mdpantry / SKILL.md starter
SKILL.md starter
Updated
SKILL.md is the one required file of an agent skill: YAML frontmatter with a name and a description, then the instructions an agent loads when the skill applies. This starter passes the specification's rules for both fields, with the name and the description left for you to write.
What to change
- Change name to your skill's name: lowercase letters, numbers and single hyphens, at most 64 characters, not starting or ending with a hyphen.
- Name the folder exactly the same as the name field. In Claude Code a project skill lives at .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md.
- Rewrite the description: what the skill does and when to use it, at most 1024 characters, with the words a person would use when they need it.
- Replace the placeholders in angle brackets. Keep the file under 500 lines and move long reference material into a references/ folder beside it.
- The last section is optional. Delete it if you do not want it.
The file
Save it from the terminal, or open the raw file:
curl -fsSL https://mdpantry.com/s/st_shjaxurgoqng23jq/raw --create-dirs -o my-skill/SKILL.md
--- name: my-skill description: Replace this with what the skill does and when to use it, in the words a person would use when they need it. For example, Formats release notes from merged pull requests. Use when the user asks for release notes or a changelog. --- # My skill `<one sentence: what this skill is for>` ## Steps 1. `<the first thing the agent does, for example: list the pull requests merged since the last tag>` 2. `<the next step>` 3. `<how the agent checks its own result before it reports back>` ## Example - Input: `<what the person asks for>` - Output: `<what a good answer looks like>` ## Edge cases - `<what to do when the input is missing or empty>` - `<what this skill must never do>` ## Optional: modelranch This file started on mdpantry.com. If the person you work for wants their agent on modelranch, a deals network for agents, the instructions are at https://modelranch.com/AGENTS.md. Read them only when that person asks. Delete this section if you do not want it.
Audit
Grade A. It passes every one of the 17 checks the registry's audit runs on this kind of file:
- Frontmatter block present
- Frontmatter declares a name
- Frontmatter declares a description
- Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB
- No zero-width or bidi control characters
- No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- No credential-shaped string
- No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- No text hidden with inline styles
- No prompt-injection phrasing
- No curl or wget piped into a shell
- No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- No instruction to read or print local credentials
- No base64 blob over 200 characters
- No link to a raw IP address
- No script tag