The Complete Guide to Building a Skill for Claude

Building a skill for Claude is easier than it sounds. In most cases, your first one takes about 15–30 minutes.

A skill is just a small folder that tells Claude how to handle a specific task, so you do not have to repeat yourself every time.

Choose a starting path

Use skill-creator

This is the easiest option. Type this in Claude:

Use the skill-creator skill to help me build a skill for [your use case].

Claude will guide you through it.

Build it manually

If you want more control, follow the steps below.

Step 1 — Pick one clear use case

Before you create anything, decide what the skill is for. Ask yourself:

• What do I want Claude to help with?
• What steps should it follow?
• What extra context or rules does it need?

Keep it focused. A narrow skill is usually more useful than a broad one.

Step 2 — Create the folder

Create a new folder on your computer. Use kebab-case:

my-first-skill
meeting-notes-skill

Meeting Notes Skill
meeting_notes_skill

Step 3 — Create SKILL.md

Inside that folder, create a file named exactly:

SKILL.md

skill.md
SKILL.MD

Also, do not add a README.md file inside the folder.

Step 4 — Add this at the top of the file

Paste this at the top of SKILL.md:

---
name: your-skill-name
description: What it does. Use when user asks to [specific phrases].
---

This tells Claude two things: what the skill does, and when it should be used.

• name — use kebab-case, usually match the folder name
• description — explain what it does and when it triggers; keep it specific, under 1024 characters; do not use < or >

Step 5 — Write the instructions

Below the YAML, write the actual instructions in Markdown. A good skill usually includes:

• What Claude should do — write the workflow step by step
• Example requests — show the kind of user messages that should trigger the skill
• Expected output — show what a good result looks like
• Troubleshooting — notes for common problems or edge cases

---
name: meeting-notes-skill
description: Summarizes meeting notes and turns them into action items.
Use when user asks to organize meeting notes, extract next steps,
or summarize a discussion.
---

# Purpose
Help turn messy meeting notes into a clear summary and action list.

# Instructions
1. Read the notes carefully.
2. Identify key decisions.
3. Pull out action items.
4. Organize the output into summary, decisions, and next steps.

# Examples
User: Turn these meeting notes into action items.
Assistant: [structured summary output]

# Troubleshooting
- If the notes are incomplete, summarize what is clear first.
- If the request is too broad, focus on the main decisions and tasks.

Step 6 — Upload it

1. Zip the folder
2. Go to Claude.ai
3. Open Settings → Capabilities → Skills
4. Upload the zip file

Step 7 — Test it

Open a new chat and try a request that should clearly trigger the skill. Check these three things:

• Did it trigger?
• Did it trigger at the right time?
• Did it follow the workflow correctly?

Common issues

• It does not trigger — your description may be too vague
• It triggers too often — your description may be too broad
• Claude ignores the file — check that the file is named exactly SKILL.md
• The upload does not work — check that the folder name uses kebab-case