Skills

0:08 A Claude skill (an Agent Skill) is a folder containing a SKILL.md file of instructions, with optional scripts, templates or reference files, that Claude loads only when a task calls for it; skills are on every plan, including Free (as of Nov 6, 2026), and Anthropic says "The same skill runs across Claude.ai, Claude Code, and the API." Anthropic ships built-in skills for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files, and anyone can write their own. Skills launched in Oct 2025, became an open standard in Dec 2025, and on Oct 22, 2026 Anthropic gave the standard to the Agentic AI Foundation.

Quick facts

What is in a skill?

0:27 A skill is a directory whose SKILL.md starts with a name and a short description, followed by the instructions. Claude keeps only the name and description in mind (about 100 tokens per skill in the docs; Anthropic's Nov 26, 2025 explainer video put it at 30 to 50), reads the full SKILL.md (under 5,000 tokens is the guidance) when a request matches, and opens the extra files only if it needs them (Agent Skills). That loading in stages is why a person can install many skills without crowding the conversation. A minimal skill looks like this:

---
name: weekly-report
description: Formats a weekly status report in our team's layout. Use when asked for a weekly report.
---
1. Start with three bullet points of results.
2. Then risks, then next week's plan.
3. Keep it under one page.

Because skills can include scripts that Claude runs, they need code execution switched on, and a skill from someone else should be read before it is installed. Enterprise has offered security scanning of third-party skills and plugins (beta) since Aug 6, 2026.

Built-in skills

Anthropic's own skills create and edit Excel spreadsheets (with working formulas), Word documents, PowerPoint decks and PDFs, and Claude uses them by itself when a request needs one (Using skills in Claude). They are what powers File Creation. In the API the same four are the pre-built skills xlsx, docx, pptx and pdf.

How do I turn on skills in the Claude app?

1. Open Settings > Capabilities and turn on "Code execution and file creation" ("Create and edit files" in the updated layout).
2. Open Customize > Skills.
3. Switch individual skills on or off.

On Team and Enterprise, an owner first enables code execution and Skills under Organization settings > Plugins & skills, on the "Policy" tab (Using skills in Claude).

How do I create a custom Claude skill?

0:03 The easiest way is to ask Claude: the built-in skill-creator skill interviews you and writes the folder (Skills). To add one by hand:

1. Make a folder with a SKILL.md and any supporting files.
2. Compress the folder as a ZIP file.
3. In Customize > Skills, click "+", then "+ Create skill".
4. Choose "Upload a skill" and select the ZIP.

The Help Center does not give a size limit for the app, only that an oversized ZIP fails (Using skills in Claude). Step-by-step examples are on How to Build a Claude Skill.

Skills in Claude Code

0:57 In Claude Code, a personal skill lives at ~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md and works in all your projects; a project skill lives at .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md and travels with the repository (Extend Claude with skills). Claude uses a skill when it fits, or you run it as /skill-name: custom slash commands were merged into skills, so .claude/commands/deploy.md and .claude/skills/deploy/SKILL.md both make /deploy. Skills from your Claude account sync one way into Claude Code (version 2.1.273 or later) under ~/.claude/skills/synced/; set syncClaudeAiSkills to false to stop it (Using skills in Claude). Claude Code Plugins bundle skills with commands, hooks and MCP servers.

Skills in the Claude API

On the Claude API, skills have been out of beta since Aug 19, 2026. A request lists skill IDs in its container and includes the code execution tool; custom skills are uploaded through /v1/skills and shared across the workspace. Limits as of Nov 6, 2026: up to 20 skills per request, an upload of up to 30 MB, a name of up to 64 characters that may not contain "anthropic" or "claude", and a description of up to 1,024 characters (Using Agent Skills with the API). Skills are not available through Amazon Bedrock and are not eligible for zero data retention (Agent Skills).

Sharing skills in an organization

Team and Enterprise owners can install skills for everyone, stop members from making their own, and turn on "Share with organization" or (Enterprise only) "Share with groups", both off by default. Publishing to the whole organization can require review, with a skill marked "Available to install", "Installed by default" or "Required" (Using skills in Claude).

An open standard

Anthropic published Agent Skills as an open standard in Dec 2025, and on Oct 22, 2026 donated its name, logo, the github.com/agentskills organization and the agentskills.io domain to the Agentic AI Foundation. Anthropic reports that ChatGPT, Cursor, GitHub Copilot and VS Code are among the platforms that adopted it, and that "1 million skills have been published and nearly 280 million installed"; those counts are Anthropic's and are not independently measured. OpenAI's ChatGPT has skills of its own. Learn more: Skills on chatgpt.vi.ki

Frequently asked questions

Are Claude skills free? Yes. Claude skills, built-in and custom, are on the Free plan as of Nov 6, 2026, as long as code execution is turned on.

What is the difference between a Claude skill and a project? A Claude skill is a reusable procedure Claude loads in any chat when it fits; a project is a workspace with its own files and chats. Use a skill for how to do something, a project for what you are working on.

What is the difference between Claude skills and connectors? Claude skills teach Claude a method; Connectors give Claude access to an outside app such as Gmail or Slack. Many tasks use both.

Where do I put a skill in Claude Code? Put a personal Claude Code skill at ~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md or a project skill at .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md, then run it as /name or let Claude choose it.

Can I use Claude skills in other AI tools? Often yes: Agent Skills is an open standard, and Anthropic reports more than 70 platforms support the SKILL.md format, though each tool decides what scripts it lets a skill run.

Sources

• Claude Agent Skills Explained, Anthropic, Nov 26, 2025 (video)
• Creating custom Skills with Claude, Anthropic, Oct 16, 2025 (video)
• What are skills?, Claude, Feb 26, 2026 (video)
• Using skills in Claude, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Release notes, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Skills, claude.com, read Nov 6, 2026
• Plans and pricing, claude.com, read Nov 6, 2026
• Extend Claude with skills, Claude Code docs, read Nov 6, 2026
• Agent Skills, Anthropic docs, read Nov 6, 2026
• Using Agent Skills with the API, Anthropic docs, read Nov 6, 2026
• Release notes, Anthropic docs, read Nov 6, 2026
• Donating Agent Skills to the Agentic AI Foundation, Anthropic, Oct 22, 2026