Playbook
Write a skill
Frontmatter that triggers, a body that runs, files on demand. Distill from traces if you have them.
When: You are packaging expertise an agent should load sometimes, not always.
- 01
Write the description first
What it does, when to use it, when not to. Include the phrases a user will actually say. Pushy beats polite.
Writing Skills That Trigger - 02
Body as a playbook
Imperative steps, a why, explicit don'ts. Move depth to references/ and deterministic work to scripts/.
Skills and Progressive Disclosure - 03
Trigger-test it
Five user phrasings that should fire, two that should not. If it under-triggers, the description is wrong.
Writing Skills That Trigger
Done when
- A SKILL.md whose description names what and when, body <500 lines, at least one trigger example.
Refuse
- Unowned prompt. Store prompts in git. Read what the framework sends. Eval on change.
- Context hoarding. Pinned / working / recalled / compacted. Files for bulk. Pointers in the window.