First Threads

Turn one task you keep explaining into a reusable skill. Test it in a fresh thread, inspect what went wrong, and edit it once. Meeting notes are tonight's worked example.

Five-minute setup

Do this before the session starts, or in the first ten minutes while the framing happens. Nothing here is required to attend.

1. Have an agent installed

   Claude Code, the Codex extension, or whatever you already run. Every skill file below is plain markdown with frontmatter — it works in anything that reads a skills directory.

2. Get the skills

   Download this session's bundle and unzip it at the root of your project. It writes into .claude/skills/ and nothing else.

   unzip -o day-zero-01-first-threads.zip -d .

3. Point it at a real product

   An idea in a notes app counts. The skills read your repo, your site and your README before asking you anything, so run them from inside the project rather than a blank folder.

4. Make somewhere to put the output

   The skills write markdown and don't care where it lands. One folder per session — 01-skills/ through 04-agents/ — at the root of your project. Make tonight's before you start rather than mid-run.

The steps

1. 01

   Choose a repeated task

   Bring rough meeting notes or another task you explained twice this week. Name the input, useful output, and one failure to avoid.

   Done looks like: A short task brief with an actual input sample.

2. 02

   Start a useful thread

   Supply context, task, output format, and the sample. For meeting notes, request decisions, owners, dates, and unresolved questions. Mark missing facts instead of inventing them.

   Done looks like: A draft you can compare to the source notes.

3. 03

   Write the skill

   /skill-writer

   Save the instructions in SKILL.md with a name and a description of when to use it. Use the demonstrated skills folder in a compatible tool; in a plain chat, attach or paste the file explicitly.

   Done looks like: A reusable file with input, steps, output, and a stop rule when notes are absent.

4. 04

   Test in a fresh thread

   Invoke the skill in the demonstrated tool, or provide its file to a new chat. Use a second input. Check that every owner and deadline is supported by the notes.

   Done looks like: A fresh run follows the file without the original conversation.

5. 05

   Edit one failure and keep the evidence

   Change the instruction that caused the weakest output, then rerun the same sample. Save the skill, input, output, and what improved in 01-skills/.

   Done looks like: One visible before/after change and a saved skill. Watching the Grok Bot demo is optional.

What you leave with

01-skills/ — your SKILL.md, a test input, the output, and a sentence explaining the first failure and the edit that fixed it.

If you get stuck

Use the meeting-notes example. If your account has no skill loader, paste or attach the file to a fresh chat; the reusable instructions are the artifact.

Or ask in Discord — mentors and everyone else's work in progress live there between sessions.