tool-design
This skill should be used for the tool-interface layer of an agent system specifically: writing tool descriptions agents can route on, designing tool schemas and response formats, naming conventions, actionable error recovery messages, MCP server design, tool-set consolidation, and deciding when to add or remove an individual tool. Use this when the unit of work is a single tool or a set of tools. Route project-shape, pipeline architecture, and task-model-fit decisions to project-development; route deciding whether to introduce sub-agents to multi-agent-patterns.
npx skills add guanyang/open-agent-hub --skill tool-design --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.
# Tool Design for Agents Design every tool as a contract between a deterministic system and a non-deterministic agent. Unlike human-facing APIs, agent-facing tools must make the contract unambiguous through the description alone: agents infer intent from descriptions and generate calls that must match expected formats. Every ambiguity becomes a potential failure mode that no amount of prompt engineering can fix. The unit of work for this skill is a single tool or a tool catalog. Project-shape, pipeline architecture, task-model-fit, and cost-at-the-project-level decisions belong to `project-development`. Deciding whether to introduce sub-agents belongs to `multi-agent-patterns`. This skill owns the interface layer that connects deterministic code to the agent. ## When to Activate Activate this skill when the unit of work is a tool: - Writing a new tool description, schema, or response format. - Debugging cases where the agent picked the wrong tool or generated malformed calls. - Consolidating an overlapping tool catalog (the classic "we have 17 tools, the agent picks wrong half the time" case). - Designing actionable error messages so the agent can self-correct. - Naming tools and p
- When to Activate
- Core Concepts
- Detailed Topics
- The Tool-Agent Interface
- The Consolidation Principle
- Architectural Reduction
- Tool Description Engineering
- Response Format Optimization
- Error Message Design
- Tool Definition Schema
- Tool Collection Design
- MCP Tool Naming Requirements
- Using Agents to Optimize Tools
- Testing Tool Design
What does the tool-design skill do?
This skill should be used for the tool-interface layer of an agent system specifically: writing tool descriptions agents can route on, designing tool schemas and response formats, naming conventions, actionable error recovery messages, MCP server design, tool-set consolidation, and deciding when to add or remove an individual tool. Use this when the unit of work is a single tool or a set of tools. Route project-shape, pipeline architecture, and task-model-fit decisions to project-development; route deciding whether to introduce sub-agents to multi-agent-patterns.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add guanyang/open-agent-hub --skill tool-design --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 guanyang/open-agent-hub, a repository with 940 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.