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October is for first skills

Hacktoberfest 2026 × Paper Compute

New here? Paper Compute records what your AI agent actually does.Start your agent through our CLI, and every session becomes a permanent, searchable record: the conversation, the tools it used, what it cost.

Hacktoberfest 2026 is about hands-on open source AI, and "writing your first skills.md" is one of the activities the official site names. Recorded sessions make that easy: pick your best one, and paper console can generate a skill from it automatically. The work you already did becomes your first draft. This page gets you there: set up in about ten minutes, record a real session, and turn it into a skill you can publish and share. No experience with agent skills needed.

✦ It's free to sign up, record your sessions, and generate skills — for Hacktoberfest and beyond. No special tier, no credit card.

Start here

Get set up in about ten minutes.

Five steps, copy-paste ready. If you get stuck, the quickstart has the long version of every step.

  1. Sign up for our waitlist

    Watch your email for your invite. In the meantime, you can get started locally with tapes.

    Get started with tapes →

  2. Install paperctl

    One command, no sudo. The installer puts paperctl in ~/.local/bin. Open a new terminal afterward if the command isn’t found right away.

    curl -fsSL https://download.papercompute.com/install | bash

  3. Sign in

    This opens a browser window to connect the CLI to your account. Check it worked with paperctl whoami.

    paperctl login

  4. Record a session

    Pick your agent, start it through paperctl, then use it exactly like you always do. The session is recorded in the background — conversation, tool activity, and cost.

    Claude Code

    paperctl start claude

  5. Create your first skill

    Three ways to do it. Pick whichever feels natural — they all land in the same editor, and the skill writing lab below teaches you how to make the result good.

Shortcut for agent users: already have Claude Code or another coding agent open? Point it at papercompute.com/start.md — an agent-followable runbook of these exact steps. Your agent does the setup; you do the Hacktoberfest part.

Learn the craft

The skill writing lab.

Five interactive steps from a sentence you already say to a published, tested skill. Drills, games, and one invented skill library to practice on.

  1. 01Play

    Who Reads Your Agent Skill? The Strangest Audience in Writing

    A skill saves an instruction so you don't have to type it again. The tricky part is knowing what belongs in the file. Start by picturing the reader: capable, literal, and starting fresh.

    Start the step →
  2. 02Play

    Capture, Don't Compose: Where Good Agent Skills Come From

    Good first skills usually do not start with an empty template. They start with an instruction you have already given your agent and already know works.

    Start the step →
  3. 03Play

    Patch What Broke: How Agent Skills Get Better Without Bloating

    You saved a small first draft. Now run it. Watch what actually happens, make the smallest change that fixes it, rerun the failed case, and make sure what worked before still works.

    Start the step →
  4. 04Play

    How to Write a Skill so Your Agent Can Follow It

    One precise term over three sentences. Say what to do, not what to avoid. Checks over taste. Steps up front, background on demand. The style of a good skill is learnable — and so is the pruning that keeps it that way.

    Start the step →
  5. 05Play

    Write Your First Agent Skill, Test It, and Publish It

    You've met the reader, saved a draft, fixed what broke, and cut it sharp. Now make it real.

    Start the step →

After your first skill

The whole skill loop on paper.

Generate

Turn a recorded session that went well into a skill draft — from the session page in the console, or from the terminal:

paperctl skill generate --name <name> <session-id>

Use

Install any published skill where your agent reads it. The --claude flag targets .claude/skills.

paperctl skill sync <slug> --claude

Update

Edit the skill in the console and publish again. Anyone who runs the same sync command picks up the new version.

Versions

Every publish is a numbered snapshot: v1, v2, and so on. Old versions stay browsable with diffs, so you can see how a skill learned.

Keep going

Resources.

Quickstart

The full ten-minute setup: install, sign in, capture, and find your session again.

Read the quickstart →

Publish your first skill

The complete walkthrough from a recorded session to a published, installable skill.

Follow the guide →

Skills in paper console

The reference for the Skills view: generating, editing, publishing, versions, and sharing.

Open the reference →

Skills from the CLI

Browse, generate, and sync skills without leaving your terminal.

Stay in the terminal →

What are agent skills?

The concept pages: skills, skill libraries, invocation, drift, and how teams share agent knowledge.

Read the concepts →

Hacktoberfest official site

The event itself: rules, Fests near you, and how to take part in the open source AI focus.

hacktoberfest.com →

Your first skill starts as a sentence you already say.

Start the lab →Sign up free →