TL;DR: This article explains Claude Skills, a new Anthropic feature that lets users create modular, task-specific instruction sets to automate workflows with precision and brand consistency.
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đź“ş Title: Claude Skills Explained: Beginner to Advanced Tutorial
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👤 Channel: Ali H. Salem
🎯 Topic: Claude Skills Explained
đź’ˇ This comprehensive article is based on the tutorial above. Watch the video for visual demonstrations and detailed explanations.
Anthropic just dropped Claude Skills—a feature that sounds deceptively simple on paper but represents one of the most powerful upgrades to the Claude AI platform yet. With Skills, you can now teach Claude to execute your specific workflows with precision, consistency, and your unique brand voice. Whether you’re building reports, crafting presentations, or automating repetitive tasks, Skills let you modularize instructions so they’re only loaded when needed—boosting efficiency and reducing token waste.
In this comprehensive guide, based entirely on Ali Salam’s in-depth walkthrough, we’ll unpack everything you need to know about Claude Skills: what they are (and aren’t), how to use pre-built Anthropic skills, how to create your own custom-branded skills, how to leverage community resources, and critical best practices for security and performance.
What Are Claude Skills?
Claude Skills are modular, task-specific instruction sets that Claude triggers only when required—like mini-programs that teach the AI how to perform a task your way. Think of them as reusable templates for actions such as:
- Building presentations in your company’s exact format
- Summarizing reports in your preferred tone
- Creating tasks that follow your team’s workflow conventions
Unlike always-on instructions, Skills activate contextually, making your interactions with Claude more efficient and targeted.
Claude Skills vs. Custom Instructions, Projects, and MCPs
It’s easy to confuse Skills with other Claude features. Here’s how they differ:
Custom Instructions
Found in your account settings, Custom Instructions are broad and global—they apply to all conversations with Claude. They dictate how Claude should communicate with you (e.g., “Be concise,” “Use British English”). In contrast, Skills are task-specific and only activate when invoked.
Projects
Projects (similar to those in ChatGPT or Perplexity) allow you to drop in files and instructions that apply to every chat within that project environment. While useful for context isolation, Projects are project-scoped, not task-scoped. However, you can combine Skills with Projects—using project-level context alongside task-specific Skills for powerful results.
MCPs (Model Context Protocols)
MCPs appear under Connectors and grant Claude access to external tools and data sources (e.g., Google Drive, Notion, APIs). But MCPs don’t perform actions by themselves—they only provide access. Skills can trigger MCPs to pull data or interact with tools as part of a workflow.
How to Enable and Access Claude Skills
To start using Skills:
- Go to Settings → Capabilities
- Toggle on “Skills” (you may also enable other capabilities for enhanced functionality)
- Once enabled, a table of available Skills appears
Anthropic provides several pre-built Skills, each with a clear description. For example, the “Brand Guidelines” skill applies Anthropic’s official colors and typography to generated artifacts.
Using Pre-Built Anthropic Skills: A Practical Demo
To test a pre-built Skill:
- Toggle on the desired Skill (e.g., “Brand Guidelines”)
- Start a new chat
- Invoke the Skill by name in your prompt: “Please summarize the NVIDIA annual report for 2025. Use the Brand Guidelines skill. [Link to report]”
Alternatively, click the three dots next to a Skill and select “Try in chat” for a shortcut.
In Ali’s demo, Claude automatically recognized the request as a reporting task and generated a clean, professional document with:
- Structured sections
- Formatted bullet points
- Anthropic’s signature color scheme and typography
Limitations of LLMs in Visual Formats (e.g., PowerPoint)
When asked to create a PowerPoint deck using the same Skill, Claude produced a text-heavy slide deck with no charts, graphs, or visual elements. This highlights a key limitation:
LLMs excel at text-based outputs (like reports) but struggle with visual or layout-intensive formats like PowerPoint. While you can prompt for visuals, the results won’t match consulting-grade decks.
For advanced visual automation, consider specialized AI platforms. But for documents? Claude Skills deliver exceptional quality.
Creating Your Own Custom Skill: Step-by-Step
You don’t need to stick with Anthropic’s branding. You can build a custom Skill that mirrors your personal or company brand. Here’s how Ali did it:
Step 1: Prepare a Brand Reference File
Step 2: Craft a Detailed Prompt
The prompt instructed Claude to:
- Create a Skill named “Ali’s Brand Skill”
- Analyze the uploaded reference PPT
- Replicate exact styling, visual hierarchy, and design elements
- Apply communication principles: top-down structure, pyramid principle, conciseness, action-oriented output
- Always lead with the “So What?”—emphasizing implications over raw data
- Prefer showing over telling (e.g., use diagrams instead of paragraphs)
- End sections with clear next steps
Step 3: Upload the Reference File and Generate
Attach the brand reference file (e.g., PPT) and run the prompt. Claude outputs three items:
- Skill markdown file (the core instruction set)
- Brand analysis summary (overview of detected colors, fonts, etc.)
- Installation guide (troubleshooting tips)
Understanding the Skill File Structure
A Skill is fundamentally a Markdown (.md) file containing explicit instructions. In Ali’s custom Skill, Claude:
- Decomposed each slide from the reference into reusable structural blocks
- Extracted color palette (primary: green/teal; accents: orange, coral, peach)
- Embedded communication rules (e.g., “lead with implications”)
Important caveat: If your reference file lacks diverse slide types, Claude’s output may be limited to those templates—making your reference file both a blessing and a potential constraint.
Uploading and Activating Your Custom Skill
To install your custom Skill:
- Download the generated ZIP file
- Go to Settings → Capabilities → Upload Skill
- Upload the ZIP (must contain exactly one Skill at root level)
Once uploaded, your Skill appears in the list under “Added by you,” separate from Anthropic’s pre-built options.
