writing-cli-skills

Writing CLI Skills

How to write an agent skill for a command-line tool.

Quick Start

1. Install the tool and play with it — don't just read docs. If the tool is unavailable, use WebFetch on official docs + man pages, but note this in your skill as "not hands-on verified"
2. Run --help on every subcommand
3. Try the common operations yourself
4. Note what surprises you or isn't obvious
5. Copy references/template.md to your new skill directory
6. Fill in sections based on your hands-on experience
7. Delete sections that don't apply

# First: actually use the tool
my-tool --help
my-tool subcommand --help
my-tool do-something  # try it!

Then: create the skill This will depend on the tool Claude Code

ln -s "$PWD/skills/my-tool" ~/.claude/skills/my-tool

OpenCode

ln -s "$PWD/skills/my-tool" ~/.config/opencode/skills/my-tool

Clawdbot

ln -s "$PWD/skills/my-tool" ~/clawd/skills/my-tool

**Reading docs is no substitute for hands-on use.** You'll discover defaults, gotchas, and real behavior that docs don't mention.

## What NOT to Do

- Do not dump `--help` output verbatim — summarize the useful parts
- Do not document every flag — focus on the 80% use cases
- Do not include commands you haven't tested
- Do not exceed 500 lines — this bloats agent context windows

## Sections

### Required

Every CLI skill needs at minimum:

| Section | Purpose |
|---------|---------|
| **Frontmatter** | name, description (with trigger phrases) |
| **Installation** | How to get the binary |
| **Usage** | The 80% use cases |

### Recommended

| Section | When to Include |
|---------|-----------------|
| Requirements | Tool needs accounts, API keys, or dependencies |
| Quick Start | Tool has a simple "happy path" |
| Output Formats | Tool can output JSON or custom formats |
| Tips & Gotchas | Tool has some edge cases or things an agentic LLM should not use |
| Troubleshooting | Tool has debug modes or common failure modes |
| Configuration | Tool has config files or env vars |
| Uninstall | Tool leaves config/data behind |
| References | When there are useful docs or content that contains more details |

## Writing Good Descriptions

Include trigger phrases so the agent knows when to load the skill:

```yaml
# Good
description: Monitor RSS feeds for updates. Use when tracking blogs, checking for new posts, or building a feed reader workflow.

# Bad  
description: RSS tool.

Organizing Commands

Group by task, not by command name:

## Usage

### View / List
### Create / Add  
### Edit / Update
### Delete / Remove
### Search

Progressive Disclosure

Keep SKILL.md under ~500 lines. Move details to references/:

my-tool/
├── SKILL.md                    # Core usage
├── references/
│   ├── advanced-config.md      # Deep config docs
│   └── api-reference.md        # API details
└── scripts/
    └── helper.sh               # Helper scripts

Frontmatter Reference

---
name: tool-name                  # Required, matches directory
description: What + when         # Required, include triggers
---

Checklist

Before publishing a CLI skill:

• Frontmatter has name + description with trigger phrases
• Installation covers target platforms
• Includes verification command (tool --version)
• Config file locations documented
• Required env vars listed
• Common operations in usage cover 80% of use cases
• Examples show realistic usage with sample output
• Output formats documented (if tool supports JSON/etc)
• Troubleshooting includes debug mode
• Uninstall cleans up config and data
• Under 500 lines (details in references/)

Template

See references/template.md for a complete starting point.