Claude Skills Quick Start Guide

Last updated: November 2, 2025

A beginner-friendly guide to getting started with Claude Skills.

Note: The Claude Code section of this guide has been tested on macOS Sonoma. Steps may vary on other operating systems.

What are Claude Skills?

Skills let you extend Claude's capabilities for specific tasks. Once created, skills can be:

• Reused across conversations
• Shared with your team
• Used on both Claude Web and Claude Code

Quick Start

Claude Web (Easiest)

1. Log into Claude (requires Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise)
2. Go to Settings → Capabilities, then turn on "Code Execution and File Creation" and "Skills" if needed
3. In a new chat, ask Claude: "Create a skill that [performs this task] for [this purpose]. Ask me questions, one at a time, until you have enough context to create a useful skill."
4. Download the Skill file (zip format) that Claude creates
5. Go back to Settings → Capabilities, scroll to the Skills section, and upload the Skill file
6. Turn on your newly-uploaded Skill

Claude Code

1. Open Terminal on your Mac (press Command + Space, type "Terminal", and press Enter)
2. Install Claude Code: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
3. Create a skills folder: mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
4. See the detailed guide for next steps

Need More Help?

• Detailed walkthrough: See Skills Quick Start Guide
• Official documentation: Claude Skills Documentation
• Claude Code docs: docs.claude.com

Common Issues

Skills not working?

• Make sure you have Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise subscription
• Try restarting Claude Code after adding Skills
• Check the troubleshooting section in the detailed guide

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Note: Skills require a Claude Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise subscription.