Template Skill

Bootstrap new Claude skills from a minimal, production-ready template that follows ClaudeKit skill conventions.

What This Skill Does

The Challenge: Every new skill needs the same boilerplate — SKILL.md format, directory structure, activation patterns, and configuration files. Starting from scratch wastes time and produces inconsistent skill quality.

The Solution: Template Skill provides a minimal but complete starting point for new skills. Covers essential sections, avoids over-engineering, and follows ClaudeKit conventions established across the skill library.

Activation

Explicit: Activate via prompt:

Activate template-skill to scaffold a new skill called "data-export"

Capabilities

1. Skill Directory Scaffold

Generate the minimum required file structure for a new skill.

Generated structure:

skills/your-skill-name/
├── SKILL.md              # Required: skill definition
├── README.md             # Optional: user-facing docs
└── examples/
    └── basic-example.md  # At least one example

2. SKILL.md Template

Minimal SKILL.md with required sections pre-filled.

# Your Skill Name

## Overview
One paragraph: what it does, when it activates, primary use case.

## Activation
**Implicit**: [conditions] OR "Does not auto-activate."
**Explicit**: `Activate your-skill-name to [task description]`

## Capabilities
### 1. Core Capability
Description with example.

## Configuration
List of required env vars or files. "None required." if applicable.

## Examples
### Basic Example
Input: [user prompt]
Output: [expected result description]

3. Naming Convention Guide

Rules for skill naming and file organization.

Naming rules:

  • Use kebab-case: social-media, not socialMedia
  • Be descriptive: email-sequence-builder, not email
  • Match invocation: skill named data-export invoked as /ckm:data-export

4. Activation Pattern Templates

Common activation patterns to copy.

Implicit (content-triggered):

**Implicit**: Activates when user asks to [describe trigger context].

Implicit (agent-triggered):

**Implicit**: Activates automatically for [Agent Name] agent.

Explicit only:

**Implicit**: Does not auto-activate.
**Explicit**: `Activate skill-name to [describe task]`

Prerequisites

  • Skill name and primary purpose defined
  • Target activation context decided (implicit/explicit)

Configuration

No configuration required for template itself. Generated skill may have its own requirements.

Best Practices

1. Keep SKILL.md under 100 lines Skills should be focused. Long SKILL.md files signal a skill doing too much.

2. One example per capability Each capability listed needs at least one concrete input/output example.

3. Be explicit about scope boundaries Include a “Does not” or “Out of scope” note if the skill name could be misinterpreted.

Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: First Skill Creation

Scenario: Developer creating their first ClaudeKit skill.

Workflow:

  1. Run template scaffold with skill name
  2. Fill in SKILL.md sections
  3. Add one concrete example
  4. Test activation with explicit prompt
  5. Refine based on output quality

Output: Working skill directory ready for testing.

Use Case 2: Skill Standardization

Scenario: Existing skills have inconsistent formatting across a skill library.

Workflow:

  1. Use template as reference for SKILL.md structure
  2. Audit each existing skill against template sections
  3. Add missing sections (examples, configuration)
  4. Standardize activation patterns

Output: Consistent skill library following shared conventions.

Troubleshooting

Issue: Skill not activating with expected prompt Solution: Review activation pattern. Explicit prompts must contain the skill name or explicit activation phrase.

Issue: Skill activates but produces wrong output format Solution: Add explicit output format instructions to SKILL.md capabilities section.

  • Skill Creator - Full skill creation with benchmarks
  • Docs - Documentation generation
  • /ckm:template-skill - Scaffold new skill from template
  • /ckm:skill-creator - Create fully-specified skill with tests