Features Overview

skill-forge is designed around three core capabilities: scaffold, validate, and publish. Each one removes friction from the skill development lifecycle.

Scaffold

Create production-ready skill structures instantly.

skill-forge create my-skill --template cli-tool

• 5 built-in templates covering the most common skill patterns
• Smart defaults — every generated file follows Claude Code conventions
• Customizable — extend templates or create your own
• Interactive prompts guide you through options

What Gets Generated

Every skill starts with the same solid foundation:

File	Purpose
SKILL.md	Main skill definition (required)
references/	Supporting documents, data, examples
scripts/	Automation scripts invoked by the skill
tests/	Validation test cases
README.md	Human-readable documentation

Validate

Catch problems before they reach users.

skill-forge validate

• Structure checks — required files and directories exist
• SKILL.md validation — required sections present, frontmatter valid
• Reference integrity — all referenced files actually exist
• Best practice hints — warnings for common anti-patterns

Validation Rules

skill-forge enforces these rules:

1. SKILL.md must exist at the skill root
2. Required sections: Description, When to Use, Instructions
3. All file paths in Instructions must resolve
4. No duplicate section headers
5. References directory must not contain broken symlinks

See Validation Details for the full rule set.

Publish

Ship your skill to the world with one command.

skill-forge publish

• Version management — auto-bumps based on changes
• README generation — creates a polished README from your SKILL.md
• Registry upload — publishes to the skill registry
• GitHub integration — creates releases with changelogs

Publishing Workflow

skill-forge validate → skill-forge publish
                          ├── bump version
                          ├── generate README
                          ├── create git tag
                          ├── push to registry
                          └── create GitHub release

CLI Reference

Command	Description
skill-forge create <name>	Create a new skill
skill-forge validate	Validate current skill
skill-forge publish	Publish to registry
skill-forge list	List available templates
skill-forge doctor	Check system requirements
skill-forge update	Self-update to latest version