What does this skill do, and when should you use it?
This is the example skill in example-plugin from anthropics/claude-plugins-official, intended for skill development and format reference. It explains how YAML frontmatter defines a skill’s name, trigger description, and version, and documents required and optional supporting files. It also provides patterns for effective descriptions and practical development guidance. The skill does not run scripts, call tools, or connect to external services.
Provides a reference SKILL.md template; documents the basic skills/skill-name/SKILL.md layout; lists optional README.md, references/, examples/, and scripts/ directories; explains the name, description, version, and license frontmatter fields; and gives guidance on trigger phrases, focused scope, activation testing, and avoiding overlap with other skills.
- A developer creating a Claude Code plugin skill who needs a minimal directory and SKILL.md example.
- A skill author designing activation conditions who wants examples of useful phrases, keywords, and topic signals for description.
- A team organizing a complex skill that needs references, examples, or scripts directories and wants a documented layout.
- A user learning Agent Skill development patterns who needs a basic distinction between skills, commands, and agents.
How do you install this skill?
- This is a static source review; the skill was not executed and its triggering behavior was not verified.
- Anthropic provenance must not be treated as evidence of reliability, safety, test quality, or effectiveness.
- Adopters should verify the current Claude Code skill specification and actual activation behavior.
The skill is located at plugins/example-plugin/skills/example-skill/ in the repository. The README documents plugin installation through Claude Code: run /plugin install example-plugin@claude-plugins-official, or find it through /plugin > Discover. The source does not document a separate installation command for this individual skill.
tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official.git "$tmp"
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -R "$tmp/plugins/example-plugin/skills/example-skill" ~/.claude/skills/
rm -rf "$tmp"Generated from the source repository and skill path; it copies only this skill's folder. If the author's install steps above differ, follow those first. To scope it to one project, replace ~/.claude/skills with that project's .claude/skills.
How do you use this skill?
Once installed, send your agent any of these to trigger it:
- show skill format,
- create a skill template,
After installing the plugin containing the skill, use a request such as “demonstrate skills,” “show skill format,” or “create a skill template,” or ask about skill development patterns. These phrases and topics are listed as activation conditions in SKILL.md. The source does not document a manual invocation command, parameters, or output schema.
What are this skill's strengths and limitations?
- Clearly documents a minimal skill structure and optional file layout.
- Explains frontmatter fields and how to write activation-oriented descriptions.
- Useful as an introductory reference template for skill development.
- Shows no runtime requirement for shell, network, filesystem, or MCP access.
- Provides reference guidance rather than an executable generator or automation workflow.
- The source provides no test suite, platform compatibility testing, or failure-handling guidance.
- It is written for Claude Code plugin skills; loading details for other clients are not documented.
- It is one example skill and does not represent the capabilities of sibling skills in the repository.
How does this skill compare with similar options?
Side by side with related skills; every score comes from the same FSRS standard.
| Skill | FS score | Stars | Last updated | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Skill Template Example this page ✓ Anthropic · Official | 58 · Recommended | ★ 38k | 11d ago | Apache-2.0 |
| Claude Code Plugin Agent Development ✓ Anthropic · Official | 47 · Use with care | ★ 151k | 11d ago | — |
| Claude Code Command Development ✓ Anthropic · Official | 46 · Use with care | ★ 151k | 11d ago | — |
| Claude Code Plugin Skill Development ✓ Anthropic · Official | 51 · Use with care | ★ 38k | 11d ago | Apache-2.0 |
| Claude Code Skill Development ✓ Anthropic · Official | 46 · Use with care | ★ 151k | 11d ago | — |
How did FollowSkills review this skill?
The skill gives users who create, understand, or design Claude Code plugin skills a clear reference for structure, triggers, frontmatter, and writing practices. Its purpose and scope are reasonably clear, but it does not demonstrate a distinctive advantage over official documentation or other templates and does not define non-fit cases, so 6 points are deducted.
The file is internally consistent and covers directory structure, frontmatter, and authoring guidance, but it has no executable behavior, test suite, validation results, failure handling, or reproducibility evidence. Static review supports only limited happy-path plausibility, so 13 points are deducted.
The skill provides documentation only and contains no scripts, external calls, credential handling, data transfer, or destructive defaults, resulting in a low direct risk profile. It does not specify least-privilege permissions, user confirmation, isolation, rollback, or data-flow controls, so 7 points are deducted.
The SKILL.md is auditable primary material with concrete structure examples and field guidance. It provides no third-party reproduction, CI, committed tests, or independent corroboration, so coverage is limited and 10 points are deducted.
Triggers, subject matter, output nature, and skill-directory examples are clear, and no extra dependency is required. Installation, compatibility, troubleshooting, cost, and disable/exit guidance are absent, leaving significant adoption assumptions; 4 points are deducted.
The skill has version 1.0.0, while repository provenance, Apache-2.0 licensing, Anthropic ownership, and repository-level automation signals are clear. The skill itself lacks a changelog, response commitment, and explicit update path, so 2 points are deducted.
Open a dimension to read why it scored that way
Evidence confidence：Low — Mostly static review, author material or a limited demo; useful for discovery, not high-risk decisions.
This review was completed under FSRS 1.0. Dimension scores are not converted; it is queued for re-review under FSRS 2.0.
See the full review method →