# CRAFT for Claude
### Built for how Claude receives instructions: an installable skill that loads itself, plus Projects, preferences, memory, and artifacts.

Version 1.0 · From How to Talk to AI, Session 01 · Agentix (goagentix.com)

**In this folder:** `craft.zip` (upload this), `craft.skill` (the same skill
packaged for Claude's Save-skill button), the unzipped `craft/` folder (also
at the root of the pack; read or edit it), this guide, `TEST-REPORT.md` (test prompts and their outputs),
and three `PASTE-` text files.

---

## Install A: let Claude do it (90 seconds)

1. Open a new chat. Attach `INSTALL-ME-Claude.md` and `craft.skill` from
   this folder.
2. Type: **Read the attached file and install CRAFT for me.**
3. Claude probes what it can do, hands the skill back as a file card with a
   one-click **Save skill** button, saves the core to memory, gives you the
   one preferences line to paste, applies CRAFT in that chat, and ends with a
   CRAFT INSTALL REPORT and the handshake.
4. Click **Save skill**. Paste the preferences line. Done.

Everything below is **Install B: by hand**, for people who prefer to see
every step, and the reference for what Install A did.

---

## Install B: by hand

### How Claude receives instructions

| Layer | Where | Applies to | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Skill** | Customize → Skills (upload a ZIP) | Any chat, loaded automatically when it fits | The full CRAFT system with its reference library (this is the real install) |
| **Preferences** | Settings → Profile | Every chat | One line that tells Claude to use the skill on everything |
| **Project instructions** | Inside a Project | Chats in that Project | Your Context Card for one business or client, plus files |
| **Memory** | Settings → Capabilities → Memory | Every chat, where on | Backup reminder |
| **Artifacts** | Side panel, automatic | The current chat | Documents, pages, decks, and code you can select and edit part by part |

What makes Claude different: a **skill** is a folder of instructions and
reference files Claude reads on demand. Only the short description is always
in view; the body loads when a request matches; the references (the ten
prompt types, the Tune playbook, the commands, the full Tech Talk
Dictionary) load only when needed. So CRAFT can be encyclopedic without
crowding your chat.

One naming note: Claude requires skill names to be lowercase letters,
numbers, and hyphens, so the folder and the technical name are `craft`. The
system is CRAFT; the file is `craft`.

Skills work on Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise. The one requirement is
**Code execution and file creation** turned on.

---

### Install (about 2 minutes)

**Step 1: Turn on code execution.**
Claude (web or desktop app) → **Settings → Capabilities** → switch on
**Code execution and file creation**. On Team and Enterprise, an owner may
control this under Organization settings → Skills.

**Step 2: Upload the skill.**
1. **Customize → Skills** (claude.ai/customize/skills).
2. **+** → **Create skill** → **Upload a skill**.
3. Choose `craft.zip`. (If Claude shows you `craft.skill` as a file card with
   a **Save skill** button, that button does the same thing in one click.)
4. "craft" appears in your list. Make sure its toggle is **on**.

**Step 3: Make it fire on everything.**
Skills load when Claude judges the request matches. CRAFT is meant to apply
to everything, so add one line to your preferences:
1. **Settings → Profile** → the box asking what preferences Claude should
   consider in responses (on some versions: Settings → Personalization).
2. Paste `PASTE-preferences-line.txt`:
   `Use my CRAFT skill on every request. If asked "what's the CRAFT rule?", answer from the skill.`
3. Save.

**Step 4: Confirm.**
New chat. Type **what's the CRAFT rule?**
(Your first ordinary request in a new chat, and every `craft:` command, will
open with *Thank you for using the CRAFT skill by Agentix.* The handshake is
the one reply that skips the greeting, so it verifies byte-for-byte.)
Expected: *Brief it like a brilliant new hire: Context, Role, Ask, Format,
then Tune. Structure beats length. (CRAFT Skill v1.0 by Agentix)*

**Step 5: Build your Context Card.**
Type **craft: brief**. Answer the questions. Claude returns your Context Card
in a code block. Save it in a Project (next section) or paste it into your
preferences under the line from Step 3.

---

### Projects: your context, saved once

For any business or client you work on repeatedly:

1. Left sidebar → **Projects** → **New project**. Name it after the business.
2. Open **Project instructions** (the gear or "Set project instructions").
3. Paste `PASTE-project-instructions.txt`, then replace the placeholder with
   your Context Card from Step 5.
4. **Add files:** brand guide, price list, two or three writing samples,
   the Tech Talk Dictionary. Claude answers from them and says when
   something isn't there.

Every chat inside the project starts with your C filled in. The skill handles
the R, A, F, and T.

---

### Memory (optional backup)

With memory on (Settings → Capabilities → Memory), say in any chat:
"Remember that I use the CRAFT method and want it applied to every request."
The skill is the real install; memory reinforces it.

---

### Also install in Claude Code and Cowork

- **Claude Code:** drop the unzipped `craft/` folder into `~/.claude/skills/`
  (all projects) or `.claude/skills/` (this project). It's discovered
  automatically and `/craft` becomes a command. The code-related Tech Talk
  (section 19 of the dictionary) applies directly.
- **Cowork:** skills you enable in Customize → Skills are available in Cowork
  too. `craft: talk` works on documents and slides Cowork is editing.
- **Claude in Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook:** enabled skills apply in the
  add-ins. Type `/` in the sidebar to see them.

