Testing & Distributing Skills

Testing Approaches

Skills can be tested at varying levels of rigor:

• Manual testing in Claude.ai - Run queries directly and observe behavior. Fast iteration, no setup required.
• Scripted testing in Claude Code - Automate test cases for repeatable validation across changes.
• Programmatic testing via Skills API - Build evaluation suites that run systematically against defined test sets.

Pro Tip: Iterate on a single task before expanding. The most effective skill creators iterate on a single challenging task until Claude succeeds, then extract the winning approach into a skill.

Recommended Testing Approach

1. Triggering Tests

Goal: Ensure your skill loads at the right times.

Should trigger:
- "Help me set up a new ProjectHub workspace"
- "I need to create a project in ProjectHub"
- "Initialize a ProjectHub project for Q4 planning"

Should NOT trigger:
- "What's the weather in San Francisco?"
- "Help me write Python code"
- "Create a spreadsheet"

2. Functional Tests

Goal: Verify the skill produces correct outputs.

Test: Create project with 5 tasks
Given: Project name "Q4 Planning", 5 task descriptions
When: Skill executes workflow
Then:
  - Project created in ProjectHub
  - 5 tasks created with correct properties
  - All tasks linked to project
  - No API errors

3. Performance Comparison

Goal: Prove the skill improves results vs. baseline.

Without skill:
- User provides instructions each time
- 15 back-and-forth messages
- 3 failed API calls requiring retry
- 12,000 tokens consumed

With skill:
- Automatic workflow execution
- 2 clarifying questions only
- 0 failed API calls
- 6,000 tokens consumed

Using the skill-creator

The skill-creator skill - available in Claude.ai and Claude Code - helps build and iterate on skills:

• Creating: Generates skills from natural language descriptions with properly formatted SKILL.md
• Reviewing: Flags common issues, suggests test cases
• Iterating: After encountering edge cases, bring examples back for improvement

Iteration Based on Feedback

Skills are living documents. Plan to iterate based on:

Under-triggering Signals

• Skill doesn't load when it should
• Users manually enabling it
• Support questions about when to use it

Solution: Add more detail and keywords to the description

Over-triggering Signals

• Skill loads for irrelevant queries
• Users disabling it
• Confusion about purpose

Solution: Add negative triggers, be more specific

Execution Issues

• Inconsistent results
• API call failures
• User corrections needed

Solution: Improve instructions, add error handling

Distribution

Current Distribution Model

For individual users:

1. Download the skill folder
2. Zip the folder (if needed)
3. Upload to Claude.ai via Settings > Capabilities > Skills
4. Or place in Claude Code skills directory

Organization-level:

• Admins can deploy skills workspace-wide
• Automatic updates
• Centralized management

Using Skills via API

For programmatic use cases - building applications, agents, or automated workflows:

• /v1/skills endpoint for listing and managing skills
• Add skills to Messages API requests via container.skills parameter
• Version control through the Claude Console
• Works with the Claude Agent SDK

Recommended Approach

1. Host on GitHub - Public repo, clear README, example usage with screenshots
2. Document in your MCP repo - Link to skills, explain combined value
3. Create an installation guide with step-by-step instructions

Troubleshooting

Skill Won't Upload

Error: "Could not find SKILL.md"

• Rename to SKILL.md (case-sensitive)

Error: "Invalid frontmatter"

• Verify --- delimiters are present
• Check for unclosed quotes

Error: "Invalid skill name"

• Use kebab-case only

Skill Doesn't Trigger

Symptom: Skill never loads automatically.

Quick checklist:

• Is the description too generic?
• Does it include trigger phrases users would actually say?
• Does it mention relevant file types if applicable?

Debugging: Ask Claude: "When would you use the [skill name] skill?" Claude will quote the description back. Adjust based on what's missing.

Skill Triggers Too Often

Solutions:

1. Add negative triggers in the description
2. Be more specific about the scope
3. Clarify what the skill is NOT for

Instructions Not Followed

Common causes:

1. Instructions too verbose - Keep concise, use bullet points and lists
2. Instructions buried - Put critical instructions at the top
3. Ambiguous language - Be specific and explicit

Advanced technique: For critical validations, consider bundling a script that performs the checks programmatically. Code is deterministic; language interpretation isn't.

Large Context Issues

Causes: Skill content too large, too many skills enabled simultaneously

Solutions:

1. Keep SKILL.md under 5,000 words
2. Move detailed docs to references/
3. Enable skills selectively (avoid 20-50+ active simultaneously)

Resources

• Skills Documentation - Official docs
• GitHub: anthropics/skills - Examples
• Claude Developers Discord - Community