Guide
Claude Code skills: the official list, explained 2026
Our atlas lists 19 Claude Code skills, and all 19 are published by Anthropic. They cover office files (docx-skill, pdf-skill, pptx-skill, xlsx-skill), design and visuals (frontend-design-skill, canvas-design-skill, algorithmic-art-skill, theme-factory-skill), writing (doc-coauthoring-skill, internal-comms-skill) and developer help (claude-api-skill, mcp-builder-skill, webapp-testing-skill, skill-creator-skill).
Each profile is built from the project's own repository and docs, not from third-party reviews. Four of the skills (docx, pdf, pptx, xlsx) are listed with a proprietary license that sits in the skill folder, while others such as algorithmic-art-skill and slack-gif-creator-skill are Apache-2.0. The repo README notes that these implementations are examples and may differ from what Claude.ai provides.
- Official 19
How it works
- A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file; Claude loads it automatically when the SKILL.md description matches your prompt.
- Register the marketplace with /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills, then install a bundle, for example /plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills.
- Two bundles group the skills: document-skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF) and example-skills (skill-creator, MCP builder, design, algorithmic art and more).
- You can also copy a skill folder to ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ for personal use or .claude/skills/<name>/ for one project.
- To write your own, skill-creator-skill drafts a skill, runs test prompts and helps optimize its description.
What a SKILL.md looks like
A skill is a folder with SKILL.md: YAML frontmatter (name, description) and the instructions Claude loads when the task matches. Claude picks the skill by its description, so that line matters most.
File: ~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md (personal) · .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md (project)
---
description: Summarizes uncommitted changes and flags anything risky. Use when the user asks what changed, wants a commit message, or asks to review their diff.
---
## Current changes
!`git diff HEAD`
## Instructions
Summarize the changes above in two or three bullet points, then list any risks you notice such as missing error handling, hardcoded values, or tests that need updating.The list (19)
| Name | Author | Works with | License | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algorithmic Art Creates generative p5.js art with seeded randomness and an interactive parameter viewer, … |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | Apache-2.0 | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| brand-guidelines Applies Anthropic's official brand colours and typography to artifacts. |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | — | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| Canvas Design Creates original posters and static art as PNG or PDF from a written design philosophy. |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | Apache-2.0 | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| Claude Academy guide Recommends a matching Claude Academy course, tutorial or use case after Claude answers a … |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | Apache-2.0 | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| claude-api Reference for building with the Claude API / Anthropic SDK: model ids, params, streaming,… |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | — | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| Discernment Nudge Appends 2-3 short follow-up questions to substantive answers so users check facts, reason… |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | Apache-2.0 | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| doc-coauthoring Structured workflow for co-authoring docs, proposals, specs and decision docs with contex… |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | — | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| docx Create, read, edit Word .docx/.dotx files, including tracked changes, comments, images an… |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | Proprietary (LICENSE.txt in skill folder | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| frontend-design Guidance for distinctive, non-templated UI design: aesthetic direction, typography and la… |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | — | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| Internal Comms Helps write internal communications such as 3P updates, newsletters, FAQs, status reports… |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | Apache-2.0 | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| mcp-builder Guide for building high-quality MCP servers in Python (FastMCP) or Node/TypeScript so LLM… |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | — | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| pdf Read, extract, merge, split, rotate, watermark, create, fill, encrypt and OCR PDF files. |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | Proprietary (LICENSE.txt in skill folder | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| pptx Create, read, edit .pptx/.potx decks: templates, layouts, speaker notes, comments, split … |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | Proprietary (LICENSE.txt in skill folder | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| skill-creator Create, edit and benchmark skills: draft, run test prompts, review results, and optimize … |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | — | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| Slack GIF Creator Toolkit and guidance for making animated GIFs that meet Slack size limits, built with Pyt… |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | Apache-2.0 | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| theme-factory Apply one of 10 preset font/colour themes (or a generated one) to slides, docs, reports o… |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | — | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| Web Artifacts Builder Scripts and guidance to build multi-component React artifacts and bundle them into a sing… |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | Apache-2.0 | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| webapp-testing Toolkit for testing local web apps with Playwright: verify frontend behaviour, debug UI, … |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | — | maintained | github.com ↗ |
| xlsx Open, create, edit and clean spreadsheets (.xlsx, .xlsm, .csv, .tsv) with formulas, forma… |
Anthropic official | Claude Code | Proprietary (LICENSE.txt in skill folder | maintained | github.com ↗ |
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the pdf skill in Claude Code?
Run /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills, then /plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills. Or copy the skill folder to ~/.claude/skills/pdf/ or .claude/skills/pdf/.
Which skills work with Office files?
docx-skill, pptx-skill and xlsx-skill handle Word, PowerPoint and spreadsheet files, and pdf-skill reads, merges, splits, fills and OCRs PDFs. All four carry a proprietary license in the skill folder.
How do I make my own Claude Code skill?
Use skill-creator-skill, which can create, edit and benchmark skills: draft one, run test prompts, review results and optimize the description.
What are Claude skills?
Skills are folders of instructions and scripts that Claude loads only when a task needs them. Read our What are Claude skills guide for how they work; this page lists the skills we profiled.