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Skills Library / Claude (Claude Code & Claude)

Claude Skills & CLAUDE.md Setup

Claude has the most developed skills system of any frontier model: reusable SKILL.md files Claude loads when a task matches, plus CLAUDE.md project memory that shapes every session. This page explains how both work, how to set them up, and gives you working files to copy.

How it works

Claude Skills are folders built around a SKILL.md file: a short frontmatter block (a name and a description of when the skill applies) followed by instructions Claude follows when the skill triggers. Claude reads the descriptions of all available skills, loads the full instructions only when a task matches, and can also bundle scripts and reference files inside the skill folder. CLAUDE.md is the companion mechanism for projects: a markdown file in the project root that Claude reads at the start of every session - your conventions, commands, and rules, persisted. User-level skills live in ~/.claude/skills/, project skills in .claude/skills/ inside the project.

Setup, step by step

  1. Create the folder: ~/.claude/skills/my-skill/ (user-level) or .claude/skills/my-skill/ in a project
  2. Write SKILL.md inside it: frontmatter with name + description, then the instructions
  3. Write the description for the trigger, not for a human: what the skill does AND the situations that should activate it
  4. Keep the body procedural: steps, standards, and checks - the knowledge Claude should apply, not background reading
  5. Add reference files or scripts in the same folder and name them from the SKILL.md body
  6. For a project, add CLAUDE.md at the root with build commands, conventions, and hard rules
  7. Test by asking Claude to do the task in a fresh session and watching whether the skill triggers

Copy-ready starter file

✎ Editable — click in, customize or extend this prompt, then copy. Your edits copy with it.
Download SKILL.md

Field notes

The description field is the whole game: too narrow and the skill never triggers, too broad and it fires on everything. Write it like a routing rule. CLAUDE.md follows the same principle as prompts - instructions first, facts as text, nothing essential implied.

Keep going

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