What are Claude AI skills?

Skills are modular capabilities that extend an AI agent such as Claude. They consist of instructions, scripts, and resources packaged in a directory starting with a SKILL.md file. The agent discovers and uses them automatically to perform specialized tasks. SKILL.md is an open standard, so the same skills also work in ChatGPT, Gemini, Codex, Cursor and Copilot.

How do I install a Claude skill?

In the Claude app: download the skill as a .zip from its SkillHub page (or zip the skill folder yourself) and upload it under Customize → Skills → + → Create skill → Upload a skill. No GitHub account or terminal needed. ChatGPT and Gemini take the same .zip or folder. In Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or Copilot: run the skill's install command (npx skills add owner/repo --skill name). Then describe your task and the agent uses the skill when it fits.

What is an MCP server?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers are external tools that connect to an AI agent such as Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini, giving it access to live data and services like GitHub, Figma, Notion, and databases. They complement skills by providing real-time integrations.

How do I create a Claude skill?

Create a directory with a SKILL.md file that describes the skill's purpose and instructions. Optionally add a scripts folder for automation. Follow the open SKILL.md format (agentskills.io). To share it, publish the folder anywhere public, such as a GitHub repository or an npm package, and add an open license so others may use and repackage it.

What is the difference between a skill and an MCP server?

Skills provide procedural knowledge and reusable expertise stored locally as SKILL.md files — they require no network connection and persist across conversations. MCP servers connect the agent to external systems and live data via the Model Context Protocol, running continuously to provide real-time access to services like GitHub, Figma, or databases. Skills and MCP servers are complementary: a skill can describe how to analyze data while an MCP server provides the actual data.

How does Claude discover and activate skills?

Agents use progressive disclosure to manage skills efficiently. It always loads skill metadata (~100 tokens of name and description from YAML frontmatter). When a task matches a skill's description, the agent loads the full SKILL.md instructions. Additional reference files and scripts are only loaded as needed. This means you can bundle comprehensive documentation in a skill without impacting conversation performance.

What should I include in a SKILL.md file?

Every SKILL.md requires a YAML frontmatter block with a name (max 64 characters, lowercase with hyphens) and a description (max 1024 characters). The description is critical — it is the activation trigger that determines when the agent uses the skill. The body should contain procedures, workflows, and context the agent needs. Keep the file under 500 lines and use separate reference files for advanced content.

Can I use Claude skills without coding?

Yes. Skills are plain Markdown files with a YAML header. No programming knowledge is required to create basic skills. You create a directory, write a SKILL.md file with a description and instructions, and your AI agent discovers it automatically. Scripts and executables are optional additions for more advanced automation.

SkillHub is a discovery platform for AI skills and MCP servers that work in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and coding agents — a curated, searchable directory similar to how npm is a registry for JavaScript packages. It covers categories including design, product and strategy, marketing, developer tools, testing, DevOps, data engineering, and security.

How do I submit a skill to SkillHub?

Visit skillhub.pm/submit to submit your skill. Provide your skill's name, description, a link to its source, and category. Submissions are reviewed by the SkillHub team and, once approved, appear in the public directory. Submission is free.

Are all Claude skills on SkillHub free?

Yes. All skills listed on SkillHub are free to install and use. SkillHub itself is also free for browsing and submitting skills.

How to install

AI skillsinstall, use and create

What skills are, how to install one in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or a coding agent, and how to write your own. Skills follow an open standard (SKILL.md), so one skill works in all of them.

On this page

01What skills are

Know-howyou install once

A skill is a folder with instructions, and sometimes scripts or templates, that teaches your AI tool how to do one kind of task well: build a deck in your house style, write a PRD, review an interface for accessibility.

You install it once and the agent uses it whenever a task calls for it, so you stop pasting the same prompt. Installing many skills is fine: the agent only reads each skill's short description up front and loads the rest when it's needed, so ten skills don't slow your chats down.

02Install a skill

How to install a skillwherever you work

Pick where you use AI. Every skill page on SkillHub has the same choice, with a download or the install command, and links to its source.

Use it in

In Claude

The Claude app on the web or desktop. No terminal, works on every plan.

