Skill Pipeline

The process for building and maintaining elite-level skills.

Core Philosophy

1. Elite or nothing — Don’t create mediocre skills
2. Standards-first — Check what exists before inventing
3. Security-focused — Every skill considers threats
4. Living documents — Skills evolve with their domains
5. Progressive disclosure — Load only what’s needed

When to Use This Skill

• Creating a new skill from scratch
• Iterating on an existing skill
• Performing a refinement sweep across all skills
• Reviewing a skill for quality

Part 1: Creating New Skills

Phase 1: Discovery

Before writing anything:

1. What domain is this skill for?
2. Who are the authoritative sources?
3. What existing skills/standards exist?
4. What's the "elite" bar for this domain?
5. What would an expert in this field expect?

Phase 2: Research

Gather primary sources:

1. Official documentation (specs, papers, docs)
2. Security resources (audits, exploits, checklists)
3. Best practices (from recognized experts)
4. Real-world examples (production code, case studies)
5. Emerging standards (drafts, discussions)

Research checklist:

• Found official/canonical sources
• Found security-focused resources
• Found real-world examples
• Checked for existing skills in the domain
• Identified gaps in current tooling

Phase 3: Structure

Use standard skill anatomy:

skill-name/
├── SKILL.md                    # Core workflow, quick reference
├── references/
│   ├── [domain]-fundamentals.md  # Core concepts
│   ├── [domain]-index.md         # Standards/patterns index
│   ├── security/
│   │   ├── threat-models.md
│   │   └── audit-checklist.md
│   ├── checklists/
│   │   └── pre-[action].md
│   └── sources.md               # Where to watch for updates
├── scripts/                     # Automation (optional)
└── assets/                      # Templates, examples (optional)

Phase 4: Write

SKILL.md requirements:

• Clear description with trigger words
• Core workflow/process
• Quick reference for common tasks
• Links to references with “when to load”
• Security considerations

Reference file requirements:

• Actionable, not just informational
• Examples with code when relevant
• Security implications noted
• Sources cited

Phase 5: Quality Check

Run against quality bar (see references/quality-bar.md):

• Comprehensive but not bloated
• Standards-first approach documented
• Security-focused throughout
• Actionable workflows, not just reference
• Progressive disclosure (don’t load everything)
• sources.md defines update triggers

Phase 6: Ship

cd ~/skills
git add skill-name/
git commit -m "feat: add skill-name skill

[Brief description of what it covers]

Sources: [list primary sources]"
git push

npx skills update  # Get it installed

Part 2: Refining Existing Skills

Refinement Triggers

Check sources.md for each skill to find:

1. New standards — EIPs, RFCs, specs going final
2. New threats — Exploits, vulnerabilities, attack patterns
3. Tool updates — Breaking changes, new features
4. Better patterns — Improved examples, cleaner code
5. Corrections — Errors, outdated info

Refinement Process

For each skill in ~/skills/:

1. Read references/sources.md
2. For each source:
   a. Check for updates since last-checked date
   b. If relevant update found:
      - Fetch and summarize
      - Identify target reference file
      - Integrate (don't duplicate)
      - Update last-checked date
3. Commit changes with source attribution
4. Push to GitHub

Refinement Checklist

• All sources checked
• New patterns integrated
• Outdated info removed
• Examples still work
• No duplicate information
• Last-checked dates updated
• Commit messages reference sources

Part 3: Bulk Refinement Sweep

When asked to “refine all skills” or “make skills more elite”:

# For each skill directory
for skill in ~/skills/*/; do
  echo "=== Refining: $skill ==="
  
  # 1. Check if sources.md exists
  if [ ! -f "$skill/references/sources.md" ]; then
    echo "WARNING: No sources.md - create one first"
    continue
  fi
  
  # 2. Run refinement process
  # (This is done by the agent, not a script)
done

Sweep Process

1. List all skills in ~/skills/
2. For each skill:
   • Load its sources.md
   • Check high-priority sources first
   • Apply updates
   • Commit per-skill
3. Push all changes
4. Run npx skills update

Quality Bar

See references/quality-bar.md for the full checklist.

Summary — An elite skill:

Templates

Use assets/template/ as starting point for new skills.

Maintenance Schedule