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Module 4 — The Real Magic Sauce

We're going to build the /summarise skill together. It's the most universally useful one to start with — and once you've built one, you can build any of them.

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Page 12 of 14 · Module 4 — The Real Magic Sauce

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flowchart LR
    A["Create<br>.claude/commands/<br>folder"] --> B["Create<br>summarise.md<br>file"]
    B --> C["Paste in<br>your prompt<br>+ $ARGUMENTS"]
    C --> D["Test it:<br>/summarise [URL]"]
    D --> E["🎉 Working<br>skill"]

<aside> 1️⃣

Create the Commands Folder

In VS Code, inside your Claude folder, create this folder structure if it doesn't exist already:

your-claude-folder/
└── .claude/
    └── commands/

To do this:

1. In VS Code's left sidebar, right-click your Claude folder
2. Select New Folder, name it .claude
3. Right-click .claude, select New Folder, name it commands </aside>

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Note: Folders starting with a . are hidden by default on Mac. In VS Code they'll still show up in the sidebar.

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<aside> 2️⃣

Create the Skill File

1. Right-click the commands folder
2. Select New File
3. Name it summarise.md

Now paste this into the file:

Summarise the following for me.

If I've given you a URL, fetch the page and read it first.
If I've pasted text, work from that directly.

Return:
- **What it's about** (1-2 sentences)
- **Key points** (bullet list, max 6)
- **Most important takeaway** (1 sentence)
- **Any action items** if relevant

Keep it concise. No filler. I want to walk away knowing exactly what mattered.

The content to summarise: $ARGUMENTS

Save the file.

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<aside> 3️⃣

Test It

Open Claude Code in your terminal (claude).

Then type:

"/summarise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_Context_Protocol"

Claude will fetch the page and return a clean summary using your template.

Try it with a news article, a PDF link, or even some meeting notes you paste in.

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How $ARGUMENTS Works

See $ARGUMENTS at the end of the skill file? That's a placeholder. Whatever you type after /summarise gets dropped in there.

So when you type /summarise [URL or text], Claude sees your full prompt with the URL or text slotted in automatically.

Every skill you write can use $ARGUMENTS to pass in whatever is specific to that task.

Build More Skills the Same Way

Every skill follows the same pattern:

1. Create a .md file in .claude/commands/