Guides
Guides to Claude skills
Six short guides for people who have just heard of skills. Start with the first one and read down, or jump to the question you have.
- What Are Claude Skills?Claude skills are folders of instructions that Claude loads only when a task calls for them. What is inside one, how Claude decides to use it, and where skills work.
Updated October 2026
Read - How to Use Claude SkillsHow to install and run Claude skills in Claude Code, on claude.ai and in other agents, including the npx skills add command and what to do when a skill does not trigger.
Updated October 2026
Read - How to Create a Claude SkillCreate a Claude skill by making a folder with a SKILL.md file. The required fields, how to write a description that triggers, adding scripts, and testing the result.
Updated October 2026
Read - Claude Skills Examples: Real Skills and What They DoExamples of Claude skills, from a three-line skill to Anthropic's document skills, with the SKILL.md frontmatter that makes each one work and what to copy from it.
Updated October 2026
Read - Claude Skills vs MCP: What Each One Is ForSkills teach an agent how to do a task. MCP servers connect it to tools and data. How the two differ, when to use each, and how they work together.
Updated October 2026
Read - Claude Skills vs Agents, Plugins and CommandsHow Claude Code skills differ from subagents, plugins, slash commands and hooks, when to use each, and how they fit together.
Updated October 2026
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