create-skill

Files (1)

• SKILL.md

SKILL.md (first lines)

> **${var}** — A natural-language description of the skill to create. **Required.** Example: `"monitor Hacker News for AI papers and send a summary"` or `"track gas prices on Ethereum and alert when below 10 gwei"`.

<!-- autoresearch: variation B — sharper output via PR-first workflow + quality enforcement + exit taxonomy + new-secret guard -->

If `${var}` is empty, exit `CREATE_SKILL_NO_VAR`:
```bash
./notify "create-skill aborted: var empty — pass a description e.g. \"monitor X for Y\""
```
Then stop.

Today is ${today}. Your task is to generate a complete, production-ready skill from `${var}`, score it against a quality bar, and ship it as a PR — **never commit directly to `main`**.

## Steps

1. **Parse the request.** Extract from `${var}`:
   - Core action verb (monitor, fetch, generate, analyze, alert, track, scan, etc.)
   - Data source(s) — APIs, websites, RSS, on-chain, GitHub, etc.
   - Output format — notification, article, file, PR, dashboard, etc.
   - Configurable parameter(s) the new skill will accept via its own `${var}`
   - Suggested cadence (daily, hourly, weekly, on-demand)

   Save a one-paragraph structured request summary; you'll use it in the PR body.

2. **Duplicate detection (deep — not just `ls`).** Find functional overlap, not just name collision.
   Pick the keywords yourself (no shell text tools; see **Shell shape** in the Network note): lowercase `${var}`, keep each word of 4+ letters, drop `send with from that this when each into over some like just than then also will have been using monitor track fetch alert`, and dedupe. Then one call per keyword, written in literally:
   ```bash
   grep -liE "<KEYWORD>" skills/*/SKILL.md | head -5
   ```
   Read the top 3 candidates fully. For each, judge: does it already do this? Could the request be solved by running an existing skill with a different `var=`?
   - **Near-duplicate exists** → exit `CREATE_SKILL_DUPLICATE`. Notify with the existing skill name and a one-line suggestion ("use existing `{skill}` with `var={...}` instead"). Stop.
   - **Functionally adjacent** → design the new skill to complement (different angle/cadence/output). Document the boundary in the PR body.

3. **Research the data sources.** For every API or data source the new skill needs:
   - **WebSearch** for the current API documentation. Cross-check against a secondary source when feasible (a recent GitHub repo using it, an official changelog, or a Stack Overflow answer dated ≥2026) to confirm the endpoint isn't deprecated.
   - **WebFetch** the canonical docs URL — record it as a comment in the SKILL.md and in the PR body's "Sources researched" section.
   - Identify exact endpoints, required headers, auth scheme, response schema, and rate limits.
   - Note every required environment variable / API key.
   - Determine fallback strategy when an optional API key isn't set (WebSearch / WebFetch / cached data / public endpoint).

   **Research bar (soft):** at least one confirmed source URL or exemplar (a working docs page or a public repo using the API). If none, do **not** hard-abort — log `CREATE_SKILL_INSUFFICIENT_RESEARCH`, ask the operator via `./notify` with what was tried and why each source failed, and stop. The operator can re-dispatch with a clearer prompt or a source hint.

4. **New-secret guard.** Secrets values are never inspectable from the workflow — only names are listed. Use `gh api repos/:owner/:repo/actions/secrets --jq '.secrets[].name'` to read the **names** of secrets already configured (this endpoint returns names only, never values). Cross-reference with env-var usage in `aeon.yml` and existing workflows. For each env var the new skill needs:
   - **Name present** → continue.
   - **Name missing** → record as `NEW_SECRET_REQUIRED`. The generated skill **must** gracefully degrade or skip when the secret is absent (no hard crash). Add a `### Required secrets` section to the PR body listing what the operator must add to GitHub Actions secrets before enabling.

   If the secret has no graceful fallback, the generated skill's step 1 must say: read the "Keys set for this run" line in your run notes, never a shell test (those are refused and cost a turn); when `VAR` is not on that line, send `./notify "{skill} skipped: VAR not set"` and stop. Declare `VAR` in the generated skill's `requires:`: that is what puts it on the line.

