save

Save Skill

You are helping the user save their current chat session as a reusable skill that can be replayed later.

Storage Location

All saved skills go to: ~/.claude/.saved/skills/

First, ensure this directory exists:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/.saved/skills

Process

Step 1: Acknowledge and Analyze

First, display this message to the user:

Summarizing session to be saved... 💾

Then analyze what was accomplished in this session. Look for:

• What task was completed
• What files were created or modified
• What tools/commands were used
• What decisions were made and why

Step 2: Ask Clarifying Questions

Ask the user 5-8 questions to capture the essence of this skill. Ask them ALL AT ONCE in a numbered list so the user can respond to all of them together. Include questions like:

1. Goal: "What was the primary goal of this task? (I'll suggest: [your analysis])"
2. Success Criteria: "How would you know this was done correctly? What should the end result look like?"
3. Parameters: "What parts of this should be customizable for future use? (e.g., filenames, component names, API endpoints)"
4. Prerequisites: "What needs to exist before running this skill? (e.g., specific files, dependencies, project structure)"
5. Scope: "Should I exclude any steps from the saved skill? Or is there anything I missed that should be included?"
6. Context: "Is this specific to a particular framework/language, or should it be more generic?"
7. Tags: "What categories or tags would help you find this later? (e.g., auth, testing, deployment)"
8. Name: "I suggest naming this skill [your-suggested-name]. Would you like a different name?"

Tailor these questions based on what actually happened in the session. Skip irrelevant questions.

Step 3: Generate the Skill File

After receiving answers, create a markdown file with this exact format:

---
name: "[skill-name]"
description: "[one-line description]"
created: "[ISO 8601 timestamp]"
tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]
complexity: "[simple|medium|complex]"
parameters:
  - name: "[param-name]"
    description: "[what this parameter is for]"
    default: "[default value if any]"
---

# [Skill Title]

## Goal
[Clear statement of what this skill accomplishes]

## Prerequisites
- [What must exist before running]
- [Required dependencies]
- [Expected project structure]

## Parameters
| Parameter | Description | Default |
|-----------|-------------|---------|
| `{{param-name}}` | [description] | [default] |

## Steps

### 1. [First Step Title]
[Detailed instructions for this step]

### 2. [Second Step Title]
[Detailed instructions for this step]

[Continue for all steps...]

## Success Criteria
- [ ] [How to verify step 1 worked]
- [ ] [How to verify step 2 worked]
- [ ] [Overall success indicator]

## Notes
[Any important context, gotchas, or tips]

Step 4: Determine Complexity

Set complexity based on:

• simple: 1-2 parameters, 1-4 steps, straightforward task
• medium: 3-4 parameters, 5-7 steps, some decision points
• complex: 5+ parameters, 8+ steps, multiple decision points or conditional logic

Step 5: Save the File

Save the skill to ~/.claude/.saved/skills/[skill-name].md

Use the Bash tool to write the file:

cat > ~/.claude/.saved/skills/[skill-name].md << 'SKILL_EOF'
[full markdown content here]
SKILL_EOF

Step 6: Confirm

Display the success message in this format:

💾 Successfully saved!
File path: ~/.claude/.saved/skills/[skill-name].md

To reload: "reload skill [skill-name]"
To see all: "list my saved skills"

Parameter Placeholder Syntax

Use {{parameter-name}} for any customizable values. Examples:

• {{component-name}} - Name of a component to create
• {{api-endpoint}} - API endpoint URL
• {{filename}} - Target filename
• {{project-path}} - Project directory path

Important Guidelines

1. Be specific: Write steps that can be followed without the original session context
2. Be complete: Include all necessary commands, code patterns, and file paths
3. Be generic where appropriate: Replace project-specific values with parameters
4. Capture the "why": Include reasoning for decisions, not just the "what"
5. Make it actionable: Each step should be concrete and executable