Skills

You should not need to explain the same method to an agent every time you work. You should also not need one enormous instruction file that covers every possible task. Skills let you save a useful way of working and make it available when the agent needs it.

Use this module when you have found yourself repeating instructions, rebuilding the same workflow, or correcting the same mistake across conversations. A one-time prompt disappears with the conversation. A giant instruction file loads too much information whether the current task needs it or not.

The resources below show how skills package instructions, references, and code so an agent can load them when they become relevant. They also show when a small reusable skill is more useful than another prompt, and what well-made skills look like in practice.

Starting Points

  1. Start with Anthropic’s Introducing Agent Skills. It explains why skills exist and shows them used for documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and organization-specific work.

  2. See how skills work in Anthropic’s Equipping Agents for the Real World with Agent Skills, then inspect the open Agent Skills specification. The diagrams show how an agent discovers and loads relevant material. The specification shows the portable folder and SKILL.md format behind it.

  3. Browse Anthropic’s official skills repository and Zo Computer’s Agent Skills Registry. Anthropic provides complete examples for documents, spreadsheets, presentations, design, and communication. Zo shows skills for research, organization, personal projects, recurring briefings, and everyday tasks.

Deep Dive

A few examples to get your imagination going: