Keeping skills working as Claude changes
Skills sit on a system that keeps changing. A small routine: when to recheck, what to rerun, and how to tell users what changed and why.
A skill is not finished when it works. It is finished when it keeps working, and the environment it runs in changes on its own schedule.
A routine small enough to keep
- Keep each skill's prompt set and last results beside it.
- After a Claude Code update, rerun the set; also rerun monthly.
- Compare both trigger numbers and a few task outputs with last time.
- Fix what moved, bump the version, write one changelog line.
The rerun is covered in regression testing after a Claude update, and the version scheme in versioning a skill.
Why this is the product
Anyone can copy a skill's text. Very few will keep rechecking it. That routine is most of what a paid skill is worth, as argued in what buyers pay for in a skill.
Questions
How often should I recheck my skills?
After any Claude Code update you install, and on a regular schedule even without one, because model behaviour can shift too.
What does a recheck involve?
Rerunning the trigger prompt set and a few representative tasks, and comparing with the last run.
How do I tell users about fixes?
A version bump and a changelog line saying what changed and why, so they know to update and what to expect.