Starting With Skills
This is a member-only chapter. Log in with your Signal Over Noise membership email to continue.
Log in to readModule 3 · Section 2 of 6
Starting With Skills
A skill is just a markdown file in ~/.claude/skills/ with a clear name and instructions. That’s it. No code required unless the task needs it.
Here’s the rough shape of a useful skill:
# draft-reviewer
You are reviewing a draft for quality and voice consistency.
1. Check for AI slop phrases (see VOICE.md for the full list)
2. Check reading level targets grade 8-10
3. Flag any sentences over 35 words
4. Identify weak reasoning or unsupported claims
5. Check that the piece has a clear point and delivers on it
Report issues by category with line references. Then give an overall verdict: ready, needs work, or rewrite.The specificity matters. A vague skill produces vague output. The more precisely you’ve described what the skill should check — and what good looks like — the more useful it is.
A few principles from building and running skills in production:
Name them for what they do, not what they are. draft-reviewer beats writing-helper. log-to-daily beats note-taker. The name should tell you exactly when to reach for it.
Build skills from pain, not inspiration. The best skills come from noticing you’ve done the same multi-step thing three times this week and thinking “that could be a skill.” Building skills speculatively — because they seem like a good idea — usually produces things you never actually use.
Iterate before you trust. Run a new skill on five or six real examples before you rely on it. The first version will almost always have edge cases you didn’t anticipate. Refinement takes maybe twenty minutes of watching it run and noting what it missed or got wrong.