Turn Repetitive Work Into a Skill Anyone Can Use

What a Skill Is

A Skill is an "operating manual" written for an AI Agent: a folder containing a SKILL.md file that spells out when the task should be done, how to do it, and what counts as finished. Once installed, the Agent follows it whenever it meets this kind of task, the same way every time.

You don't need to know how to code to write one. Just follow the five steps below.

Step 1: Find Your Repetitive Work

Don't start by thinking about building an impressive Skill. First look at what you keep doing every week.

• Writing your weekly report every Monday.
• Before each video goes out, writing the title, description, and tags.
• Replying to client emails in a fixed format.
• Organizing invoices once a month.

The test: you do it more than once a week, the steps are about the same each time, and it feels tedious. If all three are true, it's worth turning into a Skill.

Step 2: Run It Through Manually First

Before writing the Skill, do the whole task yourself together with the AI, in a normal conversation.

• Tell the AI step by step what to do, and watch where it gets things right and where it gets them wrong.
• Write down the corrections you make, such as "titles must not exceed 20 characters" or "don't use exclamation marks."
• Keep going until you're satisfied.

This step matters most. A process you haven't run successfully yourself won't run successfully once it's written as a Skill.

Step 3: Explain the Requirements to the AI

Once the process works, ask the AI to write it up as a Skill. Say something like:

Write what we just did as a Skill (SKILL.md).
Include:
- When to use it (trigger conditions)
- What to do at each step
- The rules I corrected you on earlier
- What to hand back to me when it's done
Name it weekly-report.

The AI will produce something roughly like this:

The description at the top matters most: the Agent relies on that one line to decide when to use the Skill. Make sure it says clearly when to use it.

Step 4: Run It, Then Refine It

Save the file in your skills directory (for Claude Code, that's ~/.claude/skills/weekly-report/SKILL.md), then actually use it for real work several times.

• If a step goes wrong, fix that one rule in SKILL.md instead of just correcting it in the conversation.
• Change only one thing at a time, then test again.
• Once it has been used three to five times without you needing to correct it, the Skill is mature.

Step 5: Share It With Others

A good Skill can be shared to help people with the same need.

• Send it to colleagues: package the folder and send it over, or put it in a Git repository.
• Publish it on this site: post it in the Skills section, where others can copy the prompt in one click, download the zip, and hand it straight to their own Agent.
• Check it before sharing: don't include passwords, keys, or client information in the Skill.

Further Reading

• Detailed Skill documentation: Skill Handbook
• See what others have written: Skills section