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Add a skill to Claude Code

Put a skill from the library where Claude Code reads it, for one project or for every project on your computer.

  • Claude Code

Steps checked

Claude Code runs in the terminal, in VS Code and in its desktop app. It needs a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan, or a Console account with an API key; the free claude.ai plan does not include it. A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md inside, and Claude Code reads it from one of two places: your own skills folder, for every project, or the project's .claude/skills folder, which travels with the repository.

On your phone

Claude Code runs on a computer or, through the Code tab in the Claude app, in the cloud. There is no phone step for installing a skill. If you work from the app, put the skill in the project's .claude/skills folder on a computer and commit it; we expect a cloud session on that repository to pick it up, but we have not tested a skill through it yet. The computer steps below are the ones we have checked.

On a computer

  1. In the item, click Download skill. The first time, it asks you to join free with your email. Then unzip it. You get one folder named after the skill, with SKILL.md inside.
  2. Move the folder to one of these places:
    • For every project: ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/ (on Windows, %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\<skill-name>\).
    • For one project: .claude/skills/<skill-name>/ inside the repository. Commit it and your team gets it too.
  3. Open Claude Code in the project. Type /skills to see the list; the new skill is there. If the skills folder did not exist when the session started, type /reload-skills.
  4. Ask for the job. Claude Code uses the skill when the task matches its description, or you can call it directly with /<skill-name>.

If it does not work

  • Claude Code is not installed:
    • On a Mac or Linux, run curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash.
    • On Windows, run irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex in PowerShell.
    • npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code works too (Node.js 22 or later).
  • The skill is missing from /skills: check that the folder is named exactly as the skill and that SKILL.md sits directly inside it, not one level down.
  • You use another folder for Claude's files: if CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR is set, the skills folder lives under that directory instead of ~/.claude.

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