Key Frontmatter Fields in a SKILL.md File: The Complete Reference for Antigravity Skills

Every SKILL.md file in the sickn33/antigravity-awesome-skills repository requires four mandatory YAML frontmatter fields—name, description, risk, and date_added—to enable proper indexing and orchestration.

The sickn33/antigravity-awesome-skills repository organizes reusable capabilities through standardized SKILL.md documents. Each file begins with a YAML frontmatter block that tells the Antigravity orchestrator how to index, filter, and display the skill within the UI.

The Four Mandatory Frontmatter Fields

name

The name field provides a short, kebab-case identifier used to reference the skill programmatically throughout the system. This machine-readable key enables the orchestrator to locate and invoke specific capabilities without ambiguity, such as zustand-store-ts.

description

The description field contains a human-readable summary explaining what the skill does. This text supports both short sentences and longer paragraphs, appearing in the UI to help developers understand the skill's purpose and implementation scope.

risk

The risk field indicates the security or operational risk level associated with executing the skill. Acceptable values include low, unknown, or high, allowing the orchestrator to apply appropriate safeguards when integrating community-contributed or experimental capabilities.

date_added

The date_added field records when the skill entered the repository using ISO-8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD). This timestamp supports versioning workflows and helps maintainers track the evolution of the skill catalog.

Optional Frontmatter Fields

source

While the four fields above are mandatory, SKILL.md files may include an optional source field to indicate the skill's origin. Common values include community for external contributions, helping the orchestrator categorize skills by provenance.

SKILL.md Structure and Code Examples

Each SKILL.md file places its frontmatter between triple-dash delimiters at the very top of the document. The Antigravity parser requires this exact format to extract metadata correctly from files like skills/zustand-store-ts/SKILL.md.

Minimal Frontmatter Template

When creating a new skill, use this template to ensure all mandatory fields are present:

---
name: my-skill-id
description: "Brief description of what the skill does."
risk: low
date_added: "2024-01-01"
---

Production Example from zustand-store-ts

The skills/zustand-store-ts/SKILL.md file demonstrates a complete implementation including the optional source field:

---
name: zustand-store-ts
description: "Create Zustand stores with TypeScript, subscribeWithSelector middleware, and proper state/action separation. Use when building React state management, creating global stores, or implementing reacti..."
risk: unknown
source: community
date_added: "2026-02-27"
---

File Locations and Conventions

SKILL.md files follow a strict directory pattern within the repository. Each skill resides in its own subdirectory under skills/, with the metadata document always named exactly SKILL.md. Maintain the field order shown in the examples above when adding new skills to avoid YAML parsing issues in the orchestrator.

Summary

• Four mandatory fields define every SKILL.md file: name (kebab-case identifier), description (human-readable summary), risk (low/unknown/high), and date_added (ISO-8601 date).
• Optional metadata includes the source field to indicate community or internal origin.
• Strict formatting requires YAML frontmatter between --- delimiters at the top of skills/**/SKILL.md files.
• Concrete reference implementations exist in skills/zustand-store-ts/SKILL.md within the sickn33/antigravity-awesome-skills repository.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I omit one of the mandatory frontmatter fields?

The Antigravity orchestrator relies on these four fields for indexing and UI rendering. Omitting any mandatory field will cause parsing errors or prevent the skill from appearing in the orchestrator's skill catalog.

Is the source field required for all SKILL.md files?

No, the source field is optional. While mandatory fields like name and risk must always be present, source is only needed when you want to distinguish between community contributions and internal capabilities.

What date format should I use for date_added?

Always use ISO-8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD) enclosed in quotes, such as "2026-02-27". This ensures consistent parsing across different versions of the orchestrator.

Where should I place new SKILL.md files in the repository?

Create a new subdirectory under skills/ using kebab-case naming that matches your skill's identifier, then place the SKILL.md file inside that directory. For example, a skill named my-feature would live at skills/my-feature/SKILL.md.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}