Testing Your Custom Skill: Real-World Results
Ali tested his custom Skill by summarizing the NVIDIA annual report again. The results:
- Text tone and structure matched his specifications: action-oriented, implication-focused, concise
- Color scheme used green/teal headers with orange accents—accurately pulled from his reference deck
- PowerPoint output followed brand colors but remained text-heavy and failed to detect layout issues (e.g., title text overflowing slide boundaries)
This confirms: Claude Skills work brilliantly for documents, but visual formats remain a challenge.
Leveraging Community Skills via GitHub
Instead of building everything from scratch, tap into the growing ecosystem of community-created Skills. The best source right now is GitHub.
How to Find and Download Community Skills
- Search GitHub for Claude Skills repositories
- Look for a
README.mdexplaining the Skill’s purpose - Locate the Skill’s Markdown file (e.g.,
image-enhancer.md)
Two Download Methods:
| Method | Steps | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Download Entire Repo | Click “Code” → “Download ZIP” | Getting multiple Skills at once |
| Download Single Skill | Open the .md file → Click “Download” | Testing one specific Skill |
Formatting Community Skills for Upload
Claude requires Skills to be uploaded as a ZIP file containing exactly one Skill at the root level. If you download a single .md file:
- Create a new ZIP folder
- Name it descriptively (e.g., “image-enhancer”)
- Drag the .md file into the ZIP
- Upload the ZIP via Settings → Capabilities
Attempting to upload a raw .md file will fail.
Testing a Community Skill: Image Enhancer Demo
Ali tested an “Image Enhancer” Skill on a low-quality thumbnail:
- Prompt: “Use the image enhancer skill to improve the quality of the attached picture to 4K.”
- Result: The output was noticeably sharper—surprisingly effective for an LLM-based enhancement.
While not magic, community Skills can deliver real value—even in edge cases.
Critical Security Warning: Skill Injection Risks
Just like “Comet jacking” in Perplexity (where malicious prompts trigger unwanted actions), public Skills can pose security risks. While less severe than browser-controlling tools, Skills can still:
- Contain hidden prompts that trigger unwanted MCP actions
- Leak sensitive data if poorly designed
- Execute unintended workflows
Best practice: Only use Skills from trusted sources, review the Markdown code before uploading, and avoid Skills that request unnecessary permissions or external access.
Best Practices for Optimal Skill Performance
Follow these pro tips to maximize efficiency and reliability:
1. Toggle Off Unused Skills
Every active Skill consumes tokens—even if not used. Disabling unused Skills:
- Reduces token usage
- Speeds up prompt execution
2. Avoid Duplicate Intent
Don’t enable both Anthropic’s “Brand Guidelines” and your custom brand Skill simultaneously. Conflicting instructions can cause:
- Color/style clashes (e.g., orange from Anthropic bleeding into your green-branded report)
- Unpredictable formatting
3. Over-Contextualize for Better Results
LLMs benefit from excessive detail. Include:
- Exact slide structures
- Communication principles (e.g., “pyramid principle”)
- Formatting rules (“lead with So What?”)
4. Iterate and Debug
If Skill creation fails, Claude provides error messages. Use them to refine your prompt—let Claude debug itself by asking it to fix formatting issues in the Skill file.
When to Use Claude Skills vs. Other Tools
Not every task suits Claude Skills. Use this decision guide:
| Task Type | Use Claude Skills? | Alternative Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Reports, summaries, analyses | YES – Excellent fit | N/A |
| PowerPoint/Keynote decks | Limited – Text-only output | Beautiful.ai, Tome, Gamma, Microsoft Designer |
| Image enhancement | Experimental – Basic results | Topaz Labs, Adobe Photoshop AI, Upscale.media |
| Workflow automation with external tools | YES – Combine with MCPs | Zapier, Make.com (for non-AI workflows) |
Real-World Skill Ideas Beyond Branding
Don’t limit yourself to visual branding. Skills can automate any repeatable process:
- Product Validation Skill: Runs new ideas through your standard validation checklist
- Social Media Post Generator: Analyzes your past posts, mimics your tone, and suggests trending topics
- Investment Memo Builder: Structures deal analyses using your firm’s template
- Customer Support Triage: Classifies and drafts responses based on your protocols
Future of Claude Skills: Community Growth & Ecosystem
As more users create and share Skills on GitHub, expect:
- A rich library of niche, battle-tested Skills
- Standardized templates for common business functions
- Potential official marketplace from Anthropic
Start contributing early—your custom Skill could become the go-to solution for others in your field.
Troubleshooting Common Skill Issues
Encountering problems? Try these fixes:
Upload Fails
→ Ensure your ZIP contains only one Skill file at the root level (no subfolders).
Output Doesn’t Match Brand
→ Review the Brand Analysis Summary to see what colors/styles Claude detected.
→ Refine your reference file or prompt for stricter adherence.
Slow Execution
→ Disable unused Skills to reduce token load.
→ Enable notifications to avoid waiting—Claude will alert you when done.
Key Takeaways and Action Steps
Ready to master Claude Skills? Here’s your action plan:
- Enable Skills in Settings → Capabilities
- Test Anthropic’s pre-built Skills (e.g., Brand Guidelines)
- Create one custom Skill using your brand reference
- Explore GitHub for community Skills in your domain
- Disable unused Skills to optimize performance
- Always review Skill code for security before uploading
Claude Skills transform the AI from a general assistant into a precision workflow engine—tailored to your brand, your processes, and your standards. While not a magic bullet for visual design, they excel at text-based automation and structured output. By combining pre-built, custom, and community Skills, you can dramatically elevate your productivity with Claude.
As Ali Salam notes: “The world is your oyster.” Go build something amazing.
