Agent skill

Writing Reference Docs

by BuilderIO in BuilderIO/agent-native

How to write a function/hook/action reference section, and how to write or rework a whole app's multi-page doc set (Overview/Features/Talk to the Agent/Cross-App Use/Developer Guide): plain-language…

No licenceAuto-check passedWriting & Content

Install Writing Reference Docs

skills CLI
$ npx skills add BuilderIO/agent-native --skill writing-reference-docs -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install BuilderIO/agent-native writing-reference-docs --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/BuilderIO/agent-native.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/writing-reference-docs .claude/skills/writing-reference-docs && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
writing-reference-docs
GitHub stars
7.1k
Token cost
~3.5k tokens
SKILL.md length
1,920 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
102
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
None found

At a glance

How to write a function/hook/action reference section, and how to write or rework a whole app's multi-page doc set (Overview/Features/Talk to the Agent/Cross-App Use/Developer Guide): plain-language…

  • Works in 8 steps: Match heading level to role. Hooks that… → Open with plain-language purpose, then… → List real arguments as a short bullet… → …
  • Editing a packages/core/docs/content reference page
  • SKILL.md covers Rule, Why, How and Don't, plus 6 more sections
  • Calls pnpm

What it does

Writing Reference Docs is an agent skill from BuilderIO/agent-native. How to write a function/hook/action reference section, and how to write or rework a whole app's multi-page doc set (Overview/Features/Talk to the Agent/Cross-App Use/Developer Guide): plain-language signature, real arguments, escalating examples grounded in a real app, verified agent behavior, trimmed prose with no em dashes or semicolons. Use when writing or editing a packages/core/docs/content reference page, or reworking a template-<app.mdx doc set.

Its SKILL.md is about 3.5k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Writing & Content, covering Markdown and Plain language and style rules. The repository describes itself as: A framework for building agentic apps.

When your agent uses it

  • Editing a packages/core/docs/content reference page
  • Reworking a template-<app.mdx doc set

Example prompts

  • “/writing-reference-docs”

Workflow steps

8 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Match heading level to role. Hooks that solve the same kind of problem
  2. Open with plain-language purpose, then link out. State what the
  3. List real arguments as a short bullet list, matching the actual
  4. Give two or more escalating examples. The first is the simplest
  5. Ground every example in a real reference app's real action, not an
  6. Close with the one behavior fact a reader needs, in one or two
  7. Prose rules, every sentence: no em dashes, no semicolons (this
  8. Example values must mean something to a reader with zero app context.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit e16da0c. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • pnpm

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use pnpm, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Writing Reference Docs loads about 3.5k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 120 tokens; SKILL.md has 1,920 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~120
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~3.5k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

Without a licence we can't republish the file, so here is its outline and opening line. It has 1,920 words (~3,510 tokens).

“This came out of rewriting client-data.mdx's hook sections (useActionQuery, useActionMutation, callAction, useDbSync) section by section with the user. It captures the shape that emerged so the next reference section starts from it instead of reinventing it.”

— opening of SKILL.md by BuilderIO
name
writing-reference-docs
scope
dev
metadata.internal
true

Read the full SKILL.md on GitHub

Files

Just SKILL.md in .agents/skills/writing-reference-docs of BuilderIO/agent-native.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit e16da0c

Compare with similar skills

Writing Reference Docs next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Writing Reference Docs compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Writing Reference Docs this skillBuilderIO/agent-native7.1k—~3.5kAutomated safety check: PassNone
ISO 24495 Text AuditGaZmagik/iso-244951891 repos~817Automated safety check: PassMIT
Moai Domain HTML Reportmodu-ai/moai-adk1.2k—~6.4kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0
Pnasnexus Significancebrycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills1.2k—~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Rational Red Blue Debatedigoal/blog8.6k—~2.2kAutomated safety check: PassGPL-2.0
Markdown Document StructurerArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE253—~2.2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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Questions about Writing Reference Docs

What does Writing Reference Docs do?

How to write a function/hook/action reference section, and how to write or rework a whole app's multi-page doc set (Overview/Features/Talk to the Agent/Cross-App Use/Developer Guide): plain-language…. Writing Reference Docs is an agent skill from BuilderIO/agent-native. How to write a function/hook/action reference section, and how to write or rework a whole app's multi-page doc set (Overview/Features/Talk to the Agent/Cross-App Use/Developer Guide): plain-language signature, real arguments, escalating examples grounded in a real app, verified agent behavior, trimmed prose with no em dashes or semicolons.

When should I use Writing Reference Docs?

Writing Reference Docs fits situations like: editing a packages/core/docs/content reference page; reworking a template-<app.mdx doc set.

How do I install Writing Reference Docs in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add BuilderIO/agent-native --skill writing-reference-docs -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/writing-reference-docs in BuilderIO/agent-native) into .claude/skills/writing-reference-docs in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Writing Reference Docs in Codex?

Run `npx skills add BuilderIO/agent-native --skill writing-reference-docs -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/writing-reference-docs in BuilderIO/agent-native) into .agents/skills/writing-reference-docs in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Writing Reference Docs in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add BuilderIO/agent-native --skill writing-reference-docs -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/writing-reference-docs, .gemini/skills/writing-reference-docs, .github/skills/writing-reference-docs and .opencode/skills/writing-reference-docs in your project.

What does Writing Reference Docs need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Writing Reference Docs needs the command-line tools its instructions call (pnpm).

Does Writing Reference Docs access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Writing Reference Docs safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Writing Reference Docs use?

No licence was found for Writing Reference Docs or its repository. Without one, default copyright applies: ask the author before reusing or redistributing it.

How many tokens does Writing Reference Docs use?

About 3.5k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 14k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Writing Reference Docs?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Writing Reference Docs: ISO 24495 Text Audit (GaZmagik/iso-24495, 189 stars), Moai Domain HTML Report (modu-ai/moai-adk, 1.2k stars), Pnasnexus Significance (brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills, 1.2k stars) and Rational Red Blue Debate (digoal/blog, 8.6k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Writing Reference Docs?

BuilderIO (a GitHub organization) maintains it in BuilderIO/agent-native, which has 7,087 GitHub stars. The repository holds 102 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.

Source: BuilderIO/agent-native on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.