- Published on
Create Agent Skills in Simple Steps
- Authors
- Saad Bash
Agent skills extend Claude Code and Codex with custom capabilities through simple markdown files and scripts.
Claude Code
Install the skills marketplace
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills
Install skill-creator
/plugin install skill-creator@anthropic-agent-skills
Create a new skill
Ask Claude to create a skill:
Create a new skill called "slug-generator" that converts text to URL-friendly slugs
Or manually initialize:
python scripts/init_skill.py my-skill --path ./skills
Skill structure
my-skill/
├── SKILL.md (required)
├── scripts/ (optional)
├── references/ (optional)
└── assets/ (optional)
SKILL.md format
---
name: slug-generator
description: |
Convert text to URL-friendly slugs with customizable
separators. Use when you need to: (1) Generate URL
slugs from titles, (2) Create file-safe names.
---
# Slug Generator
## Usage
Input: "My Blog Post Title!"
Output: "my-blog-post-title"
## Implementation
See [slug_transform.py](scripts/slug_transform.py)
Example script
scripts/slug_transform.py:
import re
def generate_slug(text: str, separator: str = '-') -> str:
slug = text.lower().strip()
slug = re.sub(r'[^a-z0-9]+', separator, slug)
slug = re.sub(f'{separator}+', separator, slug)
return slug.strip(separator)
if __name__ == '__main__':
import sys
text = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else "Example Text"
print(generate_slug(text))
Package the skill
python scripts/package_skill.py ./skills/my-skill
Creates my-skill.skill file.
Install your skill
/plugin install ./my-skill.skill
Use your skill
Use the slug-generator skill to convert: "My Amazing Title"
Codex (OpenAI)
Create skill with skill-creator
$skill-creator
With context:
$skill-creator
Create a skill that generates commit messages from git diff.
Manual creation
Create in either location:
# User-scoped
~/.codex/skills/my-skill/
# Repo-scoped
.codex/skills/my-skill/
Codex SKILL.md format
---
name: commit-msg-generator
description: Generate conventional commit messages from git diff. Use when committing changes.
---
# Commit Message Generator
Review git diff and generate a conventional commit message.
## Steps
1. Run `git diff --staged`
2. Analyze changes
3. Generate message with format: `type(scope): subject`
4. Suggest conventional types: feat, fix, refactor, docs
Restart Codex
# Restart to load new skills
codex restart
Activation
Skills activate automatically when mentioned or via:
/skills
Or explicitly:
$my-skill
Key Differences
| Aspect | Claude Code | Codex |
|---|---|---|
| Install command | /plugin install | Files in ~/.codex/skills/ |
| Skill creator | skill-creator@anthropic-agent-skills | $skill-creator |
| Activation | Mention skill name | $skill-name or auto |
| Packaging | .skill zip file | Directory structure |