01
Turn on file creation
Settings → Capabilities, switch on Create and edit files (code execution). Skills need it to run.
02
Get the skill as a .zip
On the skill page, choose Use it in: Claude and download the .zip. No download button? Open the source on GitHub, download the folder with SKILL.md in it and zip it.
03
Upload it
Customize → Skills → + → Create skill → Upload a skill. Pick the .zip as it is; the skill shows up in your list, switched on.

Then just ask: There's nothing to call. Describe the task (“turn these notes into a 10-slide deck”) and your AI tool picks the matching skill. If it doesn't, name the skill in your message.
Install from sources you trust: A skill can include scripts that your AI tool runs. Skim the SKILL.md and any scripts before you install, as you would with any code from the internet.

03Where to start

Start with a kitnot twenty skills at once

A few skills per job, in the order to install them, with the workflows to use them together. Guided workflows come as one file that leads you through the job.

Browse all skills

04Create your own

Write a skillin plain Markdown

No programming needed. If you keep explaining the same process to your AI tool, that process is a skill. The minimum is one folder with a SKILL.md file.

Folder

your-skill/
├── SKILL.md       # required
├── reference.md   # optional
└── scripts/       # optional
    └── check.py

SKILL.md

---
name: your-skill
description: What it does and
  when to use it.
---

# Your skill

Steps, rules and examples.
See reference.md for details.

name: Up to 64 characters: lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens, like reviewing-prds. Match the folder name, or the upload fails.
description: Up to 1,024 characters. Say what it does and when to use it: it's the only part the agent reads before deciding to load the skill.

How an agent loads a skill

In three layers, so a long skill costs nothing until it's used.

01
Name and description, always
About 100 tokens per skill. Enough for the agent to decide whether the skill fits the task.
02
SKILL.md body, when the skill fits
The steps, rules and examples, read once the task matches the description.
03
Other files, only when needed
Reference docs, scripts and templates cost nothing until the agent opens them.

Tips for a skill that works

Write the description for the trigger: A vague description means the skill never loads. Name the task and the moment: “Review a PRD for missing goals, metrics and edge cases. Use when someone shares a PRD or spec.” Not: “Helps with documents.”
Keep it short: Stay under 500 lines in SKILL.md and only add what the agent can’t know: your process, your standards, your examples. Move long reference material to separate files.
Strict where it matters, loose where it doesn’t: Give room for creative work and analysis. Spell out exact steps (or a script) for anything that breaks easily, like migrations or file formats.
Test it on a real task: Try it in a fresh chat, on each model you use; smaller models need more explicit steps. Did the skill load? Did the agent follow it? Adjust, then share it.

Made something others can use? Put it on GitHub and submit it to SkillHub.

05Skills vs MCP

A skill teaches howa connector gives access

They work best together: the Figma connector lets your AI tool read your file, a design-review skill tells it what to look for. Setting up a connector? See the connectors guide.

Skills: Know-how: steps, standards and scripts your AI tool loads when a task needs them.Use it for: work you repeat, done your way
Kits: The skills for one domain, in install order.Use it for: starting without twenty installs
Workflows: One job in steps, with the right skill for each step. A guided workflow is one skill that leads you through the job.Use it for: getting a job done, not just installed
Connectors (MCP): Access to another app or live data: Figma, GitHub, Notion, a database.Use it for: reading from and acting in your tools
Plugins: A bundle of skills, connectors and commands you install in one go.Use it for: a complete setup for a team or role
Projects: Shared files and instructions for one body of work.Use it for: context that stays with one project
Prompts: Instructions for a single chat.Use it for: one-off requests

AI skillsinstall, use and create

Know-howyou install once

How to install a skillwherever you work

In Claude

Turn on file creation

Get the skill as a .zip

Upload it

Start with a kitnot twenty skills at once

Write a skillin plain Markdown

How an agent loads a skill

Name and description, always

SKILL.md body, when the skill fits

Other files, only when needed

Tips for a skill that works

A skill teaches howa connector gives access

Go deeperofficial docs and write-ups

Official documentation

From Anthropic's blog

Repositories and protocols

Find your first skill