If you use Claude regularly, you know the drill: for every recurring task, you find yourself explaining the same rules over and over. The report format, the tone for LinkedIn, the categories in your CMS. With Claude Skills, you can automate these repetitive AI tasks using pre-defined workflows, instructions, and templates. Instead of explaining the rules in every new chat, Claude automatically loads the relevant skills only when they're needed.
At bakedwith, we use skills in our daily routine—from uploading blog posts and writing LinkedIn updates to handling month-end closing. In this article, we’ll explain how skills work, how to create your own, and what companies should keep in mind. This information is based on the Claude Help Center, as of November 2026.
What are Claude Skills?
Claude Skills are folders containing instructions, scripts, and templates that Claude loads on demand. A skill describes how Claude should handle a specific task, such as creating a report in your company’s format or writing a post in your unique style. Skills are available in all Claude plans, including the free version, as well as in Claude Code.
Want to test skills without committing to a paid plan? Learn about capabilities and usage limits in our guide on using Claude for free: features, limits, and alternatives.
The clever part is how they load: Claude initially only sees the name and description of all active skills. It only loads the full instructions and files when a request matches a specific skill. This allows you to have many skills active at once without overwhelming Claude. If multiple skills match a task, Claude combines them automatically.
There are four types of skills:
- Anthropic Skills: Ready-to-use skills for Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and PDF. Claude uses them automatically as soon as you ask for something like a presentation.
- Custom Skills: Skills that you create yourself for your own workflows.
- Organization Skills: In Team and Enterprise plans, admins can provide skills for everyone to use, such as brand guidelines.
- Partner Skills: Skills from providers like Notion, Figma, or Atlassian that work in tandem with their respective connectors.
The specification is published as an open standard at agentskills.io . This means your skills will also work on other AI platforms that adopt the standard.
Comparing Skills, Projects, Instructions, and MCP
Claude offers several ways to incorporate your own knowledge. Here is an overview of the differences:
Skills and connectors complement each other: The connector gives Claude access to a tool, while the skill explains how Claude should use it.
Activating Claude Skills
Skills require Claude to have permission to execute code. Here is how to unlock them:
- Enable code execution: Go to Settings > Features and enable "Code execution and file creation." In the new interface, this option is called "Create and edit files."
- Open Skills: Go to Customize > Skills to see all available skills. In the German interface, this section is sometimes labeled "Fähigkeiten."
- Activate individually: Toggle on the skills you want to use.
In the Team plan, skills are enabled by default at the organization level. In the Enterprise plan, an owner must first enable them under Organization Settings > Plugins & Skills.
Creating Claude Skills: three ways
Using the Skill Creator in chat
The easiest way is to use the Skill Creator, a sample skill provided by Anthropic. Activate it under Customize > Skills and describe to Claude in the chat what the new skill should do. Claude will ask follow-up questions about the process, tone, and examples, and then build the skill for you. You can then review the result and save it.
Via screen recording
In the Mac app, you can use Cowork to record yourself performing a task for up to about ten minutes. Claude will watch the recording and suggest a skill. Narrating your actions out loud significantly improves the results. This feature is available in Pro, Max, Ultra, and Team plans, but not in the free plan, Enterprise, or on Windows. Be sure not to show any passwords or confidential data.
Manually
A skill is a folder containing a file named SKILL.md. It begins with two mandatory fields:
- name: A short name, maximum 64 characters.
- description: What the skill does and when Claude should use it, max 200 characters.
Below that, include the actual instructions in Markdown. Place additional files like templates, references, or scripts in the folder and link to them in the SKILL.md file. To upload, zip the folder, go to Customize > Skills, click the plus sign, and select "Upload Skill." You can find templates in the Anthropic Skill Repository.
The description is your biggest lever. It determines whether Claude even loads the skill in the first place. Be specific about which tasks and phrasing should trigger it. If a skill isn't working reliably, it’s almost always due to the description.
How we use Claude Skills at bakedwith
Our skills primarily run in Claude Code and Cowork. Here are four everyday examples:
- Webflow Upload: The skill understands our Webflow CMS structure, including collections, categories, and formatting rules, and includes a script for the API. This allows finished blog posts and tool entries to be uploaded to Webflow as drafts in the correct format.
