Skill Extraction

Extract design systems, architecture patterns, and methodology from codebases into reusable skills and documentation. Use when analyzing a project to capture patterns, creating skills from existing code, extracting design tokens, or documenting how a project was built. Triggers on "extract patterns", "extract from this repo", "analyze this codebase", "create skills from this project", "extract design system".

Pattern Extraction

Extract reusable patterns, skills, and methodology documentation from existing codebases.

Installation

OpenClaw / Moltbot / Clawbot

npx clawhub@latest install extraction

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Before Starting

MANDATORY: Read these reference files based on what you're extracting:

Extracting	Read First
Any extraction	methodology-values.md — priority order and what to look for
Specific categories	extraction-categories.md — detailed patterns per category
Generating skills	skill-quality-criteria.md — quality checklist

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Extraction Process

Phase 1: Discovery

Analyze the project to understand what exists.

Scan for project structure:

- Root directory layout
- Key config files (package.json, tailwind.config.*, etc.)
- Documentation (README, docs/, etc.)
- Source organization (src/, app/, components/, etc.)

Identify tech stack:

Indicator	Technology
package.json with react	React
tailwind.config.*	Tailwind CSS
components.json	shadcn/ui
go.mod	Go
Dockerfile	Docker
k8s/ or .yaml manifests	Kubernetes
turbo.json	Turborepo
Makefile	Make automation

Look for design system signals:

• Custom Tailwind config (not defaults)
• CSS variables / custom properties
• Theme files
• Design documentation
• Mood boards or reference lists

Capture key findings:

• What's the tech stack?
• What's the folder structure?
• Is there a documented design direction?
• What workflows exist (Makefile, scripts)?

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Phase 2: Categorization

Map discoveries to extraction categories, prioritized:

Priority order:

1. Design Systems — Color tokens, typography, spacing, motion, aesthetic documentation
2. UI Patterns — Component organization, layouts, interactions
3. Architecture — Folder structure, data flow, API patterns
4. Workflows — Build, dev, deploy, CI/CD
5. Domain-Specific — Patterns unique to this application type

For each category found, note:

• What specific patterns exist?
• Where are they defined? (file paths)
• Are they documented? (comments, docs)
• Are they worth extracting? (used in multiple places, well-designed)

Filter by value:

Extract	Skip
Patterns used across multiple components	One-off solutions
Customized configs with intention	Default configurations
Documented design decisions	Arbitrary choices
Reusable infrastructure	Project-specific hacks

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Phase 3: Extraction

For each valuable pattern, generate outputs.

Design Systems → Design System Doc + Skill

1. Read the Tailwind config, CSS files, theme files
2. Extract actual token values (colors, typography, spacing)
3. Document the aesthetic direction
4. Create:
   • docs/extracted/[project]-design-system.md using design-system.md template
   • ai/skills/[project]-design-system/SKILL.md if patterns are reusable

Architecture → Methodology Doc

1. Document folder structure with reasoning
2. Capture data flow patterns
3. Note key technical decisions
4. Create docs/extracted/[project]-summary.md using project-summary.md template

Patterns → Skills

For each pattern worth a skill:

1. Load skill-quality-criteria.md
2. Use skill-template.md template
3. Verify the quality checklist:
   • Description has WHAT, WHEN, KEYWORDS
   • No explanations of basics Claude knows
   • Has specific NEVER list
   • < 300 lines ideal
4. Create ai/skills/[project]-[pattern]/SKILL.md

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Phase 4: Validation

Before writing output, validate extracted content.

For each skill, verify:

• Description has WHAT, WHEN, and trigger KEYWORDS
• >70% expert knowledge (not in base Claude model)
• <300 lines (max 500)
• Has "When to Use" section with clear triggers
• Has code examples (if applicable)
• Has NEVER Do section with anti-patterns
• Project-agnostic (no hardcoded project names)

For documentation, verify:

• Actual values extracted (not placeholders)
• Templates fully filled out
• Aesthetic direction documented (for design systems)
• File paths are correct

Conflict detection: Before creating a new skill, check if similar skills exist:

# Check existing skills in the target repo
ls ai/skills/*/

Situation	Action
Similar skill exists	Enhance existing skill instead
Overlapping patterns	Note overlap, may merge in refinement
Unique pattern	Proceed with new skill

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Phase 5: Output

Write extracted content to target locations.

