AI Agent Skills

Curriculum

1. 1

   Choose the right skill

   Distinguish skills from nearby AI concepts and extract one useful workflow from real work.

   1. 01 Separate skills from prompts, rules, tools, and MCP
   2. 02 Start from a repeated real workflow
   3. 03 Define the outcome, inputs, and non-goals
   4. 04 Draw the authority boundary
   5. 05 Check your understanding: choose the right skill
2. 2

   Design discovery and activation

   Structure the skill for progressive loading and precise positive and negative triggers.

   1. 06 Understand progressive disclosure
   2. 07 Choose a valid, specific name
   3. 08 Write the activation description
   4. 09 Test positive and negative triggers
   5. 10 Check your understanding: design discovery and activation
3. 3

   Write SKILL.md

   Write valid metadata, an executable procedure, checkpoints, boundaries, and an output contract.

   1. 11 Write valid, portable frontmatter
   2. 12 Write a procedure, not an essay
   3. 13 Add checkpoints and an output contract
   4. 14 Teach failures, gotchas, and stopping
   5. 15 Check your understanding: write skill.md
4. 4

   Bundle scripts, references, and assets

   Move deterministic work and conditional context into focused portable resources.

   1. 16 Decide when a script beats prose
   2. 17 Write a safe, self-contained script
   3. 18 Add focused references and assets
   4. 19 Control context, dependencies, and paths
   5. 20 Check your understanding: bundle scripts, references, and assets
5. 5

   Evaluate, secure, and ship

   Test activation and output, review authority, package the folder, and maintain it from evidence.

   1. 21 Evaluate activation and output quality
   2. 22 Threat-model the skill
   3. 23 Package, document, and version the skill
   4. 24 Finish and maintain the release-readiness skill
   5. 25 Check your understanding: evaluate, secure, and ship