agent-skills/skills/skill-creator/references/output-patterns.md

Output Patterns

Use these patterns when skills need to produce consistent, high-quality output.

Template Pattern

Provide templates for output format. Match the level of strictness to your needs.

For strict requirements (like API responses or data formats):

## Report structure

ALWAYS use this exact template structure:

# [Analysis Title]

## Executive summary
[One-paragraph overview of key findings]

## Key findings
- Finding 1 with supporting data
- Finding 2 with supporting data
- Finding 3 with supporting data

## Recommendations
1. Specific actionable recommendation
2. Specific actionable recommendation

For flexible guidance (when adaptation is useful):

## Report structure

Here is a sensible default format, but use your best judgment:

# [Analysis Title]

## Executive summary
[Overview]

## Key findings
[Adapt sections based on what you discover]

## Recommendations
[Tailor to the specific context]

Adjust sections as needed for the specific analysis type.

Examples Pattern

For skills where output quality depends on seeing examples, provide input/output pairs:

## Commit message format

Generate commit messages following these examples:

**Example 1:**
Input: Added user authentication with JWT tokens
Output:

feat(auth): implement JWT-based authentication

Add login endpoint and token validation middleware

**Example 2:**
Input: Fixed bug where dates displayed incorrectly in reports
Output:

fix(reports): correct date formatting in timezone conversion

Use UTC timestamps consistently across report generation

Follow this style: type(scope): brief description, then detailed explanation.

Examples help Claude understand the desired style and level of detail more clearly than descriptions alone.