Skill from GitHub
When users want to accomplish something, search GitHub for quality projects that solve the problem, understand them deeply, then create a skill based on that knowledge.
When to Use
When users describe a task and you want to find existing tools/projects to learn from:
- "I want to be able to convert markdown to PDF"
- "Help me analyze sentiment in customer reviews"
- "I need to generate API documentation from code"
Workflow
Step 1: Understand User Intent
Clarify what the user wants to achieve:
- What is the input?
- What is the expected output?
- Any constraints (language, framework, etc.)?
Step 2: Search GitHub
Search for projects that solve this problem:
{task keywords} language:{preferred} stars:>100 sort:stars
Search tips:
- Start broad, then narrow down
- Try different keyword combinations
- Include "cli", "tool", "library" if relevant
Quality filters (must meet ALL):
- Stars > 100 (community validated)
- Updated within last 12 months (actively maintained)
- Has README with clear documentation
- Has actual code (not just awesome-list)
Step 3: Present Options to User
Show top 3-5 candidates:
markdown## Found X projects that can help ### Option 1: [project-name](github-url) - Stars: xxx | Last updated: xxx - What it does: one-line description - Why it's good: specific strength ### Option 2: ... Which one should I dive into? Or should I search differently?
Wait for user confirmation before proceeding.
Step 4: Deep Dive into Selected Project
Once user selects a project, thoroughly understand it:
- Read README - Understand purpose, features, usage
- Read core source files - Understand how it works
- Check examples - See real usage patterns
- Note dependencies - What it relies on
- Identify key concepts - The mental model behind it
Extract:
- Core algorithm/approach
- Input/output formats
- Error handling patterns
- Best practices encoded in the code
Step 5: Summarize Understanding
Present what you learned to user:
markdown## Understanding [project-name] ### Core Approach How it solves the problem... ### Key Techniques 1. ... 2. ... ### Limitations - ... ### What I'll encode in the skill - ... Does this look right? Should I proceed to create the skill?
Wait for user confirmation.
Step 6: Create Skill via skill-creator
Hand off to skill-creator with:
- Clear purpose - What the skill does
- Methodology - The approach learned from the project
- Step-by-step process - Concrete instructions
- Quality criteria - What good output looks like
- Common pitfalls - What to avoid (learned from project issues/docs)
Important: The skill should encode the knowledge from the project, not just wrap the tool. The skill should work even without the original project installed.
Example
User: "I want to write better commit messages"
Step 2 - Search:
commit message convention stars:>100 sort:stars
Step 3 - Present:
## Found 4 projects ### Option 1: conventional-commits/conventionalcommits.org (4.2k ⭐) - Specification for human and machine readable commit messages - Why: Industry standard, used by Angular, Vue, etc. ### Option 2: commitizen/cz-cli (15k ⭐) - CLI tool for creating conventional commits - Why: Battle-tested, lots of adapters ### Option 3: carloscuesta/gitmoji (14k ⭐) - Emoji guide for commit messages - Why: Visual, fun approach Which one interests you?
User: "Let's go with conventional commits"
Step 4 - Deep dive:
- Read the specification
- Understand types (feat, fix, docs, etc.)
- Learn about scopes, breaking changes
- Study real-world examples
Step 5 - Summarize:
## Understanding Conventional Commits ### Core Approach Structured format: <type>(<scope>): <description> ### Key Types - feat: new feature - fix: bug fix - docs: documentation - ... ### Benefits Learned - Automated changelog generation - Semantic versioning - Clear history Ready to create a commit message skill based on this?
Step 6 - Create skill with these principles encoded
Important Notes
- Always get user confirmation - At step 3 (project selection) and step 5 (before creating)
- Prefer learning over wrapping - Encode the knowledge, not just "run this tool"
- Check license - Mention if project has restrictive license
- Credit the source - Include attribution in generated skill
- Quality over speed - Take time to truly understand the project
What This Skill is NOT
- NOT a package installer
- NOT a tool wrapper
- It's about learning from the best projects and encoding that knowledge into a reusable skill
