Tools I use · The skill box

Not sure which tool? Let AI pick

You do not need to remember 50 saved tools. You say the job in plain words, and the AI picks from a list. In 15 minutes, you learn to build that list.

Skill: A saved set of instructions for one job. Like a recipe card the AI reads before it cooks.
Skill box: One list of all your skills. Each line has the job in your words and what the skill does.
Run: The AI reads the skill card and follows it, step by step.

01 · The question

Forty recipe cards, picked from memory

Over the year, you saved 40 prompts. One for blog posts. One for emails. One for checking a page on a phone.

Today you must fix a shop page and then tell your customers. You open the AI. Which card do you use? You pick the one you know best. It is the wrong one.

This happened to me. I had many skills, and I almost never used them. So I built a box that picks for me.

First, a quick guess.

02 · Your guess

You have 40 skills. You need to improve a shop page. How do you pick the right one?

A wrong guess costs nothing. Guessing first helps you remember the answer. Pick one to open the next part of the lesson.

03 · The 5 moves

Five moves from your words to the right skill

Press Next step to see each move. The AI does all five. You only do the first.

1Say the job

2Size check

3Open the box

4Say the pick

5Run in order

04 · Remember

Pick from the box, never from memory.

The box is the AI's menu. You say what you want. It finds the dish.

Memory picks what you know best. The box picks what fits.

Skills you must remember0

Main skill per step1

Work before loading0

At the restaurant

You do not know the kitchen. You read the menu and say what you want. The kitchen picks the pan.

At the hardware store

You say "my tap drips". The clerk walks you to the right part. You never learned the aisle names.

On the bench

A coach has 20 plays. He does not recall them in the huddle. He reads the card for this moment.

A good skill box has 3 parts

Jobs in your words. Write how you really say it: "sell more on a page", not "conversion optimization".
One plain line per skill. What it really does, in one sentence. The AI uses it to check the fit.
A misses list. When nothing fits, write one line. Read the list often. Add new lines to the box.

Why a list, not the AI's memory?

The AI starts each chat fresh. It does not know your skills unless you show the list. A list also lets you see and edit what the AI will pick. In my setup the list is a file, and it is rebuilt each time I add a skill.

05 · Two checks

Pass two checks to finish

A miss is fine. Each miss gives you a new case.

Check 1 of 2 · Pick the skill from the box

06 · Tell a friend

Make your own box today

Say it in your own words. Here is a version you can use:

The one-minute version

"I save my prompts as skills. A skill is a recipe card for one job. I keep a list of them: the job in my words, and what each skill does. When I have a task, I say it in plain words. The AI picks from the list, says its pick in one line per step, and runs each skill in order. If nothing fits, it says so, and I add a line to the list."

Try it today · 10 minutes · free

You do not need my setup. A note is enough. Open a note. Write 3 lines, one per job you repeat. Each line has the job in your words, and the prompt you would save for it. Then paste this into any AI chat, with your note below it:

Here is my skill box: [paste your 3 lines]. My job today: [say it in plain words]. Pick the line that fits. Say your pick in one plain sentence. If none fits, say "no skill fits" and do the job anyway. Otherwise, do the job by following the saved prompt.

Job	The words you really say, like "sell more on a page".
Skill	The saved prompt for that job.
Does	One plain line on what it does.

Check: did the AI name a line from your note? If it made up a new one, tell it: "Pick only from my box."

Stuck? Ask the AI: "Help me turn my 3 favorite prompts into a skill box." This is how I do it: in Claude Code, a skill is a folder with one file, SKILL.md. A skill called what-skill-to-use reads my box before any real work starts.

A skill box saves you from forgetting. It does not make a bad skill good.

Back to all lessons