How does Claude know when to use a specific skill?

Claude discovers skills based on the 'description' field in the YAML frontmatter. An effective description must include both what the skill does and the specific keywords or conditions that should trigger its use.

What is a Claude Code Skill?

A Claude Code Skill is a specialized capability file that provides domain-specific guidance, best practices, and implementation patterns to enhance how Claude performs specific tasks.

What is the 'progressive disclosure' principle for skills?

It is a best practice of keeping the primary SKILL.md file under 500 lines and moving detailed documentation into one-level-deep reference files to optimize the agent's context window.

Why should I use the gerund form for skill names?

Using the verb + -ing form (e.g., 'processing-pdfs') is the official naming convention that ensures consistency and better discovery within the Claude Code ecosystem.

Claude Code Skill Creator

Name: Claude Code Skill Creator
Author: Folly-Partners

byFolly-Partners

Developer Tools

Guides the authoring and refinement of Claude Code Skills by enforcing Anthropic's official specifications and best practices.

About

This skill provides comprehensive guidance for developers looking to extend Claude Code's capabilities through custom agent skills. It enforces standard markdown formatting, YAML frontmatter requirements, and the principle of progressive disclosure to keep skill files maintainable and performant. By utilizing this skill, users can ensure their custom behaviors are properly discovered by the agent, adhere to strict naming conventions, and include effective trigger-based descriptions that optimize Claude's task execution.

Key Features

Enforces Anthropic's official SKILL.md markdown and YAML specifications
Audits existing skills against a standardized 9-point quality rubric
0 GitHub stars
Implements progressive disclosure patterns for modular documentation
Validates skill naming conventions using the mandatory gerund form
Optimizes skill discovery through trigger-focused description authoring

Use Cases

Auditing and improving existing skills for better agent discovery
Refactoring large SKILL.md files into modular reference components
Building domain-specific skills from scratch with standardized templates

About

Key Features

Enforces Anthropic's official SKILL.md markdown and YAML specifications
Audits existing skills against a standardized 9-point quality rubric
0 GitHub stars
Implements progressive disclosure patterns for modular documentation
Validates skill naming conventions using the mandatory gerund form
Optimizes skill discovery through trigger-focused description authoring

Use Cases

Auditing and improving existing skills for better agent discovery
Refactoring large SKILL.md files into modular reference components
Building domain-specific skills from scratch with standardized templates