# What Are the Different Roles a Skill Can Have in Claude-Skills? > Discover the four roles a skill can have in Claude-Skills: expert, specialist, architect, and engineer. Understand each role's expertise and focus for effective skill management. - Repository: [Jeffallan/claude-skills](https://github.com/jeffallan/claude-skills) - Tags: deep-dive - Published: 2026-02-16 --- **Claude-skills defines exactly four roles in every [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/SKILL.md) file—expert, specialist, architect, and engineer—each indicating a specific level of expertise or focus for that skill.** The `Jeffallan/claude-skills` repository organizes capabilities through modular skill definitions, where each skill's [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/SKILL.md) file declares its intended expertise level via a dedicated `role` field. Understanding these distinct roles is essential for correctly categorizing and invoking the appropriate skill during AI-assisted development workflows. ## The Four Skill Roles in Claude-Skills Every skill descriptor in the repository includes a `metadata.role` field that must be set to one of four specific values. These roles determine how the skill is positioned within the broader ecosystem and what level of domain knowledge it represents. ### Expert The **expert** role designates a senior-level specialist with deep domain knowledge. Skills carrying this role are intended for complex, nuanced tasks requiring extensive experience in a particular field. In [`skills/wordpress-pro/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/skills/wordpress-pro/SKILL.md), the role is defined as `expert` to indicate deep WordPress development capabilities. ```yaml --- name: wordpress-pro description: Use when deep WordPress development expertise is required metadata: role: expert # ← expert role ... ``` ### Specialist The **specialist** role represents a proficient practitioner typically focused on a specific technology or task. While highly capable, this role indicates a narrower scope compared to the expert designation. The [`skills/vue-expert/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/skills/vue-expert/SKILL.md) file uses the `specialist` role to denote focused Vue.js proficiency. ```yaml --- name: vue-expert description: Use when Vue.js expertise is required metadata: role: specialist # ← specialist role ... ``` ### Architect The **architect** role is oriented toward high-level system design and architecture decisions. Skills with this role focus on structural planning, technology selection, and overarching design patterns rather than implementation details. The [`skills/rag-architect/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/skills/rag-architect/SKILL.md) demonstrates this with the `architect` role for RAG system design. ```yaml --- name: rag-architect description: Use when designing Retrieval‑Augmented Generation systems metadata: role: architect # ← architect role ... ``` ### Engineer The **engineer** role emphasizes practical engineering and operations work, such as DevOps, infrastructure automation, and deployment pipelines. This role bridges development and operations concerns. In [`skills/devops-engineer/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/skills/devops-engineer/SKILL.md), the `engineer` role identifies skills focused on pipeline and infrastructure automation. ```yaml --- name: devops-engineer description: Use when DevOps pipelines and infrastructure automation are needed metadata: role: engineer # ← engineer role ... ``` ## How to Define a Role in Your SKILL.md File To assign a role to your skill, include the `role` key within the `metadata` section of your [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/SKILL.md) frontmatter. The value must be exactly one of the four supported strings: `expert`, `specialist`, `architect`, or `engineer`. ```yaml --- name: your-skill-name description: Describe when to use this skill metadata: role: specialist # Must be: expert, specialist, architect, or engineer version: 1.0.0 --- ``` Ensure there are no typos or variations in capitalization, as the role field is used by the claude-skills system to categorize and select appropriate capabilities during task routing. ## Summary The claude-skills repository organizes capabilities through four distinct expertise levels defined in each [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/SKILL.md) file: - **Expert** – Senior-level specialists with deep domain knowledge (e.g., [`skills/wordpress-pro/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/skills/wordpress-pro/SKILL.md)) - **Specialist** – Proficient practitioners focused on specific technologies (e.g., [`skills/vue-expert/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/skills/vue-expert/SKILL.md)) - **Architect** – High-level system designers focused on structural decisions (e.g., [`skills/rag-architect/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/skills/rag-architect/SKILL.md)) - **Engineer** – Operations-focused practitioners handling DevOps and infrastructure (e.g., [`skills/devops-engineer/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/skills/devops-engineer/SKILL.md)) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What are the four skill roles in claude-skills? The four skill roles are **expert**, **specialist**, **architect**, and **engineer**. These values are defined in the `metadata.role` field of every [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/SKILL.md) file across the repository to indicate the level of expertise or focus area for that particular skill. ### How do I choose between expert and specialist roles? Select **expert** when your skill represents senior-level, deep domain knowledge suitable for complex architectural decisions and nuanced problem-solving. Choose **specialist** when the skill focuses on proficient execution within a specific technology stack or task domain without requiring the broad strategic oversight of a senior expert. ### Can I assign multiple roles to a single skill? No, each [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/SKILL.md) file supports only one role value in the `metadata.role` field. The claude-skills system expects a single expertise classification to properly categorize and invoke the skill during task routing, so you must select the single most appropriate role for your skill's primary function. ### Where are role examples documented in the source code? Concrete implementations of each role are found in the repository's `skills/` directory, specifically in [`skills/wordpress-pro/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/skills/wordpress-pro/SKILL.md) (expert), [`skills/vue-expert/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/skills/vue-expert/SKILL.md) (specialist), [`skills/rag-architect/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/skills/rag-architect/SKILL.md) (architect), and [`skills/devops-engineer/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/Jeffallan/claude-skills/blob/main/skills/devops-engineer/SKILL.md) (engineer).