Skilllibrary skill-adaptation

Adapt a general-purpose skill to a specific repository, team, stack, or project context without losing the base pattern. Use this when porting a skill between stacks (e.g. React to Vue, npm to pnpm), customizing a library skill for project conventions, or localizing tool references for a different environment. Do not use for creating skills from scratch (use skill-authoring) or for minor refinements to an already project-specific skill (use skill-refinement).

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/merceralex397-collab/skilllibrary
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/merceralex397-collab/skilllibrary "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/03-meta-skill-engineering/skill-adaptation" ~/.claude/skills/merceralex397-collab-skilllibrary-skill-adaptation && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: 03-meta-skill-engineering/skill-adaptation/SKILL.md
source content

Purpose

Takes a general-purpose skill and adapts it for a specific context: different tech stack, different organization, different domain, or different conventions. Preserves the core procedure while replacing generic references with context-specific ones.

When to use this skill

Use when:

  • User says "adapt this skill for our project", "customize for Python/React/etc.", "make this work for our team"
  • Installing library skill that needs project-specific conventions
  • Porting skill from one stack to another (e.g., React → Vue, npm → pnpm)
  • Skill references tools/APIs/conventions that don't exist in target environment

Do NOT use when:

  • Skill is already project-specific and just needs refinement (use
    skill-refinement
    )
  • Creating skill from scratch (use
    skill-authoring
    )
  • Only trigger description needs work (use
    skill-description-optimizer
    )
  • Skill works fine in current context

Operating procedure

  1. Read the source skill completely: Understand the problem it solves, output it produces, and assumptions it encodes
  2. Identify the target context:
    • Stack/language: What technologies?
    • Conventions: Naming, file structure, coding style?
    • Tools: What's available? What's forbidden?
    • Domain: What terminology?
  3. Catalog adaptation points (things that MUST change):
    • Tool/command references (e.g.,
      npm
      pnpm
      ,
      pytest
      unittest
      )
    • File paths and patterns (e.g.,
      src/components
      app/ui
      )
    • Naming conventions (e.g., camelCase → snake_case)
    • Output formats (e.g., Markdown → org-mode)
    • Domain terminology (e.g., "user" → "customer")
  4. Identify invariants (things that must NOT change):
    • Core procedure logic
    • Safety constraints
    • Quality checks
    • The fundamental problem being solved
  5. Create adapted version:
    • Keep frontmatter structure
    • Update description if target context affects routing
    • Replace all adaptation points with target-specific versions
    • Add context-specific examples if skill uses few-shot
  6. Validate the adaptation:
    • Every tool reference exists in target context
    • Every file path pattern makes sense
    • No dangling references to source-context things
  7. Document what was adapted: Add Adaptation Note at bottom noting source skill and what changed

Output defaults

## Adaptation Summary

**Source skill**: [name and location]
**Target context**: [stack/project/team]

### Changes Made
| Original | Adapted | Reason |
|----------|---------|--------|
| npm install | pnpm add | Project uses pnpm |
| src/components/ | app/ui/ | Different structure |

### Invariants Preserved
- [Core logic 1]
- [Core logic 2]

### Adapted SKILL.md
[Full content]

### Adaptation Note
Adapted from [source] for [target]. Changes: [list].

References

Failure handling

  • Source skill poorly documented: Infer intent from procedure, flag assumptions made
  • Target context unclear: Ask: "What stack? What file structure? What tools available?"
  • Adaptation breaks core logic: Skill may not be adaptable—recommend creating new skill
  • Missing equivalent in target: Flag gap, suggest alternatives or note limitation