Skill Builder for Claude Code

A meta-skill for creating Claude Code skills following proven patterns.

Features

• Template-First Workflow — Ready-to-use templates with placeholders
• GitHub Automation — Create repos with proper topics automatically
• Curated Best Practices — Patterns from mature skills (Linear, Governance)
• Setup Verification — Scripts that provide actionable feedback

Quick Start

Option A: Plugin marketplace (Recommended)

This repo is a Claude Code plugin marketplace. Add it, then install the plugin — this installs the whole plugin (both skills, their scripts, and templates):

claude plugin marketplace add wrsmith108/skill-builder-claude-skill
claude plugin install skill-builder@wrsmith108-skills

The same two steps work in-session as the /plugin marketplace add and /plugin install slash commands.

Option B: Manual clone (offline / no-marketplace fallback)

Copies the full plugin (both skills + scripts) into your skills directory:

git clone https://github.com/wrsmith108/skill-builder-claude-skill /tmp/skill-builder-skill
cp -r /tmp/skill-builder-skill/skills/skill-builder ~/.claude/skills/
cp -r /tmp/skill-builder-skill/skills/skill-reviewer ~/.claude/skills/
rm -rf /tmp/skill-builder-skill

Option C: Single-file curl (skill-builder only)

⚠️ This fetches only SKILL.md — it does not install scripts, templates, or the skill-reviewer skill. Use it only if you want the create-skill instructions and nothing else.

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/skill-builder && curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wrsmith108/skill-builder-claude-skill/main/skills/skill-builder/SKILL.md -o ~/.claude/skills/skill-builder/SKILL.md

Upgrading from an older (pre-1.4.0) install

Earlier versions placed a single (and, on git-clone, broken) skill at ~/.claude/skills/skill-builder/. Remove that stale copy before reinstalling so it does not shadow the plugin:

rm -rf ~/.claude/skills/skill-builder

Which skill does what?

This plugin ships two skills — pick by intent:

Skill	Use when you want to…	Trigger phrases
skill-builder	Create a NEW skill from scratch	"create a skill", "build a skill", "extract a skill", /skill-builder
skill-reviewer	Review / validate / generalize / publish an EXISTING skill	"review my skill", "validate skill", "generalize skill", "publish a skill", /validate-skill

How It Works

When you say "create a skill", "build a skill", or "/skill-builder", Claude:

1. Provides ready-to-use templates
2. Guides you through customization
3. Automates GitHub repository creation
4. Ensures discoverability with proper topics

Creating a New Skill

1. Create Directory Structure

mkdir -p my-skill-claude-skill/skills/my-skill/scripts

2. Copy Templates

cp -r templates/* my-skill-claude-skill/

3. Customize Files

Replace placeholders like {{SKILL_NAME}}, {{DESCRIPTION}}, etc.

4. Publish to GitHub

cd my-skill-claude-skill
git init && git add -A && git commit -m "Initial release"

node skills/skill-builder/scripts/create-repo.mjs \
  --name "my-skill-claude-skill" \
  --description "Claude Code skill for my purpose" \
  --topics "claude,claude-code,claude-plugin,my-domain"

Templates Included

Template	Copy to	Purpose
SKILL-template.md	skills/<name>/SKILL.md	Core skill definition
CHANGELOG-template.md	CHANGELOG.md	Version history with "Lesson Learned"
README-template.md	README.md	User documentation
package-template.json	package.json	npm metadata
plugin-template.json	.claude-plugin/plugin.json	Plugin manifest (source of truth)
marketplace-template.json	.claude-plugin/marketplace.json	Marketplace manifest (enables install)
setup-template.mjs	skills/<name>/scripts/setup.mjs	Optional setup-verification script
LICENSE-template	LICENSE	MIT license

Best Practices Enforced

This skill enforces patterns from mature Claude Code skills:

From Linear Skill

• CHANGELOG with "Lesson Learned" sections
• Quick Start at top of SKILL.md
• allowed-tools frontmatter
• Setup verification scripts

From Governance Skill

• Anti-pattern tables
• Pre-commit/PR checklists
• Section cross-references (§1.3)
• Two-document model

See BEST-PRACTICES.md for complete guidance.

Directory Structure

skill-builder-claude-skill/
├── LICENSE
├── README.md
├── CHANGELOG.md
├── BEST-PRACTICES.md
├── package.json
├── .claude-plugin/
│   ├── plugin.json         # Plugin manifest (source of truth)
│   └── marketplace.json    # Marketplace manifest
├── skills/
│   ├── skill-builder/      # Create NEW skills
│   │   ├── SKILL.md
│   │   └── scripts/create-repo.mjs
│   └── skill-reviewer/     # Review / validate / publish EXISTING skills
│       ├── SKILL.md
│       ├── scripts/        # validate-skill.ts, generate-subagent.ts
│       └── references/
└── templates/
    ├── SKILL-template.md
    ├── CHANGELOG-template.md
    ├── README-template.md
    ├── package-template.json
    ├── plugin-template.json
    ├── marketplace-template.json
    └── LICENSE-template

Publishing Checklist

Before publishing your new skill:

• SKILL.md has frontmatter (name, description, allowed-tools)
• SKILL.md has Quick Start section
• All placeholders replaced
• No project-specific references
• CHANGELOG.md has v1.0.0 with "Lesson Learned"
• Topics include claude, claude-code, claude-plugin

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for the full history. Highlights:

1.4.0

• Added: .claude-plugin/marketplace.json so the repo installs as a plugin marketplace (claude plugin install skill-builder@wrsmith108-skills) — fixes the "not found in any configured marketplace" install error
• Added: skill-reviewer skill (review / validate / generalize / publish existing skills), recovered from the former top-level SKILL.md and now a proper nested skill alongside skill-builder
• Fixed: scaffolder (create-repo.mjs) and templates no longer emit a broken install command or a space-containing plugin name

1.0.1 (2026-02-10)

• Fixed: Replaced hardcoded ~/.claude/skills/ paths with relative paths for portability
• Fixed: Corrected create-repo.mjs path to use skills/skill-builder/scripts/ nested structure

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please submit issues and PRs for:

• New templates
• Additional best practices
• Improved automation

License

MIT License — See LICENSE

Credits

Patterns extracted from:

• Linear Skill
• Governance Skill