Skills guide
Complete guide to Claude Code Skills: understand, create, and use custom skills to automate your workflows and boost productivity.
What is a Skill?
A Skill is a structured recipe that guides Claude Code to execute complex tasks in a reproducible way. In practice, it's a Markdown file that defines a workflow, rules, and steps to follow.
Analogy
If MCPs are Claude's tools (hammer, screwdriver, drill), Skills are the instruction manuals that tell it how and when to use those tools together to accomplish a complex task.
The three types of Skills
Built-in Skills
Provided by the community and tools, these Skills are available right away. They cover the most common workflows: TDD, code review, planning, etc. Use them with the syntax /tdd-guide, /code-reviewer, /planner.
Custom Skills
Created by you in the ~/.claude/skills/ folder. They're available across all your projects and reflect your personal preferences.
Project Skills
Defined in the CLAUDE.md file or the .claude/ folder of your project. Shared with the entire team via Git.
How to use a Skill
Explicit invocation
Prefix the Skill name with / in your prompt:
# Invoke a Skill directly> /tdd-guide Implement an email validation function# Claude will then:# 1. Load the "tdd-guide" Skill instructions# 2. Write the tests first (RED)# 3. Implement the minimum to pass the tests (GREEN)# 4. Refactor if needed (IMPROVE)
Automatic activation
Some Skills activate automatically based on context. Instructions in your CLAUDE.md file are applied systematically every session.
Top recommended Skills
| Skill | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| TDD Guide | Dev | Rigorous Test-Driven Development workflow |
| Frontend Design | Design | Modern, accessible UI components |
| Code Reviewer | Quality | Automated code review |
| Plan | Process | Structured implementation plan |
| E2E Testing | Testing | End-to-end tests with Playwright |
| Security Review | Security | Systematic security analysis |
Create your first Skill
# 1. Create the Skills foldermkdir -p ~/.claude/skills# 2. Create the Skill filetouch ~/.claude/skills/react-component.md# 3. Write the instructions (see the full guide)# 4. Test your Skill# > /react-component Create an Avatar component
Pro tip
Version your Skills with Git! Create a dedicated repository for your ~/.claude/skills/ files and share them with your team. Every improvement benefits everyone.
Next steps
Refine your communication with Claude Code through the advanced prompting guide, or explore AI trends that will shape the future.