Overview

If projects are about giving Claude the right knowledge, skills are about teaching Claude a process. A skill is a set of reusable instructions for a specific task. You create it once, and Claude follows it every time that task comes up, without you having to re-explain the steps.

If you've ever started a new chat and pasted in the same instructions to do the same task, that's a sign you need a skill.

Skills vs Projects

Projects tell Claude "here's everything you need to know about my client" so that every chat in that project has the right knowledge going into it.

A skill tells Claude how to actually do a full process end to end. For example, "here's exactly how I want meeting summaries written, every time."

Skills can go much deeper than simple instructions. A skill can tell Claude which tools to use, what documentation to reference, what steps to follow in what order, and what to watch out for along the way.

Skills You're Already Using

You might already be using skills without realising it. When Claude creates an Excel spreadsheet with working formulas, generates a PowerPoint presentation, or produces a formatted Word document, those are all powered by built-in skills running behind the scenes. Anthropic maintains these and Claude uses them automatically when they're relevant.

The real power comes from creating your own.

Creating Skills: Do the Work First

The most important thing about creating skills: don't try to write one from scratch.

If you try to document every step yourself upfront, Claude is guessing what you want rather than learning from what you actually did. It's the same reason you wouldn't hand a new employee a manual on their first day and say "off you go." They haven't seen what good looks like. They haven't made mistakes and been corrected.

The recommended approach is to iterate through real use:

1. Start a normal chat and do the task you want to turn into a skill. For example, paste in messy meeting notes and ask Claude to turn them into a clean summary.

2. Give feedback when the output isn't right. "This is too long. Keep it to one page max and lead with the decisions, not the discussion."

3. Keep refining until you're happy. "Each action item needs a clear owner and a deadline. If the notes don't have a deadline, flag it as TBD so we know to follow up."

4. Once the output matches what you want, ask Claude to turn it into a skill: "Based on everything we just did, create a skill that captures this workflow. It should take raw meeting notes and produce a clean summary following the same structure and standards we landed on."

5. Claude generates the skill. Save it, and it appears in your skills list under Customise in the left sidebar.

Next time you need that task done, Claude can look at the name and description of the skill, recognise it's the right one to use, and apply it automatically from any chat.

The Skill Iteration Loop

Just like project instructions, skills are rarely perfect on the first version. The best approach is to use the skill, notice what's missing, correct it, and update.

For example, after using your meeting summary skill a few times, you might notice it's not grouping action items by team. So you tell Claude:

"Recreate the meeting summary skill to group action items by team. That should be the default going forward."

Claude updates the skill. You then click "add skill" and replace the previous version.

This is the best-in-class loop: use the skill, notice what's missing, correct it, update it. Over time it gets closer and closer to exactly how you work.

The Quick Option: Skill Creator

If you already know your workflow well, there's a faster path. Claude's skill creator interviews you about the task and generates a first version from your answers.

Find it under Customise, then Skills, then the plus button, then "Create with Claude." You can also open a fresh chat and ask Claude to help you create a skill.

It's faster, but remember that the first version won't be perfect. Use it, refine it, keep improving.

Managing Your Skills

Under Customise in the sidebar, you'll find all your installed skills. From here you can:

• Toggle any skill on or off

• Delete skills you no longer need

• Click into a skill to edit it manually

• Update a skill through a chat with Claude

Click the plus button to browse skills or create your own. If you're on a Team or Enterprise plan, you'll see skills from your organisation, skills shared with you, and skills made by Anthropic and partners.

You can also share skills with colleagues or publish them to your whole organisation, so everyone follows the same process.

A Note on Skill Portability

A skill is really just a text file with detailed instructions. Skills follow an open standard, so if you build one in Claude, you can export it and use it in other tools that support the same format. You're not locked in.

You can also upload skills others have shared with you using the "Upload a skill" option. Just be careful with external skills from unknown sources, as they could cause Claude to behave unexpectedly.

Pause Here

Think about one task where you're always giving Claude the same instructions. Maybe it's formatting a report, drafting a certain type of email, or reviewing a document in a specific way.

Go through that task with Claude, get the output right, then ask it to turn the conversation into a skill. You can also go back to an existing conversation where you've already refined something and do the same.

Key Takeaways

• Projects give Claude knowledge. Skills give Claude a process. Use projects for context that stays the same across chats. Use skills for tasks you want done the same way every time.

• Don't write skills from scratch. Do the work in a normal chat first, refine through feedback, then ask Claude to turn it into a skill.

• Skills improve through use. The iteration loop (use, notice, correct, update) is how skills get closer to exactly how you work.

• Skills are portable. They follow an open standard, so you can export, share, and use them across tools.

• Skills get significantly more powerful in Cowork where they combine with plugins, scheduled tasks, and local file access. That's covered in a follow-up course.