Skill Builder — Meta-Skill for Creating Skills

Metadata

---
name: skill-builder
version: 1.0.0
description: |
  Helps create high-quality OpenClaw skills following Anthropic's best practices.
  Use when creating, updating, or auditing any skill in the workspace.
---

---

## When to Use This Skill

Trigger phrases:
- "create a new skill"
- "build a skill"
- "make a new capability"
- "add a skill for"
- "audit our skills"
- "improve this skill"
- "review our skill setup"

---

## The Skill Creation Workflow

### Phase 1: Use Case Definition (Before Writing Code)

Before creating any skill, define 2-3 concrete use cases:

For each use case, specify:
1. **Trigger** — What the user says that should activate this skill
2. **Sequence** — Step-by-step actions the skill performs
3. **Expected Result** — What the user gets at the end

**Example Use Case Template:**

Use Case #1: [Title]

• Trigger: "[specific phrase user would say]"
• Sequence: [step 1] → [step 2] → [step 3]
• Result: [what gets produced]

### Phase 2: Skill Structure

Every skill must have:

skill-name/ ├── SKILL.md # Required: Main instructions ├── references/ # Optional: Additional docs ├── scripts/ # Optional: Executable code ├── assets/ # Optional: Templates, configs └── tests/ # Optional: Test cases

### Phase 3: SKILL.md Anatomy

```yaml
---
name: skill-name
description: |
  [What it does]. Use when user mentions [trigger phrases].
  Example triggers: "do X", "help with Y", "use [skill-name]"
---

Critical: The description field is the most important part.

• Must include WHAT the skill does
• Must include WHEN to use it
• Must include specific trigger phrases
• Bad: "Helps with projects" (never triggers)
• Good: "Manages project workflows including creation, tracking, and updates. Use when user mentions 'project', 'create task', or 'track progress'"

Phase 4: Writing the Instructions

Structure SKILL.md as:

1. Identity — Name, role, primary function
2. Responsibilities — What it must handle
3. Boundaries — What it must NOT do
4. Tool Access — What tools/functions it can use
5. Workflow — How it handles tasks
6. Examples — 2-3 concrete usage examples

Phase 5: Testing

Test each skill on three dimensions:

Test Type	Purpose
Triggering	Skill loads for relevant queries, NOT for unrelated ones
Functional	Skill produces correct outputs
Performance	Measures improvement over baseline

---

Quality Checklist

Before finalizing any skill, verify:

• Description includes "Use when..." clause
• At least 3 trigger phrases listed
• Clear responsibilities section
• Boundaries defined (what NOT to do)
• Tool permissions explicitly stated
• Workflow documented with examples
• Triggering test passed
• Functional test passed
• No overgeneralization (skill won't trigger on unrelated queries)

---

Common Failure Modes

Failure	Cause	Fix
Skill never triggers	Vague description	Add specific trigger phrases
Skill triggers too often	Overly broad description	Narrow the use case definition
Skill produces bad output	Missing boundaries	Add explicit "never do X" rules
Skill conflicts with others	No scope definition	Add explicit scope/limits

---

OpenClaw-Specific Notes

When building OpenClaw skills:

• Use the existing skill format (SKILL.md in skill folder)
• Reference OpenClaw tools by their exact names
• Follow the workspace memory paths exactly
• Respect the agent delegation rules in AGENTS.md
• Include security considerations for sensitive operations

---

Example: Well-Formed Skill Description

---
name: github-pr-review
description: |
  Reviews GitHub pull requests for code quality, security, and style consistency.
  Use when user mentions "review PR", "check pull request", "look at PR #N",
  "GitHub review", or "needs review".
  Does NOT: approve merges, write code, or modify existing PRs.
---

---

Audit Existing Skills

When auditing skills, check:

1. Description has clear triggers
2. Boundaries are explicit
3. No conflicting scopes
4. Tools are properly scoped
5. Instructions are actionable

If a skill fails audit, update its SKILL.md following this workflow.