Skill Editor
The Smidge skill editor provides a rich editing experience for refining your generated skills. It uses the Monaco editor (the same engine behind VS Code) with markdown syntax highlighting and a live preview panel.
Editor Interface
The editor is split into two panels:
- ●Left panel — Monaco code editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers, and word wrap
- ●Right panel — live rendered preview of the SKILL.md content
The preview updates as you type, showing exactly how the skill will appear when rendered.
Editing Content
You can edit any part of the skill including the YAML frontmatter and markdown body. The editor provides:
- ●Full markdown syntax highlighting
- ●YAML frontmatter detection and highlighting
- ●Auto-indentation and bracket matching
- ●Find and replace (Cmd/Ctrl+F)
- ●Multiple cursor support
- ●Undo/redo history
Validation on Save
When you save, the editor runs the full validation suite against your content. Any issues are displayed as inline annotations. Validation checks include:
- ●Frontmatter format and required fields
- ●Name format (lowercase-hyphenated)
- ●Description length (max 200 characters)
- ●Word count (under 5,000 words for the body)
- ●Required sections (Instructions, Examples)
- ●Imperative voice in instructions
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Cmd+S | Save changes |
Cmd+F | Find |
Cmd+H | Find and replace |
Cmd+Z | Undo |
Cmd+Shift+Z | Redo |
Cmd+D | Select next occurrence |
Ctrl instead of Cmd.Word Count Tracking
A word count indicator in the editor toolbar shows the current body word count. The SKILL.md specification recommends keeping the body under 5,000 words. The indicator changes color as you approach the limit:
- ●Green — under 3,500 words
- ●Amber — 3,500 to 5,000 words
- ●Red — over 5,000 words (validation warning)
If your content exceeds the word limit, consider splitting it. Smidge can auto-split skills into a main SKILL.md with a references/ directory for supplementary content.