Using Skillchain

Skillchain provides a conversational workflow for building applications. This guide covers basic usage, keyword detection patterns, and real-world examples.

Basic Usage

After installing skillchain, start Claude Code in any project:

# Start Claude Code
claude

# Use skillchain with natural language
/skillchain:start [describe what you want to build]

Command Syntax

/skillchain:start help                         # Show help guide
/skillchain:start [goal]                       # Start workflow with goal

Examples:

/skillchain:start dashboard with charts        # Frontend: dashboard + visualizations
/skillchain:start login form with validation   # Frontend: form system
/skillchain:start REST API with postgres       # Backend: API + database
/skillchain:start RAG pipeline                 # Backend: AI/ML workflow

How Skillchain Interprets Your Goal

Skillchain uses keyword detection to understand what you want to build:

Frontend Keywords

Trigger frontend orchestrator when detected:

Category	Keywords
UI/Components	ui, component, interface, page, design
Forms	form, input, validation, login, signup, register
Data Display	dashboard, chart, graph, table, grid, analytics
Navigation	menu, nav, tabs, routing, sidebar, breadcrumb
Interaction	drag, drop, chat, toast, notification, loading
Layout	layout, responsive, columns, grid
Media	upload, file, image, gallery, video, audio
Guidance	onboarding, tutorial, wizard, tooltip

Backend Keywords

Trigger backend orchestrator when detected:

Category	Keywords
APIs	api, rest, graphql, grpc, endpoint
Databases	database, sql, postgres, mongo, redis
Data Flow	ingest, import, etl, pipeline, stream
Messaging	kafka, queue, websocket, realtime
Platform	deploy, kubernetes, auth, oauth, jwt
AI/ML	rag, vector, embeddings, llm, model

AI/ML Keywords

Trigger AI/ML orchestrator when detected:

Category	Keywords
RAG/Search	rag, semantic search, vector search
Embeddings	embeddings, similarity, indexing
Models	llm, model, inference, serving
Pipelines	chunking, preprocessing, data engineering

Fullstack Detection

If both frontend AND backend keywords are present, skillchain routes to the fullstack orchestrator:

/skillchain:start dashboard with postgres backend
# Detects: "dashboard" (frontend) + "postgres" (backend)
# Routes to: fullstack orchestrator

Frontend Examples

Example 1: Analytics Dashboard

/skillchain:start analytics dashboard with revenue charts

What happens:

1. Detects keywords: analytics, dashboard, charts
2. Matches blueprint: dashboard
3. Routes to: Frontend orchestrator
4. Skills selected:
   • theming-components (foundation)
   • designing-layouts (structure)
   • creating-dashboards (dashboard layout)
   • visualizing-data (charts)
   • building-tables (optional, if data tables mentioned)
   • providing-feedback (loading states)
   • assembling-components (final assembly)
5. Questions asked: ~3 (using dashboard blueprint)
6. Output: Complete themed dashboard with charts and KPIs

Example 2: Login Form

/skillchain:start login form with email and password validation

What happens:

1. Detects keywords: login, form, validation
2. Routes to: Frontend orchestrator
3. Skills selected:
   • theming-components
   • building-forms (form system)
   • providing-feedback (error messages)
   • assembling-components
4. Questions asked: ~5
5. Output: Form with validation, error handling, and accessibility

Example 3: AI Chat Interface

/skillchain:start AI chat interface with streaming responses

What happens:

1. Detects keywords: chat, ai, streaming
2. Routes to: Frontend orchestrator
3. Skills selected:
   • theming-components
   • designing-layouts
   • building-ai-chat (chat UI)
   • building-forms (message input)
   • providing-feedback (loading states)
   • assembling-components
4. Questions asked: ~8
5. Output: Chat UI with streaming, message history, and user input

Backend Examples

Example 4: REST API with PostgreSQL

/skillchain:start REST API with PostgreSQL database

What happens:

1. Detects keywords: rest, api, postgresql, database
2. Matches blueprint: crud-api
3. Routes to: Backend orchestrator
4. Skills selected:
   • api-patterns (REST endpoints)
   • databases-relational (Postgres)
   • auth-security (optional, if mentioned)
   • observability (optional)
5. Questions asked: ~4 (using crud-api blueprint)
6. Output: FastAPI/Express/Axum API with Postgres, migrations, and CRUD endpoints

Example 5: Data Ingestion Pipeline

/skillchain:start import CSV data from S3 to PostgreSQL

What happens:

1. Detects keywords: import, csv, s3, postgresql
2. Routes to: Backend orchestrator
3. Skills selected:
   • ingesting-data (ETL pipeline)
   • databases-relational (Postgres)
   • observability (monitoring)
4. Questions asked: ~6
5. Output: ETL pipeline with S3 source, data validation, and Postgres sink

Example 6: RAG Pipeline

/skillchain:start RAG pipeline with vector search and embeddings

What happens:

1. Detects keywords: rag, vector, search, embeddings
2. Matches blueprint: rag-pipeline
3. Routes to: AI-ML orchestrator
4. Skills selected:
   • ingesting-data (document ingestion)
   • databases-vector (Qdrant/pgvector)
   • ai-data-engineering (chunking, embeddings)
   • api-patterns (query API)
   • model-serving (optional)
5. Questions asked: ~4 (using rag-pipeline blueprint)
6. Output: Complete RAG system with document ingestion, vector storage, and semantic search

