Skill Scripts: The Deterministic Helper

AI + Scripts Hybrid

• **The problem** — AI is non-deterministic. Ask the same question twice, get slightly different answers. Fine for reasoning, terrible for operations that must be exact: checking Node versions, detecting project structure, copying files.
• **The solution** — Put deterministic operations in bash scripts alongside your skill in a `scripts/` subdirectory. The AI handles the thinking (what to do, why). Scripts handle the doing (exact commands, exact paths).
• **Directory structure** — `skills/my-skill/SKILL.md` for AI reasoning, `skills/my-skill/scripts/detect-env.sh` for exact operations. In SKILL.md, tell the AI: 'Run scripts/detect-env.sh and use its output to decide the next step.'

Extract and Structure

1. 1 **Identify extraction candidates** — Look for skills with complex inline bash commands — multi-line shell blocks, piped commands, file operations. These are your extraction targets.
2. 2 Structure the hybrid approach
   • › `skills/my-skill/SKILL.md` — AI reasoning and decision-making
   • › `skills/my-skill/scripts/detect-env.sh` — deterministic operations
   • › In SKILL.md: "Run scripts/detect-env.sh and use its output to decide the next step"
3. 3 **Real examples** — `detect-env.sh` checks Node version, OS, installed tools. `validate-config.sh` verifies .ai/config.yaml structure. `upload-component-js.sh` copies build artifacts to exact paths.
4. 4 **Always chmod +x** — Make all script files executable. The AI will fail to run them otherwise. Add this to your skill-creation checklist.