---

### Commands

| Type this | What you get |
|---|---|
| `craft: [your goal]` | Interview (up to 3 questions), then the ideal prompt in a code block |
| `craft: audit` + a prompt | Scorecard out of 25, fixes, upgraded prompt |
| `craft: brief` | Interview (up to 8 questions), then your Context Card |
| `craft: talk` + an edit note | Plain English translated into part + action + result |
| `craft: tune` + feedback | KEEP / CHANGE / LEAVE applied; only what you named changes |
| `craft: teach` | The moves it just used, explained |
| `craft: pack` + a task | The closest Prompt Pack template, filled from your context |
| `craft: help` | The command list |
| `craft: quiet` / `craft: loud` | Greeting and tune lines off / on |
| `craft: off` / `craft: on` | Pause / resume CRAFT for the chat |
| `what's the CRAFT rule?` | The handshake line |

`/craft` works too.

---

### Using it day to day

**Just ask.** CRAFT runs quietly. You'll notice one-line assumptions, the
deliverable first, and a tune line at the end.

**Artifacts are your Tune surface.** Anything long lands in the side panel.
Click the exact paragraph, heading, or line and give the note: "condense
this to two sentences," "make this heading a takeaway." That is pinpointing.

**Extended thinking.** For math, tradeoffs, and planning, turn on thinking
(the model or mode selector) so reasoning comes before the answer.

**Attachments and screenshots.** Drop in the page, the slide, the error, the
reference image. Claude will ask "match exactly" or "palette only" if you
didn't say.

**Research.** Say "search first, then answer, and cite sources" when recency
matters. For big questions, Research mode; brief it with CRAFT first (who
it's for, what decision it feeds).

**Long chats drift.** When answers go generic, start a new chat, paste your
best version, and say "This is the base. Change only X."

---

### Troubleshooting

| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| No Skills menu, or greyed out | Code execution is off. Settings → Capabilities. On Team/Enterprise, ask your owner. |
| Upload rejects the description as too long | Claude's help center lists a 200-character description limit while the platform docs allow 1,024; the pack ships the longer one. If your upload refuses it, open `craft/SKILL.md` and replace the description with only its first sentence (it is written to stand alone), re-zip, and upload. |
| Upload error | The ZIP must contain the folder `craft` with `SKILL.md` directly inside it (not `craft/craft/SKILL.md`, not loose files). The folder name must be exactly `craft`. Re-zip the folder. |
| Claude isn't using the skill | Check the toggle in Customize → Skills; add the preference line (Step 3); or say "use my CRAFT skill" in the request. |
| Handshake returns something else | The skill didn't load. New chat. If it persists, re-upload. |
| It asks too many questions | Say "assume sensible defaults and proceed," or give it your Context Card. |
| It rewrote what I didn't ask about | "Change only X; keep everything else identical." Or click the exact part in the artifact. |

---

### Editing the skill

Everything is plain text. Open `craft/SKILL.md` in any editor. Add your own
defaults, your brand voice, or paste your Context Card under a heading
"MY CONTEXT CARD." Keep the top block (the `---` lines with `name` and
`description`) intact. Re-zip the `craft` folder, delete the old skill in
Customize → Skills, upload the new ZIP.

The reference files in `craft/references/` can grow without limit; Claude
reads them only when a request needs them.

---

## Under the hood (for the technical reader)

The skill is a folder built to the open Agent Skills standard: `SKILL.md`
(frontmatter `name` + `description`, then a ~290-line body) plus seven
reference files that load only when a request needs them. At rest it costs
about 150 tokens; on trigger about 3,500; the 900-term dictionary costs
nothing until a design note calls for it. The same folder installs on
Claude, ChatGPT (plans with Skills), Gemini (Spark), and most coding agents.
Persistence layers, character budgets, the command grammar, the handshake
protocol, idempotence rules, and the acceptance tests are documented in
`ARCHITECTURE.md` at the root of the pack.

---

## Acceptance checklist (run these after installing)

| Type | Expect |
|---|---|
| `what's the CRAFT rule?` | The exact rule line, nothing before or after |
| `write an email about our price increase` (new chat) | Greeting line, one-line assumption, an email under 200 words with a subject, a tune line |
| `craft: audit Write a blog post about HVAC maintenance.` | A five-letter scorecard out of 25, a fix per weak letter, an upgraded prompt in a code block |
| Paste a draft, then `shorter, keep the ending exactly as is` | Only the length changes; the ending is byte-identical; no greeting on the follow-up |
| `What's the capital of Tennessee?` | One word. No greeting, no assumption, no tune line |
| `craft: quiet` then any request | No greeting, no tune line |

If any row fails, the install is partial. Re-run Install A, or check the
troubleshooting table above.

---

Questions, or want AI working in your business? Book a free call:
cal.com/agentix · drake@goagentix.com · dale@goagentix.com
