Question 1

What are Skills?

Accepted Answer

Skills are specialized packages of instructions, scripts, and resources that you can give to Claude. You can think of creating a Skill as being like putting together an onboarding guide for a new hire. They transform Claude from a general-purpose agent into a specialized agent that meets your specific needs. Skills package your expertise into composable resources that extend Claude's capabilities.

Question 2

What can Skills help Claude do?

Accepted Answer

Skills equip Claude with specialized capabilities necessary for real-world tasks that require procedural knowledge and organizational context. They make Claude better at specialized tasks, such as working with Microsoft Excel, following your organization's brand guidelines, or handling specific document types. Skills can provide specialized workflows (multi-step procedures), tool integrations (instructions for specific APIs or file formats), and domain expertise (company policies or schemas). For example, Skills power Claude's ability to create and manipulate files like spreadsheets, presentations, and fillable PDFs.

Question 3

How does Claude know when to use a Skill?

Accepted Answer

Claude loads Skills dynamically when they are relevant to the task you are asking it to complete. When you give Claude a task, it scans the available Skills to find matches. Claude only accesses a Skill when it determines that it is relevant to the task at hand. To stay efficient, Claude uses a principle called progressive disclosure: First, it pre-loads the Skill's name and description (metadata) to know when the Skill might be useful. If the Skill seems relevant, Claude loads the core instructions. Claude loads additional resources (like specific scripts or reference files) only if and when they are needed for the task.

Question 4

What are Skills made of?

Accepted Answer

Skills are fundamentally very simple in format. A Skill is primarily a directory (folder) that contains a required file called SKILL.md. The SKILL.md file contains the instructions Claude will follow. Skills can also bundle additional, optional files within the skill directory, which are referenced by name from SKILL.md. These bundled resources can include scripts (executable code), references (documentation and reference materials), and assets (files used in the output, such as templates, logos, or images).

Question 5

Can Skills include code?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Skills can include code for Claude to execute as tools. While large language models are good at many things, certain operations (like sorting a list or performing specific deterministic tasks) are better handled by traditional code execution. For example, a PDF Skill might include a pre-written Python script to extract all form fields from a PDF. Because code execution requires a secure environment, Skills depend on Claude having access to a secure coding environment.

Question 6

Where can I use Skills?

Accepted Answer

Agent Skills are supported across the Claude ecosystem. Skills are available in Claude apps (for Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise users). They are supported in Claude Code and the Claude Developer Platform (API).

Question 7

How simple is it to create a Skill?

Accepted Answer

The concept and format of Skills are simple, making them easier for organizations, developers, and end users to build customized agents. Creating a basic Skill can be as simple as making a folder with a SKILL.md file containing metadata (name and description) and instructions. Claude can even help you create and edit Skills using a specific guidance tool called the "skill-creator" skill, which asks about your workflow and generates the necessary files.

Question 8

Should I be careful about which Skills I use?

Accepted Answer

Yes, because Skills can provide instructions and code for Claude to execute, it is important to be mindful of security. You should only install Skills from trusted sources. A malicious Skill could potentially introduce vulnerabilities or instruct Claude to take unintended actions, such as removing data.

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