Fullstack Examples

Example 7: Dashboard with Backend

/skillchain:start sales dashboard with revenue charts and postgres backend

What happens:

1. Detects keywords: dashboard, charts (frontend) + postgres, backend (backend)
2. Routes to: Fullstack orchestrator
3. Skills selected:
   • Frontend: theming-components, designing-layouts, creating-dashboards, visualizing-data, assembling-components
   • Backend: api-patterns, databases-relational
4. Questions asked: ~10
5. Output: Full-stack app with React/Svelte dashboard + FastAPI/Express backend + Postgres

Example 8: Login with OAuth

/skillchain:start login form with OAuth 2.0 authentication

What happens:

1. Detects keywords: login, form (frontend) + oauth, authentication (backend)
2. Routes to: Fullstack orchestrator
3. Skills selected:
   • Frontend: theming-components, building-forms, assembling-components
   • Backend: api-patterns, auth-security
4. Questions asked: ~8
5. Output: Login UI + OAuth 2.1 backend with JWT tokens

Workflow Commands

During a skillchain session, you can control the flow:

Command	Action	Example
back	Return to previous skill	Go back to change theme choice
skip	Use defaults for current question	Skip framework selection, use React
status	Show current progress	See which skills remain
done	Finish early with current selections	Stop before optional skills
restart	Start over from beginning	Change entire approach
help	Show workflow commands	List available commands

Example Session with Commands

You: /skillchain:start dashboard with charts

Claude: I detected this matches our 'dashboard' blueprint!
Would you like to use the dashboard blueprint? (yes/no/customize)

You: yes

Claude: [Question 1/3] Choose color scheme:
- blue-gray (default)
- purple
- green
- custom

You: skip

Claude: Using default: blue-gray
[Question 2/3] Which chart types?

You: bar and line charts

Claude: [Question 3/3] Include data tables?

You: status

Claude: Progress: 66% complete (2/3 questions answered)
Remaining: data tables question

You: yes

Claude: Generating dashboard... [complete output]

Advanced Patterns

Using Saved Preferences

After your first workflow, skillchain offers to save preferences:

# ~/.claude/skillchain:start-prefs.yaml
global:
  theme:
    color_scheme: "blue-gray"
    theme_modes: ["light", "dark"]
  frameworks:
    frontend: "react"
    backend: "fastapi"

Next time you run skillchain:

• Saved values become smart defaults
• Questions are pre-filled
• You can override by providing different answers
• Faster workflows (fewer questions)

Customizing Blueprints

When a blueprint is detected, you can customize it:

Claude: Would you like to use the dashboard blueprint? (yes/no/customize)

You: customize

Claude: Starting with dashboard blueprint. You can modify any defaults.
[Question 1/5] Choose color scheme...

This gives you blueprint benefits (skill selection, ordering) while allowing full customization.

Multi-Language Backend

All backend skills support multiple languages:

/skillchain:start REST API with PostgreSQL

You'll be asked:

Choose backend framework:
- fastapi (Python)
- express (TypeScript)
- axum (Rust)
- hono (TypeScript/Cloudflare)

All patterns work across languages with idiomatic implementations.

Tips for Better Results

1. Be Specific About Requirements

# Vague
/skillchain:start dashboard

# Better
/skillchain:start sales dashboard with bar charts and KPI cards

# Best
/skillchain:start sales dashboard with monthly revenue bar chart, year-over-year comparison, and 4 KPI cards for revenue, profit, orders, and customers

2. Mention Key Technologies

# Generic
/skillchain:start API with database

# Specific
/skillchain:start REST API with PostgreSQL and JWT authentication

3. Include User Experience Details

# Basic
/skillchain:start form

# Enhanced
/skillchain:start login form with email validation, password strength meter, and social login

4. Leverage Blueprints

When your goal matches a blueprint pattern, let skillchain detect it:

# Blueprint-friendly patterns
/skillchain:start analytics dashboard       # → dashboard blueprint
/skillchain:start CRUD API                  # → crud-api blueprint
/skillchain:start RAG system                # → rag-pipeline blueprint

5. Use Workflow Commands

Don't restart from scratch when you need to adjust:

# Change a previous choice
You: back

# Skip tedious questions
You: skip

# Check progress
You: status

Troubleshooting

Wrong Category Detected

If skillchain routes to the wrong category:

# Be more explicit
/skillchain:start backend API with postgres  # Forces backend

# Or use both frontend and backend keywords for fullstack
/skillchain:start dashboard UI with postgres backend

Blueprint Not Detected

If you want a blueprint but it's not triggered:

# Use exact blueprint keywords
/skillchain:start analytics dashboard     # ✓ Triggers dashboard blueprint
/skillchain:start data overview page      # ✗ May not trigger blueprint

# Explicitly mention the pattern
/skillchain:start REST API CRUD operations  # ✓ Triggers crud-api blueprint

Too Many Questions

Use blueprints to reduce questions:

# Standard: 12+ questions
/skillchain:start I want to build a dashboard with charts

# Blueprint: 3 questions
/skillchain:start analytics dashboard

Or use skip command during workflow to accept defaults.

Next Steps

• Explore blueprints for fast-track presets
• Understand architecture and how it works internally
• View skills overview to see all 29 available skills