Anthropic has launched a new feature called Claude Skills that will allow Claude AI to perform specialized tasks by loading custom skillsets. These "skills" essentially consist of folders containing instructions, scripts, and resources that Claude would use only when they"re relevant to the current task.
The feature would allow Claude to perform better on tasks with specific workflows, such as creating Excel spreadsheets with formulas, preparing presentations, or adhering to company brand guidelines. Skills are compatible across multiple Claude environments, including the Claude apps, Claude Code, and the developer API.
Anthropic says that Claude Skills are composable, meaning multiple skills can be stacked to handle complex workflows, and portable, so they can be reused across different Claude platforms without modification. Skills can also include executable code, which is great for tasks traditionally handled by programming instead of natural language.
To create Skills, you first have to enable them in Claude Settings. There"s already an included Skill where Claude will ask you about your workflow, generate the folder structure, and format the SKILL.md file, and bundle the resources you need to get your work done. For enterprise users, Skills must be enabled organization-wide.
Skills can also be enabled at the team or enterprise level, allowing the AI to transform content from platforms like Box and Notion into standardized documents. Developers can use the API endpoints and a console to create, manage, and version Skills.
Users can also add Skills to Claude Code via plugins from the anthropics/skills marketplace. Claude will load them automatically when relevant. Users can also share Skills through version control with their teams. The Claude Agent SDK provides the same Agent Skills support for building custom agents.
Anthropic mentions that while Skills offer the potential to improve automation and workflow efficiency, users must be mindful of which Skills they"re using, as they can execute code. Anthropic has also shared a bunch of example Skills on GitHub for users to try them out.