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Tutorial

How to Make a Skill in Claude

Let Claude build the skill for you — no manual prompt engineering required

What is a skill?

A skill is a reusable slash command you can run inside Claude Code. Once saved, typing /your-skill triggers a pre-written prompt with a defined process — so the boring, repeatable work becomes a single command.

The fastest way to make one is to let Claude write it for you using the built-in /create-skill command.

The Process

1

Run /create-skill

Inside Claude Code, type /create-skill. This kicks off a guided flow where Claude helps you design and scaffold a new skill from scratch.

2

Answer Claude's questions

Claude will ask what the skill should do, when you'd use it, what inputs it expects, and what the output should look like. Be specific — the clearer your answers, the better the first draft will be.

3

Test it — and iterate

Run the skill on a real example. If it misses something, doesn't follow the right process, or produces output you don't love, tell Claude what's wrong and ask it to refine. Repeat until the skill consistently does what you want.

4

Ask Claude to save it

Once you're happy, say "save this as a skill" (or "save it to the project" / "save it globally"). Claude will write the skill file to the correct directory and it becomes available as a slash command immediately.

5

Use it — just type / and the details

Next time you want to run the skill, type a forward slash, pick the skill from the list (or type its name), and pass along any details it needs — like the feature description, filename, or context. Claude takes it from there.

Tips for a good skill

  • -Start with a repetitive task you actually do — don't invent skills you won't use
  • -Give the skill a clear, numbered process so Claude follows the same steps every time
  • -Include rules and constraints (what to avoid, what format to output)
  • -Test on at least 2–3 different inputs before saving — it's easy to overfit to the first example
  • -Save globally (~/.claude/skills) for personal workflows, or per-project (.claude/skills) for team-shared ones