create-skill

Creating Skills in Cursor

This skill guides you through creating effective Agent Skills for Cursor. Skills are markdown files that teach the agent how to perform specific tasks: reviewing PRs using team standards, generating commit messages in a preferred format, querying database schemas, or any specialized workflow.

Before You Begin: Gather Requirements

Before creating a skill, gather essential information from the user about:

1. Purpose and scope: What specific task or workflow should this skill help with?
2. Target location: Should this be a personal skill (~/.cursor/skills/) or project skill (.cursor/skills/)?
3. Trigger scenarios: When should the agent automatically apply this skill?
4. Key domain knowledge: What specialized information does the agent need that it wouldn't already know?
5. Output format preferences: Are there specific templates, formats, or styles required?
6. Existing patterns: Are there existing examples or conventions to follow?

Inferring from Context

If you have previous conversation context, infer the skill from what was discussed. You can create skills based on workflows, patterns, or domain knowledge that emerged in the conversation.

Gathering Additional Information

If you need clarification, use the AskQuestion tool when available:

Example AskQuestion usage:
- "Where should this skill be stored?" with options like ["Personal (~/.cursor/skills/)", "Project (.cursor/skills/)"]
- "Should this skill include executable scripts?" with options like ["Yes", "No"]

If the AskQuestion tool is not available, ask these questions conversationally.

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Skill File Structure

Directory Layout

Skills are stored as directories containing a SKILL.md file:

skill-name/
├── SKILL.md              # Required - main instructions
├── reference.md          # Optional - detailed documentation
├── examples.md           # Optional - usage examples
└── scripts/              # Optional - utility scripts
    ├── validate.py
    └── helper.sh

Storage Locations

Type	Path	Scope
Personal	~/.cursor/skills/skill-name/	Available across all your projects
Project	.cursor/skills/skill-name/	Shared with anyone using the repository