book-to-skill — Agent Skill Profile

What it actually does

Converts a PDF, EPUB, DOCX, or plain-text document into a structured skill, extracting frameworks and mental models rather than producing a summary of the text.

When to use it — and when not to

Use it when

You have a book, spec, or long document you want turned into something Claude can apply as a repeatable skill, not just recall.

Not for

You want a summary, not a skill — this specifically extracts reusable frameworks, which is a different output.

The caveat that matters

It needs shell access to run its own extraction script — the repo deliberately leaves `allowed-tools` out of its frontmatter to stay agent-neutral, so each host agent prompts for permission on first use rather than the skill pre-approving itself. Review what the script does before granting it.

Agent compatibility

Claude Code

Confirmed means the skill’s own source or vendor states it works with that agent. Portable means it only reaches that agent through the shared SKILL.md format and a directory convention — real, but a weaker claim. An agent with no entry here isn’t known to be unsupported; it simply isn’t documented either way, so nothing is claimed. Full model on Agent Skills Compatibility.

Requirements and operational surface

Depends on

Shell access to run its extraction script

What it actually does at runtime

Runs its own extraction script, which needs shell and file access on first use.

Workflow fit

Source document → book-to-skill → new reusable skill → skill-creator eval.

Evidence and provenance

Maintained by virgiliojr94 (community). Primary source: virgiliojr94/book-to-skill, last checked against this page’s claims on August 16, 2026. This page summarizes and analyzes that source — it isn’t a copy of its SKILL.md or README, and installation happens at the source, not here.

Also covered in The Best Claude Code Skills, part of the Claude Code guide.