You have a Google Doc document containing dozens of custom prompts to help you start conversations with the AI. But copying and pasting them into each new Claude conversation quickly becomes tedious and time-consuming as your collection grows. Get rid of that document: Claude Skills lets you package your best practices once, then trigger them with keywords or questions whenever needed.
Whether you're completely new to Skills or looking to upgrade your collection, this guide will cover everything you need to know.
What is Claude Skills?
Claude Skills (also known as Agent Skills) are reusable, modular instruction packages that teach Claude how to consistently perform specific tasks. These "process manuals" help the model follow your company's written guidelines, execute multi-step workflows, or automate routine analyses. Easy to set up with English-language prompts, yet flexible enough to support advanced scripting for structured actions, Skills keep Claude on track and deliver consistent output across chat threads.
Skills are currently available in preview for Pro users and above on Claude Web, Desktop, API, and Claude Code . Skills automatically sync between Web and Desktop but must be uploaded separately for API and Claude Code. Skills are not currently available in the Claude mobile app.
Skills works with all Claude models that support code execution: All models from version 3.5 and above, across all styles (Haiku, Sonnet, Opus).
What makes Claude Skills unique?
Claude Skills focuses on intelligent combination and adaptability. Once uploaded, skills automatically activate based on the topic and purpose of the conversation – you don't need to manually select which skills to use. Multiple skills can be combined within the same conversation thread, supporting workflows that start in one area of expertise and end in another.
Here's how it works in practice: You upload your Q3 sales data as a CSV and request analysis. Your data analysis skills are automatically activated, processing the numbers and highlighting key trends. In the same conversation thread, you say "turn this data into a presentation for management"—at this point your presentation building skill is activated, following the company's slide template. No switching tools, no re-uploading CSVs, no copying results between separate conversations.
Compared to ChatGPT's GPT—where you have to switch between separate custom chatbots for different workflows—Skills integrates into the natural workflow. This makes them work more seamlessly in daily life, eliminating the difficulty of context switching.
Simplicity can be misleading: Skills are packaged in a directory structure that you can expand with additional files for contextual guidance or support scripts, making it easy to share, update, and refine over time.
When should you use Claude Skills?
Skills are most effective in situations requiring repetition and consistency. Here are the clearest signs that you should create a skill:
- Repetitive requests . You find yourself having to write or paste the same instructions into Claude over and over again. If you've used the same request or sequence three times, create a Skill for it.
- Consistent workflow . Inputs, processes, and outputs always follow the same pattern (e.g., analyzing customer feedback data → extracting sentiment → generating reports).
- The standards have been established. You are coding knowledge of "how we work here" such as PR evaluation criteria, writing style guidelines, or analytical checklists.
- Supporting documentation . Tasks will be more efficient with scripts, templates, reference materials, or specialized tools.
Skills aren't really suitable for short conversations, highly exploratory projects with ever-changing approaches, or knowledge gathering and Q&A sessions. For the latter, Projects are better: They allow you to upload documents and discuss them.
What does a Skill in Claude's game look like?
A basic Claude Skill includes:
- A title, with a name and description.
- A portion of the instruction content is located just below the title, formatted using Markdown .
The main instructions are in the SKILL.md file, which should be placed in a folder with the same name. As you expand this skill, you can add more .md files with additional instructions (while referencing them in the main SKILL.md file), subfolders for better organization, and even script files to help Claude execute the code.
How to use Claude Skills
This is a brief version, but keep reading for more details:
- Click on your profile icon (bottom left corner).
- Go to Settings > Capabilities .
- Enable both Code execution and file creation , and Skills .
- Switch to the Example skills tab and activate skill-creator .
- Start a new conversation and type: "Help me build a skill…" followed by your plan notes (inputs, desired conversions, outputs, and constraints).
- Claude will call skill-creator and begin building. Follow the thought process – you can click on the SKILL.md file while it's being written to see the Skill take shape. This helps you understand the Skill's structure.