- LinkedIn posts in our own style: The skill contains Jens' style guide, templates for hooks, and his most successful posts as a benchmark. It also includes a list of forbidden patterns, such as typical AI-generated phrasing. It writes new posts and reviews drafts.
- Monthly closing with Qonto: The skill searches Qonto for transactions without receipts. It retrieves missing invoices from vendor portals that don't send them via email. It also flags incorrect categories and overdue customer invoices.
- Lead enrichment and outreach: One skill adds email addresses, company addresses, and contact persons to lead lists. A second one evaluates campaigns and responses in Instantly.
Skills make Claude remarkably reliable for daily tasks—but what does the next step of autonomous workplace collaboration look like? Check out our article on Claude Duet: what Anthropic’s new AI agent can do and what it means for businesses.
We’ve learned three things along the way:
- The knowledge is in the skill: IDs, rules, and the quirks of an interface are defined once in the skill. A new chat doesn't start from scratch, and no one has to figure them out all over again.
- Negative lists work: For writing in your own style, clear lists of phrases to avoid are more effective than general descriptions of tone.
- Skills and connectors go hand in hand: For month-end closing, the Qonto integration provides the data, while the skill defines the process and any exceptions.
What companies should look for in skills
Skills can contain scripts and execute code. That makes them powerful and requires a few rules:
- Only use verified skills: Read through skills from community collections on GitHub before you activate them. In the Enterprise plan, a skill scanner checks uploaded skills for malicious content.
- No credentials in the skill: API keys and passwords don't belong in the files. Use connectors for external services.
- Distribute centrally: In Team and Enterprise, you can share skills with colleagues or publish them within the organization. If desired, an admin can review them before they are released. Recipients can use shared skills, but they cannot modify them.
- Clarify data protection: If a skill processes personal data, the same rules apply as for Claude in general. More on this in AI and data protection.
Bottom line: Claude Skills turn explanations into reusable knowledge
Claude Skills are the easiest way to teach Claude your workflows without having to explain them in every new chat. They work across all plans, can be created without any coding knowledge, and only load when they’re actually needed. For businesses, they’re a game-changer for any task that follows set rules: reports, on-brand writing, or processes in CRM or accounting. With Team and Enterprise plans, you can distribute proven skills centrally to everyone.
The best way to start: Write down the task you’ve had to explain to Claude the most this week. Have the Skill Creator build a skill from that, then test it with three different prompts.
If you want to know which of your team's workflows are worth turning into skills, reach out to us for an AI consultation.
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FAQ: Frequently asked questions about Claude Skills
Are Claude Skills free?
Yes, skills are available in all plans, including the free one. You just need to have code execution and file creation enabled. Only recording a skill via screen capture requires a paid plan and the Mac app.
How do I activate Claude Skills?
Go to Settings > Features and turn on code execution and file creation. Then, go to Customize > Skills to enable the specific skills you want. In Enterprise, an owner must first enable skills for the organization.
What’s the difference between Claude Skills and Projects?
Projects provide background knowledge that’s loaded into every chat within that project. Skills contain instructions for a specific task and only load when that task is relevant. In return, they work everywhere in Claude.
Can I share Claude Skills with my team?
Yes, on Team and Enterprise plans. You can share skills with individual colleagues or publish them for the entire organization. Recipients can use shared skills but can't edit them, and they receive updates automatically.
Do Claude Skills work in Claude Code?
Yes, skills also run in Claude Code and are available in beta via the API using the code execution tool. Our article explains how Claude Code and other coding agents work: Coding Agents explained.
Where can I find ready-made Claude Skills?
In the directory under Customize > Skills, which includes partner skills from Notion, Figma, or Atlassian. You can find more templates in Anthropic’s skill repository on GitHub. Just be sure to review community collections before activating them.
Posted by:
Jens is the co-founder of bakedwith, a boutique consultancy firm specialising in smart automation and AI. He helps medium-sized companies and corporations to optimise processes, reduce manual work and achieve growth through efficient workflows. Previously, he was Growth Lead at OMR and worked as a freelancer, helping numerous companies optimise their CRM and automation systems. Jens is passionate about combining growth and efficiency to enable teams to focus on what matters most.
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