diff --git a/packages/skillport-core/pyproject.toml b/packages/skillport-core/pyproject.toml
index a42c9a3..94368c9 100644
--- a/packages/skillport-core/pyproject.toml
+++ b/packages/skillport-core/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "skillport-core"
-version = "1.0.1"
+version = "1.1.0"
 description = "Core SkillPort library (shared logic). See https://github.com/gotalab/skillport for documentation."
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
 license = "MIT"
diff --git a/packages/skillport-core/src/skillport/interfaces/cli/commands/meta.py b/packages/skillport-core/src/skillport/interfaces/cli/commands/meta.py
index 3555208..c99f051 100644
--- a/packages/skillport-core/src/skillport/interfaces/cli/commands/meta.py
+++ b/packages/skillport-core/src/skillport/interfaces/cli/commands/meta.py
@@ -134,19 +134,55 @@ def _load_frontmatter(skill_md: Path) -> tuple[dict[str, Any], str]:
     return meta, body
 
 
-class _QuotedStringDumper(yaml.SafeDumper):
+class _FrontmatterStr(str):
     pass
 
 
-def _represent_str_quoted(dumper: yaml.Dumper, data: str) -> yaml.ScalarNode:
+class _FrontmatterDumper(yaml.SafeDumper):
+    pass
+
+
+def _represent_frontmatter_str(dumper: yaml.Dumper, data: _FrontmatterStr) -> yaml.ScalarNode:
     return dumper.represent_scalar("tag:yaml.org,2002:str", data, style='"')
 
 
-_QuotedStringDumper.add_representer(str, _represent_str_quoted)
+_FrontmatterDumper.add_representer(_FrontmatterStr, _represent_frontmatter_str)
+
+
+def _should_quote_string(value: str) -> bool:
+    if "\n" in value or "\r" in value:
+        return True
+    if value == "" or value.strip() != value:
+        return True
+    try:
+        loaded = yaml.safe_load(value)
+    except yaml.YAMLError:
+        return True
+    return not isinstance(loaded, str) or loaded != value
+
+
+def _prepare_frontmatter_for_dump(value: Any) -> Any:
+    if isinstance(value, dict):
+        return {k: _prepare_frontmatter_for_dump(v) for k, v in value.items()}
+    if isinstance(value, list):
+        return [_prepare_frontmatter_for_dump(v) for v in value]
+    if isinstance(value, tuple):
+        return [_prepare_frontmatter_for_dump(v) for v in value]
+    if isinstance(value, str) and _should_quote_string(value):
+        return _FrontmatterStr(value)
+    return value
 
 
 def _write_frontmatter(skill_md: Path, meta: dict[str, Any], body: str) -> None:
-    meta_text = yaml.dump(meta, sort_keys=False, Dumper=_QuotedStringDumper).strip()
+    prepared = _prepare_frontmatter_for_dump(meta)
+    meta_text = yaml.dump(
+        prepared,
+        sort_keys=False,
+        default_flow_style=False,
+        allow_unicode=True,
+        width=1_000_000,
+        Dumper=_FrontmatterDumper,
+    ).strip()
     cleaned_body = body.lstrip("\n")
     content = f"---\n{meta_text}\n---\n{cleaned_body}"
     skill_md.write_text(content, encoding="utf-8")
@@ -357,7 +393,13 @@ def _emit_show_results(
             continue
         console.print(f"[skill.id]{skill_id}[/skill.id]")
         payload = {"metadata": result["metadata"]}
-        yaml_text = yaml.safe_dump(payload, sort_keys=False).rstrip()
+        yaml_text = yaml.safe_dump(
+            payload,
+            sort_keys=False,
+            default_flow_style=False,
+            allow_unicode=True,
+            width=1_000_000,
+        ).rstrip()
         console.print(yaml_text)
         console.print()
 
diff --git a/packages/skillport-mcp/pyproject.toml b/packages/skillport-mcp/pyproject.toml
index 7b94766..f3edf70 100644
--- a/packages/skillport-mcp/pyproject.toml
+++ b/packages/skillport-mcp/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "skillport-mcp"
-version = "1.0.1"
+version = "1.1.0"
 description = "SkillPort MCP server (indexed search + tools). See https://github.com/gotalab/skillport for documentation."
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
 license = "MIT"
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ classifiers = [
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14",
 ]
 dependencies = [
-    "skillport-core==1.0.1",
+    "skillport-core==1.1.0",
     "fastmcp>=2.0.0",
     "lancedb>=0.26.0",
     "openai>=1.0.0",
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 1f9f1f1..4fc382e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ classifiers = [
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14",
 ]
 dependencies = [
-      "skillport-core==1.0.1",
+      "skillport-core==1.1.0",
       "typer>=0.4.0",
       "rich>=10.4.0",
 ]
@@ -70,7 +70,12 @@ Repository = "https://github.com/gotalab/skillport"
 skillport = "skillport.interfaces.cli.app:run"
 
 [tool.uv.sources]
-skillport-core = { path = "packages/skillport-core" }
+skillport-core = { workspace = true }
+
+[tool.uv.workspace]
+members = [
+    "packages/skillport-core",
+]
 
 [tool.ruff]
 target-version = "py310"
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_meta_frontmatter_format.py b/tests/unit/test_meta_frontmatter_format.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..98677ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_meta_frontmatter_format.py
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from skillport.interfaces.cli.commands.meta import _write_frontmatter
+from skillport.shared.utils import parse_frontmatter
+
+
+def test_write_frontmatter_is_readable_yaml(tmp_path: Path):
+    skill_md = tmp_path / "SKILL.md"
+    meta = {
+        "name": "anthropic-design",
+        "description": (
+            "Applies warm, human-centered brand design with earth-tone colors (#C96442 accent, "
+            "cream backgrounds) and serif/sans-serif typography pairing. Use when creating "
+            "React/HTML artifacts, dashboards, landing pages, or UI components requiring a "
+            "trustworthy, approachable aesthetic. Triggers: Anthropic style, Claude branding, "
+            "warm design, brand colors, professional theme, human-centered UI, earth tones."
+        ),
+        "metadata": {"author": "gota"},
+    }
+    body = "# Skill\n\nHello.\n"
+
+    _write_frontmatter(skill_md, meta, body)
+
+    text = skill_md.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert text.startswith("---\n")
+    assert '"name":' not in text
+    assert '"description":' not in text
+    assert '"metadata":' not in text
+    assert "\\\n" not in text  # avoid PyYAML double-quoted line-wrap continuation
+
+    parsed_meta, parsed_body = parse_frontmatter(skill_md)
+    assert parsed_meta == meta
+    assert parsed_body == body
+
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 2919c3e..a613343 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@ resolution-markers = [
     "python_full_version < '3.10.2'",
 ]
 
+[manifest]
+members = [
+    "skillport",
+    "skillport-core",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "annotated-types"
 version = "0.7.0"
@@ -1857,7 +1863,7 @@ dev = [
 [package.metadata]
 requires-dist = [
     { name = "rich", specifier = ">=10.4.0" },
-    { name = "skillport-core", directory = "packages/skillport-core" },
+    { name = "skillport-core", editable = "packages/skillport-core" },
     { name = "typer", specifier = ">=0.4.0" },
 ]
 
@@ -1877,8 +1883,8 @@ dev = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "skillport-core"
-version = "1.0.1"
-source = { directory = "packages/skillport-core" }
+version = "1.1.0"
+source = { editable = "packages/skillport-core" }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "pydantic" },
     { name = "pydantic-settings" },