Explainer · updated Oct 5, 2026
Claude skills are folders with a SKILL.md file that Claude loads automatically when your request matches its description. This guide covers how they work in Claude Code, the official list, cost and setup.
A Claude skill is a folder that holds a SKILL.md file with instructions for one kind of task, plus any scripts that go with it. Claude reads the description in the SKILL.md frontmatter and loads the skill on its own when your request matches that description. You do not call it by name each time; you just describe the job, such as filling in a PDF or building a slide deck. In Claude Code, Anthropic's agentic coding tool, skills are one of the ways you add repeatable know-how without retyping long prompts. Our atlas lists 19 Claude Code skills, and all 19 are published by Anthropic in the anthropics/skills repository. They cover office files, design, writing and developer help.
The skill's instructions are loaded into Claude's context only when the description fits your prompt. Any scripts a skill bundles run through Claude Code's normal tool permissions, which means shell commands and file edits go through the same approval flow as everything else Claude does in your project. Skills can live in two places: ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ for personal use across projects, or .claude/skills/<name>/ inside one project. You can also install them as bundles through the plugin system. The repo README notes that the published skills are examples for demonstration and education, and their behavior in Claude.ai may differ from what you see in Claude Code. Skills sit next to two other ways of shaping an agent: MCP servers for tool access and a project AGENTS.md file for conventions; the Claude Code plugins hub lists the bundles that ship them.
The official list groups into a few areas. Office files: docx, pdf, pptx and xlsx. Design and visuals: frontend-design, canvas-design, algorithmic-art and theme-factory. Writing: doc-coauthoring and internal-comms. Developer help: claude-api, mcp-builder, webapp-testing and skill-creator. For example, the pdf skill reads, extracts, merges, splits, rotates, watermarks, creates, fills, encrypts and OCRs PDF files. The mcp-builder skill is a guide for building MCP servers in Python (FastMCP) or Node/TypeScript so LLMs can use external APIs. Two bundles group them: document-skills for Excel, Word, PowerPoint and PDF, and example-skills for the rest.
The skills in the atlas are published openly in Anthropic's repository, and the profiles we read do not list a separate price for them. Some carry licenses that differ by skill, and the skill-creator profile leaves its license field empty. What you pay for is the tool that runs them: Claude Code. Claude Code is not included in the Free Claude plan. Pro costs $17 per month with the annual discount ($200 billed up front) or $20 billed monthly. Max 5x is $100 per month and Max 20x is $200 per month. Team and Enterprise are listed separately, and Console use is billed by API token consumption. Plan prices are on the Claude Code pricing page, and the Claude Code alternatives page covers tools that solve the same jobs differently.
Skills fit people who repeat the same kind of task and want Claude to follow the same steps each time: developers who generate documents, teams that want a house style for decks, or anyone who wants a tested workflow for building MCP servers or webapp tests. You can skip them if you only run one-off prompts, or if you need plugins with hooks or MCP servers; the skill-creator profile points to plugin-dev for that. Also keep in mind that Claude Code needs a paid Claude subscription or a Console account, so skills in Claude Code are not available on the Free plan. If you also use Cursor, the equivalent mechanism is Cursor rules; for a terminal agent that competes directly, see Codex vs Claude Code and Claude Code vs Cursor.
Install Claude Code, then add Anthropic's marketplace with /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills. Install a bundle, for example /plugin install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills, or copy a single skill folder into ~/.claude/skills/. Then mention the task in a prompt and Claude loads the matching skill. To write your own, use the skill-creator skill. It drafts a skill from scratch, runs test prompts and evals including variance benchmarking, generates a review page, and optimizes the SKILL.md description so the skill triggers when it should. The full list with install commands is in our Claude Code skills hub; the Best AI agents list puts Claude Code next to other agents.
Anthropic's agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files and runs commands from the terminal, IDEs, desktop app or browser.
Watch out: Not included in the Free Claude plan, and usage on subscriptions is capped by plan limits.
Verified code.claude.com (opens Claude Code website in a new tab)
From $20/mo US · checked Sep 29
Claude skills are folders with a SKILL.md file that tell Claude how to do one kind of task. Claude loads a skill automatically when your request matches the description in its frontmatter.
Our atlas lists 19 Claude Code skills, all published by Anthropic. The document-skills and example-skills bundles group many of them.
Yes. Claude Code is not included in the Free Claude plan. It comes with Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise, or you can use an Anthropic Console account billed by API token consumption.
Copy the folder to ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ for personal use or .claude/skills/<name>/ for a single project.
Anthropic's repo says the skills are provided for demonstration and educational purposes, and behavior in Claude may differ. Test a skill on your own task before relying on it.
This guide explains what skills are and how they load. For the profiled skills with install commands, see our Claude Code skills list.
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