What Are Claude Code Skills?

Claude Code skills are SKILL.md files — instruction folders that teach Claude Code how to handle specific tasks and workflows. When you create a skill, you're encoding your team's processes, coding standards, and domain expertise into a structured format that Claude loads automatically. Unlike typing the same instructions repeatedly, skills let you teach Claude once and benefit every time.

Context

Skills solve a real problem: repetition. Without skills, you'd explain your preferences ("write in active voice, use this naming convention") in every session. With skills, you write those instructions once in a SKILL.md file, and Claude loads them whenever they're relevant.

Skills can be standalone (just your custom instructions) or bundled (shipped with Claude Code). Bundled skills like /batch and /claude-api come built-in and demonstrate what's possible — they're prompt-based instructions that let Claude orchestrate multi-step tasks like large-scale code refactoring or API reference loading.

Technically, a skill is simple: a folder containing a SKILL.md file with YAML frontmatter (metadata) and instructions in Markdown. You can optionally include scripts/ (executable code), references/ (documentation), and assets/ (templates). Claude uses "progressive disclosure" — the metadata loads everywhere, but full instructions only load when relevant. This means you can bundle entire codebases without bloating every session.

Skills follow the Agent Skills open standard, so skills you write work across multiple AI tools. For agentic coding workflows especially, skills let you encode the exact processes and patterns your team uses. Read our 5 Claude Code skills I use every day post for concrete examples of skills in action.

Practical Steps

1. Create a skill folder: Make .claude/skills/my-skill/ in your project root
2. Write SKILL.md: Add YAML frontmatter with name and description, then write your instructions in Markdown
3. Add optional support files: Include scripts/, references/, or assets/ if your skill needs them
4. Invoke it directly: Type /my-skill to run it anytime, or let Claude load it automatically when relevant
5. Test and refine: Try your skill, adjust the instructions based on what Claude does, and iterate

For detailed guidance on skill creation, see Anthropic's complete skill-building guide.

---

Want more AI insights? Subscribe to LoreAI for daily briefings.