Skill Development

To structure a Claude Code plugin skill, draft a lean SKILL.md body with required frontmatter including name and description, then organize supporting content into references, scripts, and assets directories for progressive disclosure.

Progressive disclosure in Claude Skills loads core SKILL.md content upon trigger, fetches references on demand, and executes scripts or assets only as needed, keeping the base context lean and efficient.

Writing SKILL.md frontmatter requires including mandatory name and description fields to define the skill's identity, followed by a lean body structure that triggers the core workflow before loading deeper references.

Your Claude plugin skill needs references and assets directories only if external content is required, allowing you to keep the core SKILL.md lean while enforcing safety and quality checks on scalable resources.

The best way to organize scalable Claude Skills is splitting resources into references, scripts, and assets directories, applying standardized frontmatter, and maintaining a lean core body with progressive disclosure.

Your SKILL.md body fails validation without proper frontmatter because the development workflow enforces mandatory name and description fields, alongside safety and quality checks, to ensure robust plugin skill design.