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Add hierarchical naming convention guidance to usethis-skills-create #1543

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nathanjmcdougall merged 2 commits into from
Mar 25, 2026
Merged

Add hierarchical naming convention guidance to usethis-skills-create #1543

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25 changes: 23 additions & 2 deletions .agents/skills/usethis-skills-create/SKILL.md
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ description: Create new agent skills (SKILL.md files) following best practices f
compatibility: usethis, agent skills, markdown
license: MIT
metadata:
version: "1.0"
version: "1.1"
---

# Creating Agent Skills
Expand All @@ -24,9 +24,29 @@ Use kebab-case (lowercase with hyphens). The name should clearly communicate wha

Prefer specific, descriptive names over vague ones:

- **Good:** `usethis-qa-static-checks`, `usethis-prek-add-hook`
- **Good:** `usethis-qa-static-checks`, `usethis-prek-hook-bespoke-create`
- **Bad:** `helper`, `utils`, `tools`

### Hierarchical naming

Organize names from general to specific, using a hierarchical structure: `<project>-<domain>-<topic>-<subtopic>-<action>`. This keeps related skills grouped together and makes names predictable.

- Start with the project prefix (e.g. `usethis-`).
- Follow with the domain or category (e.g. `python-`, `qa-`, `prek-`).
- Then the topic (e.g. `code`, `hook`, `skills`).
- Optionally narrow with a subtopic (e.g. `bespoke`).
- End with a specific action if the skill is narrow in scope (e.g. `create`, `modify`).

For example, skills about bespoke prek hooks would be named:

- `usethis-prek-hook-bespoke` — general guidance on bespoke hooks (topic-level skill)
- `usethis-prek-hook-bespoke-create` — creating a new bespoke hook
- `usethis-prek-hook-bespoke-modify` — modifying an existing bespoke hook

**Bad:** `usethis-prek-bespoke-hook` — this breaks the general-to-specific order by placing the subtopic (`bespoke`) before the topic (`hook`).

When in doubt, think about how the name would sort alphabetically alongside related skills. Related skills should cluster together.

## YAML frontmatter format

All `SKILL.md` files must include the following YAML frontmatter:
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -119,6 +139,7 @@ If content grows beyond this, split details into separate reference files in the
Before finalizing a new skill, verify:

- [ ] Name is descriptive and uses kebab-case
- [ ] Name follows general-to-specific hierarchical order
- [ ] YAML frontmatter has all required fields (`name`, `description`, `compatibility`, `license`, `metadata.version`)
- [ ] Version is a quoted string in `"MAJOR.MINOR"` format (e.g. `"1.0"`)
- [ ] Description includes what the skill does and when to use it
Expand Down