skill-author
The authoring gate for new skills. Routed to when the user invokes /new-skill "<gap>". Five gated phases — gap evidence, scope, authoring, self-review against the v2 house style, routing integration. A new skill is not written until an existing one is proven not to cover the gap, and not shipped until it carries gated phases, hard rules, and a routing entry. Every authored skill matches the v2 format (frontmatter name+description, # name, Pre-flight, Phase N · gate, Hard rules).
npx skills add arbiterForge/codeArbiter --skill skill-author --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# skill-author Author a new skill, the right way. Routed to when the user invokes `/new-skill "<gap>"`. ## Pre-flight Read these, or STOP and surface the gap — never author on assumption: - The `<gap>` argument. Absent → STOP and ask: "Describe the gap this skill would fill. What situation does no existing skill cover today?" - `{{PLUGIN_ROOT}}/skills/INDEX.md` — the surface scan of every existing skill. This is the gap-overlap check in Phase 1 and the integration target in Phase 5. Never bulk-read the skill bodies. - `{{PLUGIN_ROOT}}/skills/commit-gate/SKILL.md` and `{{PLUGIN_ROOT}}/skills/tdd/SKILL.md` — the canonical v2 format the authored skill must mirror. Read them before Phase 3. - `{{PROJECT_DIR}}/.codearbiter/CONTEXT.md` — project context, only if the gap is project-specific. A generic skill needs no project state. ## Phase 1 — Gap evidence · gate: BLOCK A new skill is permanent surface area. It is not written until the gap is proven real and proven uncovered. Restate the gap in one sentence. Then scan `INDEX.md` for overlap: if an existing skill's "Owns" column already covers this, STOP and name it — "The `<name>` skill already owns this; review it before requesting a new
- Pre-flight
- Phase 1 — Gap evidence · gate: BLOCK
- Phase 2 — Scope · gate: BLOCK
- Phase 3 — Authoring · gate: BLOCK
- Phase 4 — Self-review · gate: BLOCK
- Phase 5 — Routing integration · gate: BLOCK
- Hard rules
What does the skill-author skill do?
The authoring gate for new skills. Routed to when the user invokes /new-skill "<gap>". Five gated phases — gap evidence, scope, authoring, self-review against the v2 house style, routing integration. A new skill is not written until an existing one is proven not to cover the gap, and not shipped until it carries gated phases, hard rules, and a routing entry. Every authored skill matches the v2 format (frontmatter name+description, # name, Pre-flight, Phase N · gate, Hard rules).
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add arbiterForge/codeArbiter --skill skill-author --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From arbiterForge/codeArbiter, a repository with 138 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.