Agent Skill NPM Boilerplate

🚀 A template for creating and publishing Claude Code skills as npm packages

This is a GitHub template repository for creating Claude Code skills that can be distributed and installed via npm. It provides a complete, production-ready structure following the official Claude Code skills specification.

🎯 What is this?

This boilerplate helps you create skills that can be installed via npm:

# Your users can install your skill like this
npm install -g @antskill/your-skill

# The skill is automatically installed to ~/.claude/skills/
# and immediately available in Claude Code

✨ Features

• ✅ Official Specification: Fully compliant with Claude Code skills format
• ✅ Multi-Tool Support: Install to Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and more! (See Multi-Tool Support)
• ✅ Smart Installation: Auto-detects global vs project-level installation
• ✅ Progressive Disclosure: Supports main SKILL.md + reference files
• ✅ Lifecycle Management: Install, update, uninstall scripts included
• ✅ Best Practices: Follows all recommended patterns from official docs
• ✅ Ready to Publish: Just customize and publish to npm

🚀 Quick Start

Option 1: Use as GitHub Template

1. Click the "Use this template" button at the top of this repository
2. Clone your new repository
3. Customize your skill (see Customization Guide)
4. Publish to npm

Option 2: Clone Directly

# Clone this repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/agent-skill-npm-boilerplate.git my-skill
cd my-skill

# Remove git history and start fresh
rm -rf .git
git init

# Install dependencies (for development)
npm install

# Customize your skill

📁 Project Structure

agent-skill-npm-boilerplate/
├── package.json                # npm package configuration
├── SKILL.md                   # Main skill definition (REQUIRED)
├── .claude-skill.json         # Installation configuration
├── install-skill.js           # Installation script
├── uninstall-skill.js         # Uninstallation script
├── reference.md               # Detailed documentation (optional)
├── examples.md                # Usage examples (optional)
├── scripts/                   # Utility scripts (optional)
│   ├── setup.sh              # Post-install setup
│   └── config.json.example   # Configuration template
├── README.md                  # This file (customize for your skill)
├── LICENSE                    # License file
└── .gitignore                # Git ignore rules

🎨 Customization Guide

Step 1: Update package.json

Replace the following placeholders:

{
  "name": "@antskill/YOUR-SKILL-NAME",        // Change this
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "YOUR SKILL DESCRIPTION",     // Change this
  "author": "YOUR NAME",                       // Change this
  "repository": {
    "url": "YOUR-REPO-URL"                     // Change this
  }
}

Step 2: Update SKILL.md

Edit SKILL.md and replace placeholders:

---
name: your-skill-name              # Must match directory name
description: Your skill description here. Use when [scenarios].
allowed-tools: Read, Bash          # Tools your skill can use
---

Step 3: Update .claude-skill.json

{
  "name": "your-skill-name",        // Must match SKILL.md name
  "package": "@antskill/your-skill-name"
}

Step 4: Add Your Logic

Edit the "Instructions" section in SKILL.md:

## Instructions

When the user [describes scenario]:

1. **Step 1**: Do something
2. **Step 2**: Do something else
3. **Step 3**: Complete the task

Step 5: Test Locally

# Test the installation script
node install-skill.js

# Check if installed correctly
ls -la ~/.claude/skills/your-skill-name/
cat ~/.claude/skills/your-skill-name/SKILL.md

# Open Claude Code and verify
# Ask Claude: "What skills are available?"

Step 6: Publish to npm

# Login to npm (first time only)
npm login

# Publish your skill
npm publish --access public

📖 Skill Development Best Practices

1. Write Clear Descriptions

The description field in SKILL.md is crucial - it determines when Claude uses your skill:

# ❌ Bad: Too vague
description: Helps with files

# ✅ Good: Specific and includes trigger keywords
description: Analyzes TypeScript files for type errors. Use when checking types, debugging TypeScript issues, or validating .ts files.

2. Use Progressive Disclosure

Keep SKILL.md under 500 lines. Put detailed content in separate files:

# In SKILL.md
For complete API reference, see [reference.md](reference.md)
For examples, see [examples.md](examples.md)

Claude will only load these files when needed, saving context.

3. Limit Tool Access

Use allowed-tools to restrict what your skill can do:

# Read-only skill
allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Glob

# Can read and execute (but not modify files)
allowed-tools: Read, Bash

# Full access
allowed-tools: Read, Edit, Write, Bash

4. Include Examples

Show concrete examples in your SKILL.md:

## Examples

### Example 1: Basic Usage

User asks: "Check my commit message"

Claude will:
1. Read the commit message
2. Validate format
3. Suggest improvements

📦 Installation Behavior

Global Installation (Recommended)

npm install -g @antskill/your-skill

Installs to: ~/.claude/skills/your-skill-name/

Available: Across all projects for the current user

Project-Level Installation

npm install --save-dev @antskill/your-skill

Installs to: .claude/skills/your-skill-name/

Available: Only in this project (can be committed to git)

Priority Order

When multiple skills exist:

1. Enterprise (managed settings)
2. Personal (~/.claude/skills/)
3. Project (.claude/skills/)
4. Plugin

🔧 Advanced Features

Custom Hooks

Run scripts during installation:

// .claude-skill.json
{
  "hooks": {
    "postinstall": "bash scripts/setup.sh"
  }
}

Multiple Files

Support rich documentation:

// .claude-skill.json
{
  "files": {
    "reference.md": "reference.md",
    "examples.md": "examples.md",
    "scripts": "scripts/"
  }
}

Configuration

Let users customize your skill:

# scripts/setup.sh
cat > scripts/config.json <<EOF
{
  "option1": "default",
  "option2": true
}
EOF

🐛 Troubleshooting

Skill Not Appearing

# Check installation location
ls -la ~/.claude/skills/

# Verify SKILL.md format
cat ~/.claude/skills/your-skill/SKILL.md

# Check manifest
cat ~/.claude/skills/.skills-manifest.json

Permission Errors

# Fix npm permissions (recommended)
mkdir ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'
export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH

# Or use sudo (not recommended)
sudo npm install -g @antskill/your-skill

Skill Not Triggering

• Make sure the description includes keywords users would naturally say
• Test by asking Claude directly: "Use the your-skill-name skill to..."

📚 Resources

• Claude Code Skills Documentation
• Skills Best Practices
• npm Package Publishing Guide
• Conventional Commits

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork this repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Submit a pull request

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

📄 License

This template is MIT licensed. Skills you create from this template can use any license you choose.

💡 Examples

Skills built with this template:

• @antskill/git-commit-helper - Generate conventional commit messages
• @antskill/code-reviewer - Automated code review assistance
• @antskill/test-generator - Generate test cases from code

(Add your skill here after publishing!)

🙋 Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• Documentation: Wiki

🌟 Show Your Support

If you find this template helpful:

• ⭐ Star this repository
• 🐛 Report bugs
• 💡 Suggest features
• 📝 Improve documentation

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Made with ❤️ for the Claude Code community