Two chains, run end to end. Nine skills take a messy brief to a proposal you can send. Nine take a month on site to a report you can sign. Every prompt is written out, and the whole set is free.
A skill is a saved instruction you teach Claude once and call by name forever. Give it the left-hand side, get the right-hand side back. It does the typing and the reconciling. You stay the author.
17 ready-to-install SKILL.md files plus a README. No email wall. Official Claude Skills format: github.com/anthropics/skills
A · The BriefA commission arrives as call notes, an email chain and a wishlist. Two skills turn that into a brief with the gaps named, before a fee is spoken aloud.
Skill 01Proposal
Brief Builder
/brief-maker
Paste the call notes, the email chain, the address. Get a structured brief with scope, exclusions, assumptions and open questions.
It separates what the client asked for from what you are assuming, and refuses to invent the rest. Run it before a fee number is spoken aloud.
The promptHere is everything I have on [project]: call notes, the email thread, the site address, the client wishlist. Turn it into a project brief: summary, stakeholders, site and context, scope, explicit exclusions, assumptions flagged as assumptions, and open questions. Invent nothing.
Give The raw brain dump, however messy.Get A structured brief with the gaps named.Takes 4 minModel Opus 5
Check Every open question is a live item. Send them to the client before you price the job.
Skill 02Proposal
Grill Me
/grill-me
Hand it the brief. It plays the demanding senior reviewer and asks until the scope has no soft edges left.
It questions one theme at a time, restates what changed, then comes back for another round. “We will sort that later” is recorded as a live risk, not a closed item.
The promptYou are a demanding senior reviewer. Interrogate this brief until nothing is vague: site, programme, budget, planning, consultants, client decision-making, risk. Group the questions by theme, ask only what changes the design, the fee or the risk, and finish with the highest unresolved risk.
Give The brief from skill 01.Get Themed questions and a risk read.Takes 10 min, in roundsModel Opus 5
Check Answer it honestly. A brief that survives the grilling is the one you can safely price.
B · Site & OptionsWhat the site allows, and what the scheme could be. A first-pass planning read, then a set of massing directions wide enough to be worth comparing.
Skill 03Proposal
Site Check
/site-check
Give the address. Get zoning, overlays, height, setbacks and hazards as a first-pass read, with the place to verify every line.
It never states a control as fact. It separates what typically applies from what you must confirm, and names the clause or map to confirm it in.
The promptFirst-pass planning read for [address], [jurisdiction]. Structure it as zone, overlays, height, setbacks, site coverage and plot ratio, parking, heritage, flood and bushfire, easements. For each: the first-pass read and exactly where I verify it. Flag anything that could stop the project.
Give An address, or a lot and plan number.Get A constraints table plus red flags.Takes 5 minModel Opus 5
Check A pre-check, never planning advice. The authority stays the source of truth.
Skill 04Proposal
Options
/massing
Feed it the brief and the constraints. Get four genuinely different massing strategies, each with its parti, efficiency and main risk.
It widens the option set before you anchor on the first idea, and structures the trade-offs so a client workshop has something real to compare. It does not choose the scheme.
The promptFrom this brief and site-check, propose 4 genuinely different massing strategies for [project], not variations of one. For each: the parti, how it answers the site, rough net-to-gross, and its main risk. Finish with a comparison table and what to test next.
Give The brief and the site constraints.Get Distinct options, laid out side by side.Takes 6 minModel Opus 5
Check The site, planning and buildability calls stay with you. It widens the choice, it does not make it.
C · Cost & ProgrammeThe two numbers a client will test you on. A cost range you can argue with, and a programme with every approval gate pulled out into daylight.
Skill 05Proposal
Cost Sense
/qs-estimator
Feed the area schedule. Get a low, likely and high build cost with the rate and the assumption shown on every line.
It reasons elementally and prices preliminaries, contingency and escalation, so the number can be argued with rather than believed. It reports a range, never a single figure.
The promptHere is the area schedule for [project] in [location]. Give an order-of-cost estimate: apply [my rates] per line, add preliminaries, contingency and escalation, and give low / likely / high. Show every assumption and exclusion, and tell me what would move the number most.