Methodology Documentation:

docs/extracted/
├── [project]-summary.md       # Overall methodology
├── [project]-design-system.md # Design tokens and aesthetic
└── [project]-architecture.md  # Code patterns (if complex)

Skills:

ai/skills/
└── [project]-[category]/
    ├── SKILL.md
    └── references/  # (if needed for detailed content)

Create docs/extracted/ directory if it doesn't exist.

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Extraction Focus Areas

Design System Extraction (Highest Priority)

When a project has intentional design work, extract thoroughly:

Must capture:

• Color palette (primary, secondary, accent, semantic)
• Typography (fonts, scale, weights)
• Spacing scale
• Motion/animation patterns
• The "vibe" or aesthetic direction

Look in:

• tailwind.config.js / tailwind.config.ts
• globals.css / app.css / root CSS files
• theme.ts / theme.js
• Any design documentation

Generate:

1. Design system documentation with actual values
2. Skill capturing the aesthetic philosophy (if distinctive)

Workflow Extraction

Look for:

• Makefile targets
• package.json scripts
• Docker configurations
• CI/CD workflows

Extract:

• Dev setup commands
• Build processes
• Deployment patterns

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Error Handling

Situation	Resolution
No patterns found	Create project summary only; document why extraction failed
Pattern too project-specific	Skip or generalize by removing project names
Incomplete pattern	Extract what exists, note gaps in skill
Quality criteria not met	Revise skill or skip pattern
Similar skill already exists	Update existing skill instead of creating new
Can't find source files	Note in extraction log, skip that category

When extraction fails partially:

1. Complete what can be extracted
2. Document gaps in the project summary
3. Note "Incomplete extraction" in output
4. Suggest what additional information would be needed

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NEVER Do

• NEVER extract default configurations — Only extract customized, intentional patterns
• NEVER create skills for basic concepts — Claude already knows React, Tailwind basics
• NEVER skip the aesthetic — Design philosophy is highest priority
• NEVER generate skills > 500 lines — Use references/ for detailed content
• NEVER create skills without good descriptions — Description determines if skill activates
• NEVER extract one-off solutions — Focus on patterns used in multiple places
• NEVER skip validation phase — Quality check before writing output
• NEVER leave project names in skills — Make patterns project-agnostic
• NEVER create duplicate skills — Check for existing similar skills first

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Quality Check Before Finishing

• Design system captured (if one exists)?
• Methodology summary created?
• Skills have proper descriptions (WHAT, WHEN, KEYWORDS)?
• Skills pass the expert knowledge test?
• Anti-patterns documented in skills?
• Output files created in correct locations?

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After Extraction: Staging for Refinement

If you're extracting to later consolidate patterns across multiple projects:

Copy results to the skills toolkit repo for staging:

# From this project, copy to the skills repo staging area
cp -r ai/skills/[project]-* /path/to/skills-repo/ai/staging/skills/
cp -r docs/extracted/* /path/to/skills-repo/ai/staging/docs/

Staging folder structure:

ai/staging/
├── skills/           # Extracted skills from multiple projects
│   ├── project-a-design-system/
│   ├── project-b-ui-patterns/
│   └── ...
└── docs/             # Extracted methodology docs
    ├── project-a-summary.md
    ├── project-b-design-system.md
    └── ...

After staging content from multiple projects:

• Say "refine staged content" or "consolidate staged skills"
• The refinement process will:
  • Identify patterns across projects
  • Consolidate into project-agnostic skills
  • Update methodology docs with insights
  • Promote refined skills to active locations

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Related Skills

• Agent: ai/agents/extraction/ — Autonomous extraction workflow
• Command: /extract-patterns — Quick extraction command
• Next step: ai/skills/refinement/ — Consolidate extracted patterns
• Quality criteria: references/skill-quality-criteria.md