How to use the KPI Dashboard Builder agent skill

What the kpi-dashboard skill makes the agent do

When the skill is installed and triggered, the agent follows a structured process rather than simply producing a table. It first clarifies the audience, reporting frequency, time range and comparison baseline (target, prior period or same period last year). Without a metric list, it proposes six to ten north-star and process metrics for your business type and lets you choose.

For each metric it defines the formula, source fields, reporting period and exclusion rules, such as whether refunds are included. If one name has several possible calculations, it lists the options and asks you to decide. It checks whether your data contains the fields needed, and it flags missing or ambiguous fields instead of guessing.

What the Excel workbook contains

The output is one workbook with four sheets. Definitions lists each metric with its category, formula, source, period, direction (higher or lower is better) and owner. Data holds your cleaned or per-period aggregated data, and the other sheets reference it.

The Dashboard sheet shows Metric, Unit, Target, Actual, Attainment, MoM, YoY and Status. Actual, attainment, MoM and YoY are live formulas that reference the Data sheet, not typed numbers. Status is colour-coded: green at 100% or above, yellow at 80 to 100%, and red below 80%. The Trends sheet has a line chart per core metric, with titles stating the definition and unit.

• Definitions: metric, category, definition, formula, source, period, direction, owner
• Data: the single source the other sheets reference
• Dashboard: at most 15 metric rows, with more metrics moved to department sub-sheets
• Trends: one line chart per core metric

Install the kpi-dashboard skill

Download the ZIP for the skill from the page you are reading. The skill's package contains a SKILL.md file. To install it for your own use, unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ on your computer. To make it available only inside one project, unzip it into that project's .claude/skills/ folder instead.

If you use the Claude apps, you can instead upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/ folder
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload

Trigger the skill with a natural request

You do not need a special command. Describe the job in plain language and include your data. The skill is designed for requests such as building a monthly KPI dashboard from operating data, or defining a set of metrics and laying them out as a dashboard workbook.

Paste or attach your data and say what you want to compare against, such as targets or the prior period. If you have no targets, say so; the skill will leave them blank instead of inventing them.

• Build a monthly KPI dashboard from this operating data
• Define these metrics and lay them out as a dashboard workbook
• Include target vs actual and month-on-month change for each metric

What the skill needs and what it does not do

The skill needs a spreadsheet-capable agent environment with Excel workbook creation tools available, plus operating data you supply in the chat. Targets and metric definitions are useful and should come from you when you have them.

It does not build real-time or automated dashboards that refresh from live systems, because it creates a static workbook from data supplied in the conversation. It also does not produce audited revenue or tax treatment. Financial definitions follow your company's finance policy, and the dashboard computes only on definitions you have confirmed.

• Requires: spreadsheet-capable agent with Excel tools, operating data in the chat, optional targets and definitions
• Not for: live or automated dashboards, audited financial reporting, or a complete scorecard with no targets or metric list

Safety notes: scripts and network

According to the skill's listing, it does not run scripts and does not use the network. The package consists of the SKILL.md instruction file. Because your data is supplied in the chat, check what you paste before sharing it, as you would with any sensitive business figures.

• Runs scripts: no
• Uses network: no

Tips for a useful dashboard

Settle the audience and cadence first, since the skill asks about them before building. Clarify any metric that can be calculated more than one way, such as average order value per order versus per customer, and decide which one you mean.

Review the three readings at the end: the best and worst metrics, unusual periods, and definitions that still need the business owner's confirmation. Outliers such as a negative daily sales figure are raised with you rather than removed silently.

• Give targets and prior-period data if you want attainment and MoM or YoY to fill in
• Expect blank attainment cells when no targets were provided
• Expect dashes in MoM or YoY where the prior period is missing