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Agent skill

Skill Authoring

by cbrock84 in cbrock84/headcount

Writes and revises agent skills so they trigger at the right moments and give usable instruction when they do.

MITAuto-check passedAgent Workflows

Install Skill Authoring

skills CLI
$ npx skills add cbrock84/headcount --skill skill-authoring -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install cbrock84/headcount skill-authoring --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/cbrock84/headcount.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/technology/skills/skill-authoring .claude/skills/skill-authoring && 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
skill-authoring
GitHub stars
2k
Token cost
~765 tokens
SKILL.md length
427 words
Files
2 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
175
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Writes and revises agent skills so they trigger at the right moments and give usable instruction when they do.

  • At the right moments and give usable instruction when they do
  • SKILL.md covers The description does the…, The body does the work, Overlap is the silent killer and Mechanics, plus 3 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
  • Tasks that involve Skill authoring

What it does

Skill Authoring is an agent skill from cbrock84/headcount. Writes and revises agent skills so they trigger at the right moments and give usable instruction when they do. Use this when creating a new skill, editing an existing one, diagnosing a skill that fires too often or never fires, or reviewing a set of skills for overlap. Also use before adding to a skill library, to check the capability is not already covered.

Its SKILL.md is about 770 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files, including reference files (for example `references/sources.md`).

It sits in Agent Workflows, covering Skill authoring. The repository describes itself as: An agent organization structured as a company — 15+ departments, 125+ skills, each independently installable, citing the standards and regulators that settle the question. Runs… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • At the right moments and give usable instruction when they do
  • Tasks that involve Skill authoring

Example prompts

  • “Use the skill-authoring skill to write and revises agent skills so they trigger at the right moments and give usable instruction when they do”
  • “/skill-authoring”

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 98d1c17. 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

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

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

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    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

Skill Authoring loads about 765 tokens when it runs, and up to ~981 if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 94 tokens; SKILL.md has 427 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~94
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~765
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~981

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

The full file from cbrock84/headcount at commit 98d1c17, republished under its MIT licence (© cbrock84). 427 words, ~765 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/skill-authoring/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
skill-authoring
description
Writes and revises agent skills so they trigger at the right moments and give usable instruction when they do. Use this when creating a new skill, editing an existing one, diagnosing a skill that fires too often or never fires, or reviewing a set of skills for overlap. Also use before adding to a skill library, to check the capability is not already covered.

Skill authoring

A skill is judged twice: on whether it loads at the right moment, and on whether it helps once loaded. Most fail the first test.

The description does the triggering

It is the only part read when deciding whether to load. Write it for that job:

  • Lead with what the skill does, in one clause.
  • Then when to reach for it — the situations, in the words someone would actually use, including the oblique ones ("why isn't this converting" as well as "CRO audit").
  • Name the edge cases that should still trigger it, and where useful, what should not.

Vague descriptions produce two failures at once: the skill misses cases it should catch, and fires on cases it cannot help.

The body does the work

Write for someone competent who has not thought about this problem today. That means:

  • Method over exhortation. "Be thorough" is noise. An ordered procedure is instruction.
  • State the failure behind each rule. A rule with no failure attached gets optimized away by the next reader.
  • Be specific enough to be wrong. Guidance too hedged to contradict is too vague to follow.
  • Put long material in references/ and say when to read it. The body should fit in working memory.

Overlap is the silent killer

Two skills whose descriptions both match a request means neither reliably wins. Before adding one, check what already covers the ground. Prefer extending an existing skill, or consolidating the family into one skill with references, over adding a near-neighbor.

Show full SKILL.md (178 more words)Show less

Mechanics

  • name must be lowercase-hyphenated and equal the directory name, or the skill will not load.
  • One skill, one directory, SKILL.md at its root; supporting material in references/ and scripts/.

Verify before shipping

Write three requests that should trigger it and two that should not, and check the description actually discriminates. If a near-miss request would pull it in, tighten the description.

Sources

references/sources.md in this skill lists the outside authorities that settle the questions here — what each one is authoritative for, and what you may do with it. Check them before answering on anything they cover, and cite what you used. Most are free to read and not free to reproduce; the use note on each is binding.

Never

  • Ship a skill whose description does not say when to use it. A skill that never triggers is dead weight.
  • Write a skill that restates what the model already does well without prompting.
  • Let two skills claim the same trigger. Move the boundary or merge them.
  • Ship without running the skill against the case that motivated writing it.

© cbrock84, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file (references) in plugins/technology/skills/skill-authoring of cbrock84/headcount.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/sources.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 98d1c17

Compare with similar skills

Skill Authoring 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.

Skill Authoring compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Skill Authoring this skillcbrock84/headcount2k—~765Automated safety check: PassMIT
Skill CreatorAzure/azqr79589 repos~8.2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Claude Code Skill Developer Guidediet103/claude-code-infrastructure-showcase10k11 repos~3.5kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Darwin Skill Optimizeralchaincyf/darwin-skill6.2k1 repos~4.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Claude Code Command Developmentanthropics/claude-plugins-official38k10 repos~4.8kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Claude Code Plugin Structureanthropics/claude-plugins-official38k10 repos~3.4kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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Categories

Questions about Skill Authoring

What does Skill Authoring do?

Writes and revises agent skills so they trigger at the right moments and give usable instruction when they do. Skill Authoring is an agent skill from cbrock84/headcount. Writes and revises agent skills so they trigger at the right moments and give usable instruction when they do.

When should I use Skill Authoring?

Skill Authoring fits situations like: at the right moments and give usable instruction when they do; tasks that involve Skill authoring.

How do I install Skill Authoring in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add cbrock84/headcount --skill skill-authoring -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/technology/skills/skill-authoring in cbrock84/headcount) into .claude/skills/skill-authoring in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Skill Authoring in Codex?

Run `npx skills add cbrock84/headcount --skill skill-authoring -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/technology/skills/skill-authoring in cbrock84/headcount) into .agents/skills/skill-authoring in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Skill Authoring 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 cbrock84/headcount --skill skill-authoring -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/skill-authoring, .gemini/skills/skill-authoring, .github/skills/skill-authoring and .opencode/skills/skill-authoring in your project.

What does Skill Authoring need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Skill Authoring is instructions for the agent only.

Does Skill Authoring 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 Skill Authoring 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 Skill Authoring use?

Skill Authoring is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Skill Authoring use?

About 765 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.1k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 216 tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Skill Authoring?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Skill Authoring: Skill Creator (Azure/azqr, 795 stars), Claude Code Skill Developer Guide (diet103/claude-code-infrastructure-showcase, 10k stars), Darwin Skill Optimizer (alchaincyf/darwin-skill, 6.2k stars) and Claude Code Command Development (anthropics/claude-plugins-official, 38k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Skill Authoring?

cbrock84 (a GitHub user) maintains it in cbrock84/headcount, which has 2,007 GitHub stars. The repository holds 175 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 17, 2026.

Source: cbrock84/headcount on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.