Creating New Skills

REQUIRED READING: Skill authoring best practices

Key Requirements

Requirement	Details
Prefix	All skills MUST use `baoyu-` prefix
name field	Max 64 chars, lowercase letters/numbers/hyphens only, no "anthropic"/"claude"
description	Max 1024 chars, third person, include what + when to use
SKILL.md body	Keep under 500 lines; use `references/` for additional content
References	One level deep from SKILL.md; avoid nested references

SKILL.md Frontmatter Template

---
name: baoyu-<name>
description: <Third-person description. What it does + when to use it.>
version: <semver matching marketplace.json>
metadata:
  openclaw:
    homepage: https://github.com/JimLiu/baoyu-skills#baoyu-<name>
    requires:          # include only if skill has scripts
      anyBins:
        - bun
        - npx
---

Steps

Create skills/baoyu-<name>/SKILL.md with YAML front matter
Add TypeScript in skills/baoyu-<name>/scripts/ (if applicable)
Add prompt templates in skills/baoyu-<name>/prompts/ if needed
Register the skill in .claude-plugin/marketplace.json under the baoyu-skills plugin entry
Add Script Directory section to SKILL.md if skill has scripts
Add openclaw metadata to frontmatter

Skill Grouping

All skills are registered under the single baoyu-skills plugin. Use these logical groups when deciding where the skill should appear in the docs:

If your skill...	Use group
Generates visual content (images, slides, comics)	Content Skills
Publishes to platforms (X, WeChat, Weibo)	Content Skills
Provides AI generation backend	AI Generation Skills
Converts or processes content	Utility Skills

If you add a new logical group, update the docs that present grouped skills, but keep the skill registered under the single baoyu-skills plugin entry.

Writing Descriptions

MUST write in third person:

# Good
description: Generates Xiaohongshu infographic series from content. Use when user asks for "小红书图片", "XHS images".

# Bad
description: I can help you create Xiaohongshu images

Script Directory Template

Every SKILL.md with scripts MUST include:

## Script Directory

**Important**: All scripts are located in the `scripts/` subdirectory of this skill.

**Agent Execution Instructions**:
1. Determine this SKILL.md file's directory path as `{baseDir}`
2. Script path = `{baseDir}/scripts/<script-name>.ts`
3. Resolve `${BUN_X}` runtime: if `bun` installed → `bun`; if `npx` available → `npx -y bun`; else suggest installing bun
4. Replace all `{baseDir}` and `${BUN_X}` in this document with actual values

**Script Reference**:
| Script | Purpose |
|--------|---------|
| `scripts/main.ts` | Main entry point |

Progressive Disclosure

For skills with extensive content:

skills/baoyu-example/
├── SKILL.md              # Main instructions (<500 lines)
├── references/
│   ├── styles.md         # Loaded as needed
│   └── examples.md       # Loaded as needed
└── scripts/
    └── main.ts

Link from SKILL.md (one level deep only):

**Available styles**: See [references/styles.md](references/styles.md)

Extension Support (EXTEND.md)

Every SKILL.md MUST include EXTEND.md loading. Add as Step 1.1 (workflow skills) or "Preferences" section (utility skills):

**1.1 Load Preferences (EXTEND.md)**

Check EXTEND.md existence (priority order):

\`\`\`bash
test -f .baoyu-skills/<skill-name>/EXTEND.md && echo "project"
test -f "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/baoyu-skills/<skill-name>/EXTEND.md" && echo "xdg"
test -f "$HOME/.baoyu-skills/<skill-name>/EXTEND.md" && echo "user"
\`\`\`

| Path | Location |
|------|----------|
| `.baoyu-skills/<skill-name>/EXTEND.md` | Project directory |
| `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/baoyu-skills/<skill-name>/EXTEND.md` | XDG config (~/.config) |
| `$HOME/.baoyu-skills/<skill-name>/EXTEND.md` | User home (legacy) |

| Result | Action |
|--------|--------|
| Found | Read, parse, display summary |
| Not found | Ask user via the runtime's user-input tool (see [user-input-tools.md](user-input-tools.md)) |

End of SKILL.md should include:

## Extension Support
Custom configurations via EXTEND.md. See **Step 1.1** for paths and supported options.

User Input Tools Section (Required)

Every SKILL.md that prompts the user for choices MUST include exactly one ## User Input Tools section near the top (right after the intro, before the main workflow). The rule must be inlined — do NOT link to docs/user-input-tools.md (skills are self-contained; see CLAUDE.md → Skill Self-Containment). The author-side canonical reference lives at user-input-tools.md; copy its body into each new SKILL.md.

Standard snippet (copy verbatim):

## User Input Tools

When this skill prompts the user, follow this tool-selection rule (priority order):

1. **Prefer built-in user-input tools** exposed by the current agent runtime — e.g., `AskUserQuestion`, `request_user_input`, `clarify`, `ask_user`, or any equivalent.
2. **Fallback**: if no such tool exists, emit a numbered plain-text message and ask the user to reply with the chosen number/answer for each question.
3. **Batching**: if the tool supports multiple questions per call, combine all applicable questions into a single call; if only single-question, ask them one at a time in priority order.

Concrete `AskUserQuestion` references below are examples — substitute the local equivalent in other runtimes.

Image Generation Tools Section (Required for image-gen skills)

Every SKILL.md that renders images — whether by calling an image-generation API directly or by delegating to another skill — MUST include exactly one ## Image Generation Tools section near the top (after ## User Input Tools, before the main workflow). The rule must be inlined — do NOT link to docs/image-generation-tools.md (skills are self-contained; see CLAUDE.md → Skill Self-Containment). The author-side canonical reference lives at image-generation-tools.md; copy its body into each new SKILL.md.