Getting Started

Install your first Claude Skill in under 2 minutes.

Prerequisites

You'll need one of the following:

Claude Code (CLI) - Anthropic's official CLI
Claude.ai (Web) - Claude's web interface
Cursor / VS Code - With Claude integration

Quick Install

Option 1: From Skills Directory

Browse skills at skillsdirectory.com
Find a skill you want
Copy the install command from the skill's page
Run it in your terminal

# Example: Install from a GitHub repository
git clone https://github.com/username/skill-name ~/.claude/skills/skill-name

Option 2: Create a Simple Skill

Create a skill in 30 seconds:

# Create the skills directory
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/my-first-skill

# Create the skill file
cat > ~/.claude/skills/my-first-skill/SKILL.md << 'EOF'
---
name: my-first-skill
description: A simple skill that helps with [your use case].
---

# My First Skill

When I ask for help with [topic], follow these steps:

1. First, do this
2. Then, do that
3. Finally, verify the result

## Important Notes

- Always check X before proceeding
- Never do Y without confirmation
EOF

Option 3: Claude.ai (Web)

Go to Settings > Features
Click "Add custom skill"
Upload a SKILL.md file or paste the content

Verify Installation

Ask Claude to confirm the skill is available:

What skills do you have installed?

Or test it directly:

Use my-first-skill to help me with [topic]

Your First Real Skill

Here's a practical skill you can install right now - a commit message helper:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/commit-helper

cat > ~/.claude/skills/commit-helper/SKILL.md << 'EOF'
---
name: commit-helper
description: Helps write clear, conventional commit messages. Use when 
  committing code, writing commit messages, or following conventional commits.
---

# Commit Message Helper

When helping write commit messages, follow the Conventional Commits format:

## Format

<body> <footer> ```

Types

feat: New feature
fix: Bug fix
docs: Documentation only
style: Formatting, no code change
refactor: Code change that neither fixes nor adds
test: Adding or updating tests
chore: Maintenance tasks

Rules

Subject line max 50 characters
Use imperative mood ("add" not "added")
No period at end of subject
Body explains what and why, not how
Reference issues in footer (e.g., "Fixes #123")

Examples

Good:

feat(auth): add OAuth2 login support

Implement Google and GitHub OAuth providers.
Users can now sign in with existing accounts.

Closes #45

Bad:

updated login stuff

EOF


Now when you ask Claude to help with commits:

Help me write a commit message for these changes: [describe your changes]


Claude will automatically use the commit-helper skill.

## Skill Locations

Claude looks for skills in these directories:

| Location | Scope | Priority |
|----------|-------|----------|
| `.claude/skills/` | Current project | Highest |
| `~/.claude/skills/` | All projects | Lower |

Project-level skills override global skills with the same name.

## Next Steps

Now that you have your first skill installed:

1. **Browse more skills** - Check out [popular skills](/skills)
2. **Create custom skills** - Read [Creating Your First Skill](/docs/creating-your-first-skill)
3. **Learn best practices** - See [Writing Effective Skills](/docs/writing-effective-skills)

## Troubleshooting

### Skill not found

1. Check the file is named exactly `SKILL.md` (case-sensitive)
2. Verify the path: `~/.claude/skills/skill-name/SKILL.md`
3. Restart Claude Code if running

### Skill not triggering

1. Check the `description` field contains relevant keywords
2. Try explicitly asking: "Use the [skill-name] skill to..."
3. Verify the YAML frontmatter is valid

### Permission errors

```bash
chmod -R 755 ~/.claude/skills/

Quick Reference

# List installed skills
ls ~/.claude/skills/

# View a skill's content
cat ~/.claude/skills/skill-name/SKILL.md

# Remove a skill
rm -rf ~/.claude/skills/skill-name

# Update a skill from git
cd ~/.claude/skills/skill-name && git pull

That's it! You're ready to start using Claude Skills.