5. **Design the skill.** Decide:
   - **Skill name** — lowercase, hyphenated, 2-3 words max (e.g., `gas-alert`, `hn-papers`). Must not collide with any existing entry under `skills/`.
   - **Description** — one sentence, starts with a verb, ≤90 chars.
   - **Tags** — pick from: `content`, `crypto`, `dev`, `meta`, `news`, `research`, `social`. Max 3.
   - **Variable behavior** — what `${var}` controls; what happens when empty (sane default OR clean abort with notify).
   - **Steps** — 4-8 numbered, following the standard pattern: read context → fetch/search → process/analyze → write output → log → notify.
   - **Schedule suggestion** — choose a cron slot. Read existing schedules in `aeon.yml`; avoid co-scheduling at the same minute as heavy skills (article, repo-scanner, deep-research, telegram-digest) unless the new skill is lightweight (<30s expected). Prefer a `:30` minute offset if the natural hour is already crowded.
   - **Model** - default `claude-sonnet-5-5`. Pick `claude-haiku-5-5` if the skill is high-frequency aggregation/digestion (cost optimization), or `claude-opus-5-5` if it needs the strongest reasoning. Document the choice in the PR body.
   - **Category** - the pack the skill joins. Pick exactly one of `core` `evolution` `basics` `dev` `crypto` `productivity` (the set `scripts/check-skill-categories.sh` enforces; anything else, or a missing category, fails CI). For a new user-facing skill that is usually `basics`, `dev`, `crypto`, or `productivity`. See `docs/skill-packs.md`.

6. **Write the SKILL.md draft** at `skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md` with this exact structure:

   ```markdown
   ---
   name: {skill-name}
   description: {One-sentence description starting with a verb}
   metadata:
     title: {Display Name}
     category: {category}
     var: ""
     tags:
       - {tag}
   ---
   > **${var}** - {What the variable controls}. {If-empty behavior}.

   Today is ${today}. {One sentence describing the task.}

   ## Steps

   1. **{Step title}.** {Specific instructions - endpoints, commands, formats.}

   2. **{Step title}.** {More instructions. Code blocks for curl/bash when relevant.}

   ...

   N-1. **Log.** Append to `memory/logs/${today}.md`:
   - Skill: {skill-name}
   - What was done and key outputs

   N. **Notify.** Send via `./notify`:
   {Output format template - specify ≤4000 chars, clickable URLs}

   ## Network note

   {How this skill reaches the network - ./secretcurl with an {ENV_NAME} placeholder for auth'd APIs, gh api for GitHub, curl + WebFetch fallback for public}
   ```

   Hard rules for the generated content:
   - Complete `curl` commands with proper headers and URL encoding (no pseudo-code).
   - `jq` parsing for JSON APIs.
   - Notification character limit explicitly stated (under 4000 chars total).
   - Every link clickable (full URLs, not placeholders).
   - Fallback behavior defined for every optional secret.
   - Use only `${var}` and `${today}` template variables — no other invented variables.
   - No TODOs, no placeholders, no "fill in later".
   - Mandatory `## Network note` section (accurate model — see the `## Network note` in this skill for the canonical wording; there is no network sandbox).

7. **Quality enforcement (self-edit pass).** Score the draft 1-5 across:

   | Criterion | What to check |
   |-----------|---------------|
   | Frontmatter complete | `name`, `category`, `description`, `var`, `tags` present and well-formed |
   | Var doc | Single `>` block-quote line; if-empty behavior defined |
   | API calls complete | Curl + headers + jq, not pseudo-code |
   | Fallback behavior | Graceful degradation for every optional secret |
   | Output spec | Char limits, clickable URLs, format template explicit |
   | Network note | Present and matches the auth pattern of the API used (`./secretcurl` for auth'd, `gh api` for GitHub, WebFetch fallback for public) |

   Any criterion <4 → rewrite that section once. Still <4 after one rewrite → exit `CREATE_SKILL_VALIDATION_FAILED` with a notify listing failed criteria. **Do not ship a low-quality skill.**

8. **Post-write validation.** Re-read the SKILL.md from disk and verify:
   - Frontmatter YAML is parseable; required keys present.
   - No literal substring matches: `TODO`, `FIXME`, `XXX`, `placeholder`, `fill in`, `lorem`, `<your-`, `your_api_key_here`, `example.com`.

From aeonfun/aeon, MIT.

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