writing-science-skills
Writing Science Skills
Overview
Writing a skill is an experiment, not an essay. You form a hypothesis (this guidance will change agent behavior), run a baseline (watch agents fail without it), write the skill, and test that behavior changes.
Core principle: If you didn't watch an agent fail without the skill, you don't know whether the skill teaches the right thing — the same reason you pre-register before analyzing rather than rationalizing a result after.
REQUIRED BACKGROUND: Understand science-superpowers:preregistering-analysis first. The discipline of fixing a prediction before observing the outcome is exactly the discipline here: observe baseline behavior before writing the skill, so the skill is shaped by evidence, not by what you imagine agents do.
What is a Skill?
A skill is a reference guide for a proven technique, pattern, or discipline that future agents can find and apply.
Skills are: reusable techniques, patterns, disciplines, reference guides.
Skills are NOT: narratives about how you did something once.