Skill Development

Structure a Claude Code plugin skill using a SKILL.md file with required frontmatter, Markdown instructions, and optional references, scripts, and assets directories. This organization enforces progressive disclosure and keeps context lean.

Required frontmatter for a Claude Code plugin skill includes name, description, and version. The description must be written in third-person and include trigger phrases to ensure proper skill activation and high-quality metadata validation.

Progressive disclosure in skill development loads core SKILL.md content first, then dynamically loads detailed references, examples, and scripts only as needed. This approach minimizes context usage while preserving access to rich, on-demand documentation.

Validate a newly created Claude Code skill by running it against a predefined checklist to verify frontmatter quality, body style using imperative language, and proper resource organization, followed by executing testing workflows to confirm functionality.

No dependencies are required to build a Claude Code plugin skill. You only need to organize your SKILL.md, references, examples, and scripts according to the specified structure and validation checks to ensure compliance.

Claude Code skill validation fails when frontmatter lacks required name, description, or version fields, uses first-person descriptions instead of third-person, or improperly organizes references, examples, and scripts outside the progressive disclosure structure.