--- title: "Create a skill in the Workshop" description: "The Skill Workshop, templates, the editor, validation, saving, re-embedding." slug: guides/working-with-skills/create-a-new-skill-in-workshop section: guides subsection: working-with-skills canonical_url: https://cerevisor.com/docs/guides/working-with-skills/create-a-new-skill-in-workshop last_verified: 2026-05-18 last_verified_version: "1.2.0" updated_at: 2026-05-18T15:08:18.053416+00:00 --- The **Skill Workshop** is Cerevisor's in-app editor for building new skills or editing existing ones. Switch to it from the title bar (the Workshop icon). > **License gate:** The Workshop's edit surface is gated on Trial+ / Paid tiers. Free-tier users can browse skills in the Workshop but can't save changes. ## Workshop layout Three panes: | Pane | Content | |---|---| | **Skill List** (left) | Every skill Cerevisor found, grouped by source folder. Click a skill to load it into the editor. | | **Editor** (center) | The active skill's `SKILL.md` editor, plus metadata fields. | | **Validation** (right) | Real-time validation: errors, warnings, info messages about your current skill. | ## Creating a new skill Click **+ New skill** above the skill list. The Workshop's create dialog offers three entry tabs: | Tab | What it does | |---|---| | **Generate** | Describe what you need in plain language; Cerevisor's chat-capable provider drafts a `SKILL.md` you can edit. Only shown when at least one chat-capable provider (Anthropic, Gemini, OpenAI-compatible) is configured. | | **Template** | Pick one of five hand-rolled scaffolds (see Templates below). | | **Blank** | One click. Drops you into the editor with the bare-minimum `SKILL.md` frontmatter so you can build from scratch. | For Generate and Template, you also pick: | Field | What it does | |---|---| | **Skill name** | Required. The folder name and `name:` frontmatter value. Use kebab-case. | | **Location** | `~/.claude/skills/` (shared with Claude Code) or `~/.cerevisor/skills/` (Cerevisor-only). | Click **Create**. The skill folder is generated and you're dropped into the editor. ## The editor The editor has these sections: ### Metadata - **Name**: text input. The `name:` frontmatter value. - **Description**: textarea. The `description:` frontmatter value. This is the most important field for skill discoverability: see [What are skills?](./what-are-skills.md). - **Category**: dropdown to organize the skill in the panel. - **Tags**: chip input. ### Body editor A Monaco editor for the body of `SKILL.md`. Markdown with syntax highlighting. Supports tables, code blocks, callouts. Below the editor is a live markdown preview tab. ### Auto-save Edits debounce-save to disk every few seconds. The editor shows a "Saving…" / "Saved" indicator. There's no explicit Save button. ### Delete A trash icon at the bottom removes the skill. Confirms first. Only available for skills under `~/.cerevisor/skills/`, Cerevisor doesn't delete skills it didn't write. ## Validation The validation pane updates as you type. It surfaces: | Severity | Examples | |---|---| | **Error** | Missing required `name:` or `description:` frontmatter. Invalid YAML. Malformed markdown structure. | | **Warning** | Description shorter than 50 chars (probably too vague). No "when to use" hint. No "when NOT to use" hint. | | **Info** | Suggestions for improving discoverability — adding tags, mentioning common triggers, etc. | Errors block the skill from showing up in agent pickers. Warnings don't block but indicate poor discoverability. ## Templates The five built-in templates available under the **Template** tab: | Template | Best for | |---|---| | **Development Tool** | Coding, debugging, and testing patterns. Scaffolds before/after examples, core patterns, and common-mistakes sections. | | **Documentation Generator** | Creating docs, reports, and other formatted output. Scaffolds document structure, formatting guidelines, and reusable templates. | | **Creative Skill** | Art, design, and content creation. Scaffolds design principles, style guides, and a creative-process walkthrough. | | **Engineering Pattern** | Prompts, workflows, and architectural approaches. Scaffolds architecture diagrams, configuration, error-handling, and monitoring. | | **Utility** | General-purpose helper skills for repetitive tasks. Scaffolds basic and advanced usage examples. | Pick the template closest to what you're building; you'll edit out what you don't need. If none fits, use the **Blank** tab instead. ## Re-embedding When you save a skill that changes its description or tags, Cerevisor invalidates the cached semantic embedding for that skill. The next skill scan (or the next launch) re-embeds it. You can force a re-embed of every skill via **Settings → Skills → Re-embed all skills**. Useful after upgrading the embedder or after bulk edits. ## Editing an existing skill Click any skill in the Workshop's left list. The editor loads it. You can edit skills installed under `~/.claude/skills/` too. Be aware: these are often skills you installed from a published source, editing them locally means your changes will be overwritten if you reinstall. For local-only customizations, fork the skill: create a new skill in `~/.cerevisor/skills/` with a similar name (e.g. `my-skill-customized`), copy the content, edit there. ## Sharing a skill Just zip the skill folder and send it. The recipient unzips into their `~/.claude/skills/` (or `~/.cerevisor/skills/`) and the skill appears on next launch. Skills are intended to be portable. They don't reference machine-specific paths. They don't bundle credentials. ## A note on writing good skills The single best resource for writing well-tuned skills is the existing skill collection. Browse the Workshop, read a few skills that seem similar to what you're building, mirror their patterns. The `writing-skills` skill (if you have it installed) walks through this in depth.