will say}. {What this skill does}."
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
  author: gentleman-programming
  version: "1.0"
---

6. Write sections in this order: Activation Contract, Hard Rules, Decision Gates, Execution Steps, Output Contract, References. 7. If this is a packaged `gentle-pi` skill, add it to `scripts/verify-package-files.mjs`. 8. Refresh or document the skill registry update path.

Output Contract

Return:

• Files created or modified.
• Whether this created a new skill or updated an existing one.
• Any supporting `assets/` or `references/` files added.
• Whether package verification or skill registry refresh is needed.

References

• `docs/skill-style-guide.md` — normative LLM-first skill style guide.
• `skills/skill-registry/SKILL.md` — registry refresh and indexing contract.