- After Claude finishes writing a Skill, you can install it by clicking the "Copy to your skills" button , available at the bottom of the chat.
Activate Claude Skills
To use Skills, you first need to activate them.
In Claude Web or Desktop:
- Click on your profile icon (bottom left corner).
- Go to Settings > Capabilities .
- Enable both Code execution and file creation , and Skills .
- Switch to the Example skills tab and activate skill-creator .
Skill-creator allows you to build and install new Skills directly through conversations with Claude – a bit confusing, but incredibly useful.
You will also find other examples of Skills from Anthropic:
- doc-coauthoring – following a structured workflow for document writing
- internal-comms – helps format internal communications.
- slack-gif-creator – add a little creative chaos to group chats
Plan for Skill
Before building your first Skill, you need to clarify four things: What is the input data, what will Claude do with it, what is the output data, and what rules should it follow? The easiest way to achieve this clarity is to answer these questions right from the start – it only takes two minutes and saves you from having to rebuild it later.
Quick planning checklist:
- Input : CSV file? Pasteed text? Uploaded document?
- Process : Summarize complaints? Suggest headings? Analyze data patterns?
- Output : Presentation? Chart analysis? Interactive product? Formatted document?
- Constraints : Required length, tone, or format? Brand guidelines? Template requirements?
Start small, then expand. Build a "company newsletter editor" that handles a single format well, not a "general-purpose company content editor" trying to cover 25 different content types. You can always add and combine more content types later.
Create a Skill
The easiest way to get started is by using Claude's skill-creator tool. It provides you with a working platform that you can immediately experiment with or further refine.
Proposed workflow:
- Use skill-creator to create the first version: You'll chat with Claude, and he'll create the skill for you.
- Test and fine-tune through conversation until the basic functionality works.
- Download the skill, manually edit it if necessary, and upload it again.
- If you're happy with the result, save a backup copy in case future edits don't work.
To create your first skill:
- Start a new conversation and type: "Help me build a skill…" followed by your plan notes (inputs, desired conversions, outputs, and constraints).
- Claude will call the skill-creator and begin building. Follow the thought process – you can click on the SKILL.md file while it's being written to see the skill take shape. This helps you understand the skill's structure.
- After Claude finishes writing a Skill, you can install it by clicking the "Copy to your skills" button , located at the bottom of the chat.
If you're an administrator of the organization, you can allow everyone in the team to use the new Skills through your admin settings – send everyone a message on Slack/email to let them know.
Check your skills.
Before confidently using a skill in a real-world task, test it. Create a standard test scenario – the same input, the same requirements, the same expected output – and run it 2-3 times to check for consistency.
For example, if you have built a skill for writing messages:
- Try experimenting with the same topic three times.
- Check if the tone, structure, and length are consistent.
- Verify that it complies with your constraints (word count, required sections, etc.).
Observe the thought process each time to see how Claude interprets the instructions. If the results vary too much, Skill's instructions may be too vague or contradictory. Refine and experiment again until you get reliable output.
Save your test script: You will reuse it every time you update your skills.
Use your skills.
After installing a Skill, Claude will always display a description of that Skill in the background while you chat. The Skill will then automatically activate when the trigger keyword or phrase matches the description. The most reliable way to initiate a Skill is to request it directly: "Use this Skill to build my newsletter" or "Please help me write articles in my brand voice using this Skill."
What happens when a Skill runs : When Claude activates a Skill, it loads the entire SKILL.md file into its context window and follows those instructions to produce the result. A few things to know:
- Examine the thought process . Expand on it to see exactly how Claude interprets and executes the Skill, so you understand what's going on internally.
- How long does it take to complete the task? Simple skills might take 30 seconds, while complex skills that create files or products could take over 5 minutes. Claude might need multiple turns to complete all actions.
- The output depends on the Skills guidelines . Results may appear as chat responses, downloadable documents, or interactive products.
- Combine skills: You can use multiple skills in sequence. For example, use your brand voice skill to refine the written piece, then use your presentation skill to turn it into slides, and finally transform it into an interactive product.