Give A room schedule, or GFA by use.Get A cost range with the assumptions exposed.Takes 5 minModel Opus 5
Check Plus or minus 15 percent, and not a QS figure. Use your own rates or verify them locally.
Skill 06Proposal
Programme
/timeline
List the phases. Get a defensible programme with dependencies, the critical path, and every client approval gate dated.
It surfaces the approval gates as their own dated items, because late client decisions cause more slippage than slow work does. Table first, Gantt second.
The promptTurn these phases into a programme for [project]: durations, dependencies and the critical path. Pull every client decision and authority approval out as its own dated gate with a lead time, and flag which durations are assumptions. Table first, then a Gantt.
Give Phases, rough durations, any fixed dates.Get A programme with the gates exposed.Takes 4 minModel Opus 5 / Sonnet 5
Check Localise the statutory durations before you print dates in a proposal.
D · The ProposalThe last two moves before it goes. Your practice voice across the whole document, and a handoff so whoever runs the job starts where you finished.
Skill 07Proposal
Client Voice
/client-voice
Paste your own past writing. It rewrites the draft in your practice voice and strips the AI tells, without touching a fact.
It reads your register from real samples, then matches sentence length, formality and vocabulary. Facts, numbers and commitments stay exactly as approved.
The promptHere are three samples of our own writing. Rewrite this proposal to match our voice: sentence length, formality, how we open and close. Change no facts, no numbers, no commitments. Strip the AI tells. Australian English. Tell me what you changed in tone.
Give Your writing samples and the draft.Get The same content, in your voice.Takes 3 minModel Opus 5
Check Read it once for facts. A language pass should never move a number.
Skill 08Proposal
Hand Off
/handoff
Close the run. Get a handoff with decisions, open items, assumptions and the single next action, so the PM starts sharp.
It separates decided from open and labels every assumption, so the receiver can challenge it rather than inherit it. It is also how a long chat survives being closed.
The promptWrite the handoff for [project] at [stage]: decisions made, with the reasoning behind the non-obvious ones; open items with an owner each; assumptions and risks labelled as such; and the single most important next action, stated first.
Give The project or session state.Get A handoff nobody needs explained.Takes 3 minModel Opus 5 / Sonnet 5
Check Nothing assumed may be handed over as a fact. Label it, so it can be challenged.
E · The Month AssessedThe month lands as a claim, a stack of variations and a delay notice. Four skills test each one on its own terms, before any of it reaches the report.
Skill 09Report
Claim Check
/claim-check
Drop the contractor’s claim. Every claimed percentage is tested against the schedule of values, and the over-claims are flagged.
It reads the claim line by line against the agreed values, and reports the delta rather than the total. The certification stays yours.
The promptAssess this progress claim against the schedule of values and the contract. Test every claimed percentage line by line, show claimed against assessed, flag the over-claims with the evidence I would need to refuse them, and total the difference.
Give The claim and the schedule of values.Get A line-by-line assessment and the delta.Takes 10 minModel Opus 5
Check It assesses, you certify. Walk the site before you sign the number.
Skill 10Report
Variation Log
/variation-log
Feed the variation claims. Each is logged against the clause it relies on, with its cost and time impact tagged.
It ties each variation to the clause it relies on and tests whether notice was served in time, which is usually what the argument turns out to be about.
The promptLog these variations against the contract: for each, the instruction or event that triggered it, the clause relied on, the cost impact, the time impact, the status, and whether notice was given inside the contractual time bar.
Give The variation claims and the contract.Get A register with clause, cost, time and status.Takes 8 minModel Opus 5
Check Notice timing usually decides entitlement. Confirm every date against the correspondence.
Skill 11Report
EOT Check
/eot-check
Test the delay notice against the programme. It asks whether the critical path was really hit, and by how many days.
It separates the days claimed from the days that actually moved practical completion, and names the concurrent delay. Most claims shrink at this step.
The promptTest this extension of time claim against the approved programme. Which of the claimed days actually sit on the critical path? Identify concurrent delay, check the notice against the contract time bar, and give an assessed EOT with your reasoning.
