Terms in this guide: Evaluation · Prompt · Skill
A Codex skill is useful when a task repeats often enough that the instructions, tools, and quality checks deserve one maintained home. The goal is consistent execution without turning every prompt into a long operating manual.
Choose a repeatable job
Good candidates have a recognizable request, a stable sequence of decisions, and output that can be checked. Publishing a release note, migrating a component, or preparing a standard report are stronger candidates than a broad instruction to improve code.
- The request appears in similar language.
- The workflow has known inputs and outputs.
- The important failure modes can be stated.
- A human can review the final artifact.
Write the instruction spine
Start with the trigger, required context, ordered workflow, and validation. Link to supporting references instead of packing every edge case into the main instruction file.
skill-name/
├── SKILL.md
├── references/
├── scripts/
└── assets/Test with contrasting examples
Run the skill on a normal task, an incomplete request, and a case that should not trigger it. Revise any instruction that depends on hidden context, and keep resources small enough to load only when needed.
Official references
Continue with a practical next step
Progress stays in this browser. No account needed.
Updates and upgrade guidance
- Learning context added
Added prerequisites, a suggested practice estimate, expected output, and connected definitions. The article procedure was not independently re-evaluated in this change.
What to do: Use the opening checklist to prepare. No software update is required for this editorial change.
This log starts with the first recorded review; it is not a reconstruction of earlier revisions.