🧠 Building Agent Skills: A Practical Exercise Guide

By Panaversity — Teaching AI Agents to Work YOUR Way

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What Are Agent Skills?

A skill is a set of instructions you write that teaches Claude how to handle a specific type of task. Instead of writing a long prompt every time, you write the skill once — and Claude follows it automatically whenever that type of task comes up.

Think of it like this:

• Without a skill: You explain your formatting preferences, writing style, data rules, and output requirements every single time.
• With a skill: You write those instructions once in a SKILL.md file, and Claude follows them automatically forever.

Skills are the bridge between "using AI" and "building AI systems." They're how you go from one-off prompting to reusable, consistent, high-quality AI workflows.

Anatomy of a Skill

Every skill lives in a folder and has at minimum one file:

my-skill/
├── SKILL.md          ← The brain — instructions Claude follows
├── examples/          ← Optional: sample inputs/outputs Claude learns from
├── templates/         ← Optional: templates for consistent output
└── references/        ← Optional: reference material Claude can consult

The SKILL.md file has three parts:

1. Frontmatter — Name and description (tells Claude WHEN to use the skill)
2. Instructions — Step-by-step guidance (tells Claude HOW to do the task)
3. Examples/Rules — Concrete examples and constraints (tells Claude WHAT good output looks like)

Where Skills Live

• Claude Code: In your project's .claude/skills/ folder, or any folder Claude can access
• Cowork: As plugins you install in the Claude Desktop app's Cowork tab

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📂 Package Structure

skills-exercises/
├── README.md                          ← You are here
│
├── module-1-understanding-skills/     ← Read & analyze existing skills
│   ├── exercise-1.1-anatomy/          (Dissect a skill file)
│   ├── exercise-1.2-when-to-skill/    (Identify skill-worthy tasks)
│   └── exercise-1.3-skill-vs-prompt/  (Compare skill vs raw prompt)
│
├── module-2-first-skills/             ← Build simple, single-purpose skills
│   ├── exercise-2.1-email-style/      (Writing style skill)
│   ├── exercise-2.2-file-organizer/   (File organization rules)
│   └── exercise-2.3-data-cleaner/     (Data standardization skill)
│
├── module-3-skills-with-examples/     ← Skills that learn from examples
│   ├── exercise-3.1-report-formatter/ (Report with example outputs)
│   ├── exercise-3.2-meeting-minutes/  (Meeting notes with templates)
│   └── exercise-3.3-feedback-writer/  (Feedback with tone examples)
│
├── module-4-skills-with-references/   ← Skills with reference material
│   ├── exercise-4.1-brand-voice/      (Brand guidelines skill)
│   ├── exercise-4.2-policy-checker/   (Policy compliance skill)
│   └── exercise-4.3-curriculum-skill/ (Teaching standards skill)
│
├── module-5-testing-and-iteration/    ← Test, evaluate, improve skills
│   ├── exercise-5.1-edge-case-hunt/   (Find where skills break)
│   ├── exercise-5.2-before-after/     (Measure skill improvement)
│   └── exercise-5.3-user-testing/     (Test with classmates)
│
├── module-6-composing-skills/         ← Combine skills for workflows
│   ├── exercise-6.1-pipeline/         (Chain skills together)
│   ├── exercise-6.2-skill-library/    (Build a personal skill collection)
│   └── exercise-6.3-team-skills/      (Skills for team workflows)
│
├── module-7-real-world-skills/        ← Build production-ready skills
│   ├── exercise-7.1-invoice-processor/(Business process skill)
│   ├── exercise-7.2-content-pipeline/ (Content creation skill)
│   └── exercise-7.3-research-analyst/ (Research workflow skill)
│
└── module-8-capstone/                 ← Choose one capstone project
    ├── capstone-A-business-ops/       (Complete business operations suite)
    ├── capstone-B-education-kit/      (AI-native course delivery system)
    └── capstone-C-personal-ai/        (Personal productivity skill set)

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🚀 How to Use These Exercises

With Claude Code

1. Navigate to the exercise folder
2. Claude Code will automatically read SKILL.md files when they're in your project
3. Test skills by giving Claude tasks that should trigger them

With Cowork

1. Point Cowork at the exercise folder
2. Ask Claude to read the SKILL.md and follow its instructions
3. For plugin-style skills, install them via the Cowork Plugins panel

The Learning Loop

Every exercise follows this cycle:

1. Read the existing SKILL.md (or starter)
2. Test it with the provided sample tasks
3. Identify what's missing or wrong
4. Improve the skill
5. Re-test and compare results
6. Reflect on what made the skill better

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📋 Recommended Schedule

Week	Module	Focus
1	Module 1	Understanding what skills are
2	Module 2	Writing your first skills
3	Module 3	Adding examples to skills
4	Module 4	Adding reference materials
5	Module 5	Testing and improving skills
6	Module 6	Composing skills into workflows
7	Module 7	Building real-world skills
8	Module 8	Capstone project

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Built for Panaversity's AI-Native Development Curriculum No coding required — just clear thinking and iterative refinement.