skill-development

Progressive disclosure in Claude Code skills loads core concepts upfront while keeping detailed patterns and API docs out of context until explicitly needed. You should use it to keep context lean while still offering rich detail on demand during skill activation.

To structure a Claude Code plugin skill, create a directory under your plugin's skills/ folder, add a SKILL.md file with YAML frontmatter for name and description, and populate optional references/, scripts/, and assets/ directories to store guidance, utilities, and output-ready assets.

The best way to separate core instructions from deep references is placing high-level guidance directly in SKILL.md, while storing detailed patterns, API documentation, and working examples in optional references/ and assets/ directories to load only as needed.

Yes, you need to create a SKILL.md file for every Claude Code skill. SKILL.md contains required YAML frontmatter with the skill's name and description, along with a Markdown body that loads into context upon skill activation.

Yes, you can use templates to accelerate Claude Code skill development. The skill development guide provides templates, best practices, and example resource layouts to support consistent skill creation and quality across plugins.