Skip to content
Get packs

Writing Hive Skills

Guides an agent to author new Agent Skills (SKILL.md folders) that follow the Hive and Agent Skills spec

Source Download skill
Repository
aden-hive/hive
Stars
11,132
Licence
Apache-2.0
Files
1 file

What it does

This skill teaches an AI agent how to create new skills for Hive agents. A skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file that gives an agent extra know-how on demand. Once installed, the agent knows where to place a skill (project, user, or colony scope), how to write the required frontmatter name and description, and how to structure the body so the agent can use it well. It also explains a colony-scoped path that uses a write_skill tool so a skill stays limited to one colony's workers.

Great for

  • Developers building custom skills or default skills for the Hive agent framework
  • Teams who want consistent, spec-conforming SKILL.md files across projects
  • Anyone packaging an API or workflow as a reusable skill for Hive agents

Skip it if

  • People who just want to use an existing skill; this one only helps write new ones
  • Writing general-purpose documents or code unrelated to Hive or the Agent Skills format, since the guidance is Hive-specific
  • Storing secrets: the guidance encourages putting API auth details into skill bodies, so credentials should be kept out of shared skill folders

Try asking

  • “Create a new Hive skill that wraps our internal billing API”
  • “Scaffold a project-scoped skill for our repo's deployment conventions”
  • “Package this workflow as a user-scoped skill I can reuse across projects”
  • “Write a colony-scoped skill for the LinkedIn outbound campaign colony”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Writing Hive SkillsInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.

    writing-hive-skills.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip writing-hive-skills.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip writing-hive-skills.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Write a precise description with concrete trigger words, since it is the only part the agent sees when choosing a skill
  • Keep SKILL.md under about 500 lines and move long reference material into references/ files
  • Use colony-scoped write_skill for skills tied to one colony, so they do not leak to other colonies on the machine

What's inside

  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from aden-hive/hive under the Apache-2.0 licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.