Skill Loader: workaround for on-demand skill management

Context

Issues #7336, #15964, and #18497 all request lazy-loading for skills/plugins. Those are locked so I'm posting here.

I had 95 skills loading every session — Google Workspace recipes, dev framework guides, communication tools — most unused in any given session. There's no built-in way to disable or lazy-load them per-project.

Workaround: Skill Loader

A meta-skill that manages inactive skills on demand.

How it works:

1. Move skills you don't need every session to ~/.claude/skills-inactive/
2. A small "Skill Loader" skill stays active with a keyword → skill mapping table
3. When your request matches an inactive skill (e.g., "export to Google Sheets"), Claude reads the SKILL.md directly from disk, follows its guidance, and moves it to active for future sessions
4. Zero context cost for dormant skills, full functionality when needed

Results: 95 → 21 skills loaded per session, ~75% context reduction, all 95 still available on demand.

Repo with setup script: https://github.com/eppicservices/claude-skill-loader

This is a workaround, not a proper solution. A built-in disabled: true flag in skill frontmatter or a ~/.claude/settings.json allowlist would be much better. But this works today.