Claude Code Skills: Reusable Playbooks for Your Codebase

Video transcript

Claude Code skills are reusable folders that tell Claude how your team works.

Claude Code skills are folders of instructions, scripts, and reference files. Claude loads a skill when your request matches its description. Each folder holds a SKILL.md file that names the skill and spells out the steps.

The frontmatter carries a name and description. Claude compares your request against that description before loading anything else. A vague description can leave a skill unused for months.

Progressive disclosure keeps only the name and description of a skill in context. When a request matches, Claude loads the full instructions and bundled files. This staged loading keeps a large skill library usable.

Skills hold reusable procedure and reference material. Slash commands give you a manual trigger. Subagents run work in an isolated context, while servers connect Claude to outside systems.

Project skills sit inside the repository, so anyone who clones it inherits them. Personal skills live in your home directory across projects. Commit project skills alongside the code they describe.

The full details are in the article.