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

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

1. Open Claude Desktop Settings → Skills
2. Click Add skill and select carbone.skill
3. Restart Claude Desktop

The skill is now active for all conversations.

Claude Code

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

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

Claude Code picks it up automatically — no restart needed.

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

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

Claude.ai (Projects)

Upload carbone.skill as a Project Knowledge file. Every conversation in that project automatically has access to Carbone templating knowledge.

1. Open claude.ai and go to your Project (or create one)
2. Click Project Knowledge → Add content
3. Upload carbone.skill

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 directly from the downloaded file:

gemini skills install /path/to/carbone.skill

To limit it to the current project only:

gemini skills install /path/to/carbone.skill --scope workspace

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.

Check the Carbone Changelog → to see what's new.