EP 01

How to Write a Claude Code Skill That Actually Works

What a skill is, where it lives, and why most of them never fire. We build a commit-message skill live, watch the weak first draft miss, then fix it.

Grab it

  • Downloadcommit-message skill

    The finished skill from the episode. Unzip into .claude/skills and swap in your own test command and ticket format.

    Get it
  • TemplateSkill starter template

    A blank SKILL.md with notes on each part. Rename it SKILL.md and put it in .claude/skills/<your-skill-name>/.

    Get it
  • LinkOfficial Claude Code skills docs

    The reference I checked every fact in the episode against.

    Open

The short version

  1. 1.A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md: a name, a description, and instructions.
  2. 2.The description decides whether the skill fires. Write it for the trigger, not for humans.
  3. 3.Fewer, sharper skills beat a pile of popular ones you didn't write.

Pick one annoying thing. Fix it this week.

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