Carbone Skill

Overview

A Carbone Skill is a knowledge file that teaches AI assistants the Carbone templating syntax — so they can design valid templates accurately, without trial and error.

What the Skill covers:

• Tag syntax for fields, nested objects, and arrays
• Formatters: date, number, string, currency, and chaining formatters
• Conditional display: show or hide content based on data values
• Loops: iterating over arrays with automatic section repetition
• Variable patterns for computed values
• HTML and Markdown template rendering
• Best practices and a validation checklist before rendering

Compatible with: Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI, and all platforms supporting the open Agent Skills standard.

Installation

Download carbone.skill  ·  View source on GitHub

ChatGPT

1. Click your profile icon and select Skills (or go to chatgpt.com/skills)
2. Click New skill → Upload from your computer
3. Select carbone.skill

The skill appears under Installed and is active immediately.

Claude (Desktop & claude.ai)

1. Click the Customize button in the left navigation bar
2. Select Skills
3. Click the + button → Upload a Skill
4. Select carbone.skill

The skill is now active for all conversations.

Claude Code

Install via the plugin marketplace:

/plugin marketplace add carboneio/carbone-skill
/plugin install carbone@carbone-skill

Or install manually by extracting the skill into your personal skills folder:

unzip carbone.skill -d ~/.claude/skills/carbone

To limit it to a single project instead:

unzip carbone.skill -d .claude/skills/carbone

Cursor

Extract the skill into your personal skills folder so it is available across all your projects:

unzip carbone.skill -d ~/.cursor/skills/carbone

To limit it to a single project instead, extract it into the project directory:

unzip carbone.skill -d .cursor/skills/carbone

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

Extract the skill into your personal skills folder so it is available across all your projects:

unzip carbone.skill -d ~/.copilot/skills/carbone

To limit it to a single project instead, extract it into the project directory:

unzip carbone.skill -d .github/skills/carbone

Gemini CLI

Install from the downloaded file:

gemini skills install carbone.skill

Or install directly from GitHub:

gemini skills install https://github.com/carboneio/carbone-skill.git

To limit it to the current project only, add --scope workspace to either command:

gemini skills install carbone.skill --scope workspace

OpenAI Codex

Extract the skill into your personal skills folder:

unzip carbone.skill -d ~/.agents/skills/carbone

Using Skill + MCP Together

With both installed, you can go from data to a finished document in a single conversation.

Skill vs MCP in one sentence: The Skill gives the AI knowledge of Carbone syntax; the MCP server gives it actions (generate, convert, manage templates). Used together, the AI can design a correct template and render it in the same conversation.

Prompt to AI:

I have a customer record in data.json. Create an invoice template for it, then render it as PDF.

What happens:

1. The AI uses the Skill to design a valid Carbone template with correct syntax
2. The AI uses the MCP upload_template tool to store the template
3. The AI uses the MCP render_document tool to generate the PDF

Without the Skill, the AI would need several render-and-fix cycles to get the syntax right. With it, the first render typically works.

Recommended workflow:

1. Share a sample JSON with the AI so it understands your data structure
2. Ask the AI to draft the template — the Skill handles syntax correctness
3. Review the template before rendering
4. Ask the AI to render with a test record and confirm the output looks right

Keeping the Skill Up to Date

Re-download and reinstall carbone.skill when Carbone ships major updates to stay in sync with new formatters, options, and syntax changes. Watch the carboneio/carbone-skill repository on GitHub to be notified of new releases.