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10 min · skills

Write your first reusable skill (no coding)

Goal: Ship a one-screen skill with a golden test and no hidden secrets before you share it.

Best for: Absolute beginners who want something useful before learning file formats.

One screen, one golden test, no secrets in the pack.

Why beginners skip this

Writing the first skill as a universal helper feels ambitious—boundaries scatter and teammates won’t use it. One job + fixture.

Step 1 — Fill this skeleton (keep it one screen)

Keep the skeleton to one screen; fill it with a scenario you will really use—no fake task titles.

Skill name: [short, verb-like]
When to use: [one sentence trigger]
Do not use when: [two bullets]
Steps the AI must follow:
1)
2)
3)
Output format:
Quality bar: [how I will reject a bad draft]
Examples: [one tiny input → output pair]

Step 2 — Worked example (meeting notes → decisions)

Example

Filled prompt

Skill name: Notes-to-decisions
When to use: User pastes raw meeting notes and asks for decisions.
Do not use when: Notes are empty; or user asks for legal advice.
Steps:
1) List decisions only if the notes say they were decided.
2) List open questions separately.
3) Mark unclear items as Unclear — do not invent owners.
Output format: ## Decisions / ## Open questions / ## Unclear
Quality bar: Any invented deadline = fail.
Example input: “Leave with a one-page skill draft you can paste”
Example output: Decisions: (none explicit). Open questions: new ship date? Unclear: whether Friday confirm is a decision.

What good output looks like

  • Skill purpose is one job for “Write your first reusable skill” — not a company brain
  • Done + golden example present and tested
  • Never-send / never-delete honored
  • Pass/fail: fail-case run once (skills-write-your-first-skill #1)

Step 3 — Put it to work today (clicks)

  • Easiest path: open or create a Project → paste the skeleton into Instructions → attach one sample file → start a new chat inside the Project.
  • Say: “Use the Notes-to-decisions rules on the text I paste next.”
  • When your product supports Skills, copy the same text into a new skill — the content stays, only the container changes.

Step 4 — Run one live test

Run one live test in a Project; pass only with a done bar plus a filled example.

Here are raw notes:
[paste]
Follow Notes-to-decisions. If a decision is not explicit, put it under Unclear.

Pass only if you would forward the lists without rewriting the facts. Fail → tighten “Do not invent…” and retest.

Example

Filled prompt

Draft a first skill card for “customer apology email”.
Purpose: one-screen rules for delay apologies.
Done boxes: (1) names the delay cause only from my notes (2) offers one concrete next step (3) no refund promise unless I typed it (4) ends with draft-only—never send.
Never-do: invent root cause; invent compensation; CC people I did not name.
Filled example input: “Order #4821 delayed 4 days; warehouse backlog; offer 10% next-order code CODE-WAIT already approved.”
Example output shape: subject + 5-sentence body using only those facts + CODE-WAIT.
Draft only—no send.

What good output looks like

  • Purpose fits one screen
  • Done boxes are testable (esp. no invented refund)
  • Never-do blocks silent send and invented cause
  • Example uses Order #4821 + CODE-WAIT only—no extra coupons

Close the loop

Write one line: next time my first skill is a universal helper, I refuse share.

Example

Filled prompt

Draft skill card "notes-to-decisions": when/when-not, 3 steps, quality bar, golden example.
Run golden twice before share. No secrets in pack.

What good output looks like

  • Done + golden example present and tested
  • Never-send / never-delete honored
  • Pass/fail: fail-case run once (skills-write-your-first-skill #2)
  • Skill purpose is one job for “Write your first reusable skill” — not a company brain

Red flag

Sharing without a golden test; secrets in the skill body—strip and test privately first.

Save this card

Card: one-screen skeleton · one golden test · no hidden secrets. Run the test before anyone else sees it.

Before you start

Open the skill card (or blank one-pager). Purpose must be one job for “Leave with a one-page skill draft you can paste.” Golden example slot cannot stay empty. Guide: skills-write-your-first-skill. Keep the real job visible the whole time; a blank box means stop and fetch the artifact first.

How to use this week

This week write your first real skill: one job, three boundary lines, one fixture; no share until it passes.

Pitfalls

PitfallFix
Writing a novel skill on day oneOne screen + one golden test
Skipping the test conversationRun golden example twice
Hard-coding secrets into the skillPlaceholders only
Example

Filled prompt

Temptation: skip the habit for skills-write-your-first-skill to save five minutes.
Job still: Leave with a one-page skill draft you can
Smallest correct pass: Done visible · checkable artifact · Unknowns [?].
Boundaries: draft only; no silent send; no invented metrics.
Return: artifact + refuse-line said aloud.

What good output looks like

  • Names the shortcut refused (specific to skills-write-your-first-skill)
  • Still delivers checkable output for “Write your first reusable skill”
  • Unknowns labeled; draft-only
  • Pass/fail: refuse-line dated (skills-write-your-first-skill #4)

Practice now

Hello refuse: first skill must refuse one unsafe ask in tests (Asia/Shanghai).

Tiny trigger: trigger phrase ≤6 words (Asia/Shanghai).

Stub-first drill: ship refuse + trigger only; add cleverness tomorrow (Asia/Shanghai).

First-skill drill: ship a stub skill with refuse-line before adding cleverness (Asia/Shanghai).

Thin-spot drill: rewrite the Save card with real nouns from your work (repo, doc, inbox). Generic placeholders fail the drill.

Tonight fill a one-screen skeleton from a real repeat job, attach one example, run it on a real task in a Project; do not share until the done standard passes.

One sentence takeaway

One job + three boundary lines + one fixture; no share until pass.

Next

Invoke · GFB

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