Give The delay notice and the programme.Get An assessed EOT you can explain.Takes 10 minModel Opus 5
Check Contentious ground. Have the assessment reviewed before it becomes a determination.
Skill 12Report
Cost Report
/cost-report
Roll the assessed claim and the variations into budget against committed against forecast, on one page.
It reconciles the month into the three numbers a client actually asks about, and shows where the forecast moved and why. One page, or it does not get read.
The promptBuild the cost report for [project] this month: budget, committed, spent to date, forecast final cost. Fold in the assessed claim and the variation register, show the movement since last month with a reason for each, and flag any forecast overrun.
Give The assessed claim and the variation log.Get A one-page cost position, with movement.Takes 6 minModel Opus 5
Check Reconcile the totals against your accounting system before the client sees them.
F · The Report WrittenProgramme, risks, photographs, and the document itself. Five skills that turn an assessed month into a report you can sign on a Friday afternoon.
Skill 13Report
Programme Update
/programme-update
Update the Gantt, mark the slippage, and forecast a completion date you can defend in the meeting.
It works from the approved programme rather than a fresh one, so the movement stays visible. The companion to skill 06, later in the same project’s life.
The promptUpdate the programme for [project] with this month’s progress: actual against planned per activity, the slippage, a recalculated critical path, and a forecast practical completion date with the reasons it moved.
Give The approved programme and progress.Get An updated Gantt and a defensible date.Takes 6 minModel Opus 5
Check Agree percentage complete with the site team before that date goes into the report.
Skill 14Report
Risk Log
/risk-log
Pull every open risk, RFI and issue into one register, with an owner and a date on each line.
It sweeps the month’s correspondence into a single list and sorts by what is blocking work. Overdue items are named, not softened.
The promptBuild this month’s risk and issue register from these RFIs, minutes and emails: item, description, owner, date raised, days open, impact on cost or programme, status. Sort by what is blocking work, and list the overdue items separately.
Give RFIs, minutes and correspondence.Get One register, sorted by what blocks work.Takes 6 minModel Opus 5 / Sonnet 5
Check A risk with no owner and no date is not tracked. Fill both before you issue.
Skill 15Report
Site Log
/site-log
Upload the month’s photos. Get them captioned, sorted by trade, and written up as the story behind the numbers.
It turns a camera roll into a record: what the photo shows, which trade, which area, what it evidences. The section clients read first.
The promptHere are this month’s site photos. Caption each with the trade, the area and what it evidences, sort them by trade, and write a short progress narrative that matches the percentages in the claim assessment.
Give The month’s photos, unsorted.Get A captioned, ordered site record.Takes 5 minModel Opus 5 · vision
Check Check each caption against the site diary. A wrong area on a photo is a wrong record.
Skill 16Report
Report Writer
/report-writer
Assemble every section into the monthly report, in your house format and your voice, ready to sign.
It takes the outputs of the six skills before it and assembles the document, rather than starting a new one. Same template, same order, every month.
The promptAssemble the monthly report for [project] from these sections: claim assessment, variation register, EOT assessment, cost report, programme update, risk register and site log. Use our template and section order, write the executive summary last, and keep every number consistent with its source section.
Give The outputs of skills 09 to 15.Get The monthly report, in your format.Takes 8 minModel Opus 5
Check Read the executive summary back against the registers. Your signature is the last control.
Skill 17Both
Write a Skill
/write-a-skill
Bottle the run. It turns the workflow you just did by hand into a SKILL.md, so next time it is one command.
The only skill standing in both chains, and the reason the count is seventeen rather than eighteen. Run it the first time you finish something you know you will repeat.
The promptWe just ran [the fee proposal / the monthly report] end to end. Package it as a Claude Skill: YAML frontmatter with a kebab-case name and a description saying what it does and when to use it, then What it does, When to use, Instructions, Output format, and the one mistake to avoid.
Give The workflow you just finished.Get A ready-to-save SKILL.md.Takes 3 minModel Opus 5
Check A vague description will not trigger. Say plainly when the skill should load.