# skill-progressive-disclosure-design

Decide what stays in SKILL.md and what moves into references/, so a skill stops burning context on sections nobody reads.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 4300 installs · ★ 236
- Author: samber
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/samber/cc-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/skill-progressive-disclosure-design/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-01
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/skill-progressive-disclosure-design

## What it does

The skill untangles two questions that usually arrive mixed together. Triggering is whether Claude invokes the skill at all, and it comes down to the YAML `description`. Splitting files does nothing for triggering. If your skill fires unreliably, fix the description instead of the folder layout.

Progressive disclosure is what loads after activation. The SKILL.md body always loads, `references/*` loads only when SKILL.md points at a specific file, and `scripts/*` runs without entering context at all. The default here is not to split: a monolithic SKILL.md wins until proven otherwise. Two things justify a second look — the file passing roughly 400 lines with natural branches inside, or eval transcripts showing the model wasting context on irrelevant sections.

Three split axes hold up in practice: variant branch (user intent picks one path), workflow versus reference data (steps in SKILL.md, tables and schemas in `references/`), and depth tier (common path in SKILL.md, rare cases in `references/edge-cases.md`). Each axis comes with pros and cons, because these are trade-offs rather than rules. A separate section covers splits that fail, including topic-based splits where invocations do not cluster by topic.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add samber/cc-skills --skill skill-progressive-disclosure-design -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/skill-progressive-disclosure-design/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/skill-progressive-disclosure-design/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add samber/cc-skills --skill skill-progressive-disclosure-design -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/skill-progressive-disclosure-design/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add samber/cc-skills --skill skill-progressive-disclosure-design -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/skill-progressive-disclosure-design/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install samber/cc-skills skill-progressive-disclosure-design
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/skill-progressive-disclosure-design/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add samber/cc-skills --skill skill-progressive-disclosure-design -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/samber/cc-skills --path skills/skill-progressive-disclosure-design
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/skill-progressive-disclosure-design/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add samber/cc-skills --skill skill-progressive-disclosure-design -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/samber/cc-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/skill-progressive-disclosure-design/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- decide what stays in SKILL.md and what moves to references/
- fix unreliable skill triggering through the description, not file splitting
- keep a growing SKILL.md from eating the context window
- choose between a variant branch, a reference lookup and edge cases
- tell a triggering problem apart from a disclosure problem

## Example prompts
- help me split my SKILL.md, it's past 400 lines
- my skill triggers unreliably — is it the description or the files?
- what should go in references/ and what stays in SKILL.md?

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 2d2051e50263b61f.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 2d2051e50263b61f
```text
---
name: skill-progressive-disclosure-design
description: Decide how to split skill content between SKILL.md and reference files for context efficiency and reliable triggering. Use this whenever creating a new Claude skill, refactoring an existing one, or when a SKILL.md is growing past 300-400 lines. Also trigger when the user mentions "progressive disclosure", "reference files", "splitting skills", "skill bundling", "context window for skills", "SKILL.md too long", "what goes in references/", "skill structure", or expresses any uncertainty about where to put content within a skill. Use this even if the user phrases the question as a triggering problem ("how do I make my skill trigger better"), because that question is often confused with the splitting question and needs to be disentangled first.
user-invocable: true
license: MIT
compatibility: Designed for Claude or similar AI agents.
metadata:
  author: samber
  version: "1.0.1"
  openclaw:
    emoji: "👷"
    homepage: https://github.com/samber/cc-skills
allowed-tools: Read Edit Write Glob Grep Agent AskUserQuestion
---

# Skill Progressive Disclosure Design

Each section that recommends a direction includes explicit pros and cons. The decisions in this skill are trade-offs, not rules. The model using this skill should reason from the trade-offs to the user's specific situation rather than apply rules blindly.

## Triggering vs. disclosure: separate these first

Two problems get conflated and need separating before any splitting decision.

**Triggering** is whether Claude invokes the skill at all. Driven entirely by the YAML `description`. File splitting does not affect triggering. If the question is "my skill doesn't trigger reliably", do not split files, fix the description (use `run_loop.py` from the `skill-creator` skill).

**Progressive disclosure** is what loads after the skill activates. SKILL.md body always loads. `references/*` only loads when SKILL.md tells the model to read a specific file. `scripts/*` executes without loading into context at all. This is where context protection happens.

If the user is asking about splitting because of triggering issues, surface the confusion first and redirect.
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 2d2051e50263b61f

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 2d2051e50263b61f tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

First 2204 of 17095 bytes. © samber · MIT · https://github.com/samber/cc-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/skill-progressive-disclosure-design/SKILL.md

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---
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