Skills

Last verified: 13 February 2026 | Applies to: All plans (Free, Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise)

In 30 seconds

Skills are the knowledge layer that makes Claude a specialist rather than a generalist. They’re folders containing markdown instructions (with YAML frontmatter), optional executable scripts, and supplementary resources that Claude loads dynamically when relevant. Skills exist both inside plugins and independently — you can create, upload, and manage custom skills on any plan, including Free.

What it does

How skills work: Claude uses “progressive disclosure” — it reviews available skills, determines which are relevant to your request, and loads only the necessary information. This keeps responses focused without overloading context.

Types of skills:

Type	What it is	How to get it
Anthropic Skills	Pre-built by Anthropic for document creation (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF)	Activate automatically when relevant
Custom Skills	Created by you using markdown instructions + optional scripts	Upload via Settings → Capabilities as ZIP files
Organisation Skills	Distributed by Team/Enterprise admins to all members	Provisioned org-wide with default enable/disable
Partner Skills	Built by companies like Notion, Figma, Atlassian	Browse at claude.com/connectors

Skill structure:

my-skill/
  SKILL.md          ← Required: instructions with YAML frontmatter
  scripts/          ← Optional: executable Python/JavaScript
  data/             ← Optional: reference files, templates

SKILL.md format:

---
name: weekly-report
description: Creates our standardised weekly ops report.
---

# Weekly Operations Report

When asked to create a weekly report, follow this structure:

## Required Sections
1. Key metrics (revenue, orders, NPS)
2. Wins from this week
3. Blockers and risks
4. Next week priorities
5. Asks from leadership

## Formatting
- Keep it under 500 words
- Use bullet points, not paragraphs
- Lead with the number, then the context

How to set it up

To use built-in skills:

1. Go to Settings → Capabilities
2. Ensure “Code execution and file creation” is enabled
3. Toggle individual skills on/off in the Skills section

To create a custom skill:

1. Create a folder with a SKILL.md file (see format above)
2. Add optional scripts and reference files
3. ZIP the folder
4. Upload via Settings → Capabilities → Upload skill

To manage organisation skills (Team/Enterprise): Admins can provision approved skills org-wide with default enable/disable settings.

How operators actually use it

“I created a skill for our client onboarding process. It has our standard welcome email template, the checklist of accounts to set up, and our SLA document as a reference file. Now when I say ‘onboard new client Acme Corp’, Claude follows our exact process.”

Skills encode institutional knowledge — the stuff that’s currently trapped in your head, buried in a Google Doc, or explained verbally to every new hire.

What to watch out for

• Skills are not plugins. Skills are one component (the knowledge layer). Plugins bundle skills with connectors, slash commands, and sub-agents.
• YAML frontmatter is required. The name and description fields in SKILL.md must be present for Claude to discover and load the skill.
• Custom skills are account-specific. They don’t sync across devices unless provisioned by a Team/Enterprise admin.

Related

• Plugins — bundles that contain skills + connectors + commands
• Building a Plugin — create a full plugin (not just a skill)
• Custom Skills Guide — Anthropic’s official documentation

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