Skill Creator
Create effective Agent Skills using progressive disclosure.
When to Create a Skill
Create a skill when you notice:
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Repeating context across conversations
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Domain expertise needed repeatedly
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Project-specific knowledge the agent should know automatically
Progressive Disclosure
Skills load in 3 levels:
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Metadata (~27 tokens) - YAML frontmatter for triggering
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Instructions (<680 tokens) - SKILL.md body with core patterns
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Resources (unlimited) - references/ scripts/ assets/ loaded on demand
Key: Keep Levels 1 & 2 lean. Move details to Level 3.
Quick Workflow
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Create skill directory: .aider-desk/skills/my-skill/
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Write SKILL.md with YAML frontmatter (name , description ) and body instructions
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Add detailed docs to references/ as needed
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Verify: mention a trigger keyword — skill should appear in active skills sidebar
If skill doesn't load: check YAML syntax is valid, name is lowercase-hyphenated, and description contains the trigger terms users would say
SKILL.md Example
name: deploy-helper description: Deploy AiderDesk builds to staging and production environments. Use when deploying, releasing, or publishing builds.
Deploy Helper
Build and deploy AiderDesk to target environments.
Steps
- Run
npm run buildto generate production artifacts - Verify build output exists in
dist/ - Deploy to staging:
./scripts/deploy.sh staging - Verify deployment: check health endpoint returns 200
Troubleshooting
- Build fails: check
tsconfig.jsonpaths and runnpm run typecheck
References
- environments.md - Environment configs
Structure
my-skill/ ├── SKILL.md # Core instructions + metadata ├── references/ # Detailed docs (loaded as needed) ├── scripts/ # Executable operations └── assets/ # Templates, images, files
References
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quick-start.md - Creating your first skill
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writing-guide.md - Writing effective skills
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development-process.md - Step-by-step workflow
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skill-examples.md - Patterns and examples
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cli-reference.md - CLI tool usage
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agent-skills-resources.md - Architecture and best practices