How to Install Agent Skills
A practical guide to installing agent skills using official methods, community tools, and emerging standards.
Agent skills are modular capabilities that extend what AI agents can do. Think of them as plugins or extensions that give agents specialized knowledge and workflows. Installing skills correctly ensures your agents work effectively across different environments.
Official Methods (Claude Platform)
Anthropic provides several ways to install skills depending on your workflow.
Claude.ai
Upload skill packages directly through the web interface:
- Navigate to Settings > Features
- Upload your skill as a
.zipfile - The skill becomes available immediately in your conversations
Claude Code
Skills are filesystem-based and can be installed in two locations:
- Global skills:
~/.claude/skills/- Available across all projects - Project skills:
.claude/skills/- Scoped to a specific project
Simply place your skill directory in either location. Claude Code automatically discovers and loads skills on startup.
Claude API
For programmatic installation, use the skills endpoints:
# Upload a skill
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/skills \
-H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
-F "file=@my-skill.zip"
Claude Agent SDK
When building with the Agent SDK, place skills in the .claude/skills/ directory of your project. The SDK loads them automatically when initializing an agent.
