Essential Custom Skills for Claude and Cursor

2 Sents

I add two custom skills to almost every Claude or Cursor project: /build and /work. They save me from bouncing between terminals, Xcode, Android Studio, and random one-off commands just to check whether the app still works.

I got tired of re-explaining build steps every time I switched projects. These two commands fixed that.

The Build Skill

/build has one job: compile and launch the app in a simulator without opening an IDE.

I run it from the project directory and keep working while it runs. No context switch. No remembering platform-specific build incantations from last month.

Here is the exact prompt I use to generate this skill:

Add a skill so I can type /build and then you'll just do what's needed to build to a simulator for me? The project should be able to build without me needing to open an IDE. The project should use whatever the most current OS and hardware I'm using is. Check the README for which platforms I'm building for and target the appropriate build configuration for the given target.

The Work Skill

/work is stricter. I use it when I want the agent to take the codebase from "maybe fine" to "actually working."

It starts by committing the current state, then works through errors and warnings. I usually have it verify iOS first because that is my default platform, then it checks the rest of the targets in the repo. Build, read logs, fix, repeat.

Could I build a more rigid automation pipeline? Sure. I prefer this approach because the prompt gives the agent enough room to adapt to each project.

Here is the prompt for the /work command:

I'd like to have a command or skill I can call with /work that has one goal: make the app I'm currently working on to "work" on each platform. "Work" means:

The app builds on iOS
The app builds on iOS with no errors or warnings
All changes are committed
All unit tests pass
The app builds on all other platforms that the app targets.
All changes are committed.
Before trying to make this work, all changes should be committed.

If you use Claude or Cursor every day, set these up once and reuse them forever. They are boring in the best way.