skill-development
This skill should be used when the user wants to "create a skill", "add a skill to plugin", "write a new skill", "improve skill description", "organize skill content", or needs guidance on skill structure, progressive disclosure, or skill development best practices for Claude Code plugins.
Profile →npx skills add anthropics/claude-plugins-official --skill skill-development --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 Development for Claude Code Plugins This skill provides guidance for creating effective skills for Claude Code plugins. ## About Skills Skills are modular, self-contained packages that extend Claude's capabilities by providing specialized knowledge, workflows, and tools. Think of them as "onboarding guides" for specific domains or tasks—they transform Claude from a general-purpose agent into a specialized agent equipped with procedural knowledge that no model can fully possess. ### What Skills Provide 1. Specialized workflows - Multi-step procedures for specific domains 2. Tool integrations - Instructions for working with specific file formats or APIs 3. Domain expertise - Company-specific knowledge, schemas, business logic 4. Bundled resources - Scripts, references, and assets for complex and repetitive tasks ### Anatomy of a Skill Every skill consists of a required SKILL.md file and optional bundled resources: ``` skill-name/ ├── SKILL.md (required) │ ├── YAML frontmatter metadata (required) │ │ ├── name: (required) │ │ └── description: (required) │ └── Markdown instructions (required) └── Bundled Resources (optional) ├── scripts/ - Executable code (Python/Bash/etc.) ├──
- About Skills
- What Skills Provide
- Anatomy of a Skill
- Progressive Disclosure Design Principle
- Skill Creation Process
- Step 1: Understanding the Skill with Concrete Examples
- Step 2: Planning the Reusable Skill Contents
- Step 3: Create Skill Structure
- Step 4: Edit the Skill
- Step 5: Validate and Test
- Step 6: Iterate
- Plugin-Specific Considerations
- Skill Location in Plugins
- Auto-Discovery
mkdir -p plugin-name/skills/skill-name/{references,examples,scripts}
touch plugin-name/skills/skill-name/SKILL.md
Test with --plugin-dir
cc --plugin-dir /path/to/plugin
Ask questions that should trigger the skill
Verify skill loads correctlyWhat does the skill-development skill do?
This skill should be used when the user wants to "create a skill", "add a skill to plugin", "write a new skill", "improve skill description", "organize skill content", or needs guidance on skill structure, progressive disclosure, or skill development best practices for Claude Code plugins.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add anthropics/claude-plugins-official --skill skill-development --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 anthropics/claude-plugins-official, a repository with 33,027 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.