Build reliable Claude skills: SKILL.md structure, triggers, validation
Create, structure and improve Claude skills — description-as-trigger design, kebab-case naming, frontmatter rules, the Instructions → Examples → Troubleshooting template, validation scripts and trigger testing
- What
- Create, structure and improve Claude skills — description-as-trigger design, kebab-case naming, frontmatter rules, the Instructions → Examples → Troubleshooting template, validation scripts and trigger testing
- Cost
- Free
- Needs
- none — the skill is guidance for authoring Claude skills, not software to install
- Install
- Copy the installer prompt below into your Muse — your agent does the rest.
Curated by Skill Harbor — @dboeckli's guide for creating, structuring, and improving Claude skills: a 7-step workflow. Step 1, identify your use-case category — Document & Asset Creation, Workflow Automation, or MCP Enhancement — and define 2–3 concrete use cases first. Step 2, create the kebab-case folder with exactly `SKILL.md` inside. Step 3, write the description — the most critical part — with WHAT it does AND WHEN to use it (specific trigger phrases users actually say, under 1024 chars, no XML tags). Step 4, write body instructions following the template: `## Instructions` → numbered steps → `## Examples` → `## Troubleshooting`, specific and actionable, details in `references/`, keep SKILL.md under 5,000 words. Step 5, update the skill tables in CLAUDE.md and README.md. Step 6, run the bundled `validate-skills.sh` (fix every FAIL; check frontmatter scalars, indentation, forbidden characters). Step 7, test triggering with 10–20 queries (target ~90% on relevant queries, never on unrelated ones) and iterate on the signals — undertriggering → add trigger phrases; overtriggering → add negative triggers; instructions ignored → move critical steps to the top. Includes the full design principles (progressive disclosure, composability, portability), five workflow patterns, a troubleshooting table (won't upload, under/over-triggering, instructions ignored, context bloat), and a quick checklist. Honest caveats: methodology only — a couple of steps are specific to the author's repo (the German README column, the remote `npx skills` check); skip or adapt those for your own projects. MIT licensed. Skill Harbor never reviews the code, review it yourself before use. Discovered via skills.sh.
Version:
Install
Prerequisites: none — the skill is guidance for authoring Claude skills, not software to install Install "Build reliable Claude skills: SKILL.md structure, triggers, validation" for me. It teaches my agent @dboeckli's skill-authoring guide: pick a use-case category (Document & Asset Creation, Workflow Automation, MCP Enhancement); create the kebab-case folder with exactly SKILL.md; write the description as WHAT + WHEN with real trigger phrases (under 1024 chars); follow the Instructions → Examples → Troubleshooting template with progressive disclosure; run validate-skills.sh and fix every FAIL; test triggering on 10–20 queries and iterate on under/over-triggering signals. MIT-licensed. Repository: https://github.com/dboeckli/ai-agent-skills/blob/main/.claude/skills/skill-best-practices/SKILL.md 1. Fetch the SKILL.md file (and any helper files) from the repository path into a temporary folder and summarize what it does in one or two sentences. 2. Safety check: review the SKILL.md and scripts for anything suspicious (unexpected network calls, shell commands, credential harvesting). This repo should contain zero secrets in code, credentials only via the secure vault, allowed hosts declared in the SKILL.md. Verify that holds here; STOP on any red flag and tell me. 3. Install it as a skill: copy SKILL.md and its helper files into the agent's skills directory, in a folder named "skill-best-practices". 4. Verify with no network calls: frontmatter valid, files in place. 5. Report what was installed, where, and what I still need to do myself (e.g. load it whenever I build, review, or troubleshoot a Claude skill — plus the companion cc-best-practices skill from the same repo). GitHub is optional: if I have a GitHub account or the gh CLI, you may use it; otherwise public access is fine. Never require it unless it's in the prerequisites above. Rules: don't touch anything outside the temp folder and the install target. If anything looks off, stop and ask me.
Questions
How do I install a build?
Every product page includes a copy-paste install prompt. Paste it into your Muse and it sets the build up for you — no manual configuration.
Where does my money go?
Straight to the seller. Skill Harbor never processes payments: checkout happens on the seller’s own page, usually Stripe.
What does the ✓ next to a creator’s name mean?
It means we confirmed the identity of the person behind the listing. It says nothing about the code itself — always check a build before installing it.