Progressive Metadata Prompting Pattern

Purpose

Demonstrate and teach the progressive metadata pattern - using YAML frontmatter in SKILL.md files to achieve significant token reduction (84%) while maintaining full functionality through progressive disclosure.

When to Use

• Creating new skills that need token efficiency
• Building domain expertise skills (PDF extraction, data transformation, protocols)
• Implementing repetitive specialized tasks
• Requiring consistent output formats
• Teaching others how to structure skills effectively

Core Pattern