# writing-skills

> Claude/Codex skill by [@obra](https://omgskills.com/library/obra/index.md) · 280k stars · 187k installs · Updated 2026-08-29

Use when creating new skills, editing existing skills, or verifying skills work before deployment

Tags: ai, brainstorming, coding, obra, sdlc, skills, subagent-driven-development, superpowers

## Install

```sh
git clone https://github.com/obra/superpowers /tmp/superpowers && ln -s /tmp/superpowers/skills/writing-skills ~/.claude/skills/writing-skills
```

## From README

Writing Skills Overview Writing skills IS Test-Driven Development applied to process documentation. Personal skills live in your runtime's skills directory (/.claude/skills/ on Claude Code) — see codex-tools.md or gemini-tools.md for the path on those runtimes. Codex, Copilot CLI, and Gemini CLI all also recognize /.agents/skills/ as a cross-runtime alias. You write test cases (pressure scenarios with subagents), watch them fail (baseline behavior), write the skill (documentation), watch tests pass (agents comply), and refactor (close loopholes). Core principle: If you didn't watch an agent fail without the skill, you don't know if the skill teaches the right thing. REQUIRED BACKGROUND: You MUST understand superpowers:test-driven-development before using this skill. That skill defines the fundamental RED-GREEN-REFACTOR cycle. This skill adapts TDD to documentation. Official guidance: For Anthropic's official skill authoring best practices, see anthropic-best-practices.md.

## Links

- HTML page: https://omgskills.com/skills/obra/superpowers/writing-skills/
- GitHub: https://github.com/obra/superpowers
- Author: [@obra](https://omgskills.com/library/obra/index.md)

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