Your Skill Name

What this skill does in 2-3 sentences. Focus on the outcome, not the process.

Stage

This skill belongs to Stage SX: StageName

When to Use

Scenario 1
Scenario 2
Scenario 3

Input Schema

{
  required_field: {          # (required) Description
    name: string             # Example value
  }
  optional_field: string     # (optional, default: "value") Description
}

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Context

What to check first. How to handle missing inputs.

Step 2: Execute Core Task

The main work the skill does.

Step 3: Format and Deliver

How to structure the output.

Output Schema

Other skills can consume these fields from conversation context:

{
  primary_output: string     # Main result for downstream chaining
  secondary_output: string   # Additional data for downstream skills
}

Output Format

## [Skill Name]: [Context]

### Section 1
[Main content]

### Section 2
[Supporting content]

Error Handling

Missing required input: How to recover gracefully.
External data unavailable: Fallback strategy.
Edge case: How to handle unexpected scenarios.

Examples

Example 1: [realistic user prompt] → [step-by-step what the skill does] → [expected output summary]

Example 2: [different scenario] → [step-by-step] → [expected output summary]

Example 3: [edge case or beginner scenario] → [step-by-step] → [expected output summary]

Flywheel Connections

Feeds Into

[skill] (S[X]) — [what data/output flows forward to this skill]

Fed By

[skill] (S[X]) — [what data/output flows back from this skill]

Feedback Loop

[analytics metric or data point that improves this skill's next run]

Quality Gate

Include this section for content-producing skills (S2, S3, S4, S5, S7). Remove for non-content skills.

Before delivering output, verify:

Would I share this on MY personal social?
Contains specific, surprising detail? (not generic)
Respects reader's intelligence?
Remarkable enough to share? (Purple Cow test)
Irresistible offer framing? (if S4 offer skills ran)

Any NO → rewrite before delivering. Do not flag this checklist to the user.

Volume Mode

Include this section for S2 Content skills only. Remove for other stages.

When mode: "volume":

Generate 5-10 variations instead of 1
Prioritize speed + variety over perfection
Tag each with variant ID for A/B tracking
Let data pick the winner (GaryVee philosophy)

volume_output:
  variants:
    - id: string           # e.g., "v1", "v2"
      content: string      # The variation
      angle: string        # What makes this one different

Feedback & Issue Reporting

When this skill produces unexpected, incomplete, or incorrect output, generate a skill_feedback block (see shared/references/feedback-protocol.md for full schema).

Skill-specific failure modes:

[Failure mode 1]: [What triggers it, what to report]
[Failure mode 2]: [What triggers it, what to report]

Auto-detect triggers for this skill:

[Specific condition that means this skill underperformed]
[Another condition]

Report issues: GitHub Issues | Discussions

References

references/your-reference.md — description of what it contains
shared/references/ftc-compliance.md — FTC disclosure requirements
shared/references/affitor-branding.md — branding rules
shared/references/flywheel-connections.md — master flywheel connection map
shared/references/feedback-protocol.md — issue detection and reporting standard
shared/references/version-check.md — update notification system

your-skill-name