Feature Request: Bundle Claude Skills with Playbooks

[jmanhype]

Problem

Currently, Director playbooks provide MCP tools (abilities) but don't include a way to bundle related documentation/knowledge. When using playbooks, Claude has access to tools but may lack context about how to use them effectively.

Proposed Solution

Add support for bundling Claude Skills with playbooks so that knowledge travels alongside tools.

Use Case Example

A "github-workflow" playbook that includes:

• MCP Server: GitHub (tools for repos, PRs, issues)
• Claude Skills: GitHub API documentation, best practices

Result: Claude has both the tools AND the knowledge to use them effectively.

Suggested Implementation

Option 1: Skills field in YAML

playbooks:
  - id: github-workflow
    name: github-workflow
    skills:
      - path: ./skills/github-api.zip
        auto_upload: true
      - path: ./skills/github-actions.zip
        auto_upload: true
    servers:
      - name: github
        command: npx
        args: ["@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"]

Option 2: Skills directory convention

my-playbook/
├── playbook.yaml
└── skills/
    ├── github-api.zip
    └── github-actions.zip

Director auto-discovers and uploads skills when playbook is connected.

Option 3: Skill references by ID

playbooks:
  - id: github-workflow
    skills:
      - skill_id: skill_01XXX...  # Reference already uploaded skill
      - skill_id: skill_01YYY...

Benefits

1. Better AI Performance: Claude has context + tools together
2. Portability: Playbooks become self-contained knowledge + capability units
3. Discoverability: Users get both tools and docs in one package
4. Consistency: Skills and tools stay in sync

Workflow Synergy

1. Use Skill Seeker MCP to scrape docs about MCP servers
2. Bundle those skills with playbooks
3. Share complete playbooks (tools + knowledge)
4. Claude performs better with full context

Alternative: MCP Prompts

If full skill bundling is complex, could prompts serve a similar purpose by including key documentation excerpts in the playbook?

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This would make playbooks much more powerful and easier to share. Would love to hear thoughts on feasibility!

[barnaby]

Hey @jmanhype, thanks! Yup, I'm very aligned, this makes a lot of sense and something I'd like to do next.

Perhaps a better way to implement it though is to create a standalone Claude skills loader MCP and add it to a playbook as required? Would love to hear your thoughts.