What is a Claude skill?
A Claude skill is a reusable set of instructions, plus any examples or templates it needs, that teaches Claude how to do one specific job your way. Once it's saved, Claude picks it up automatically when a task matches, or you can call it by name.
Without a skill: you explain the task every time, the result changes every time, and new staff start from zero.
With a skill: you say one line, Claude follows your steps and your standards, and your whole team can use the same one.
Anthropic describes skills as packaged expertise: a folder holding instructions and, where needed, reference examples, assets such as templates and logos, and small scripts for steps that must come out identical every time. For most business skills, the instructions and one good example are all you need. (Source: Anthropic, Claude 101 and Introduction to Claude Cowork, Claude Academy.)
What's the difference between a Claude skill and a Claude project?
Projects store knowledge; skills do tasks. A project holds what Claude should know about a piece of work (your files, your context, the history), while a skill holds how a job gets done, step by step.
They work best together. A client project holds everything about that client. A follow-up skill holds how you write follow-ups. Ask for a follow-up inside the project and Claude uses both: the what from the project, the how from the skill. (The distinction is Anthropic's, from its Claude 101 course.)
| Project | Skill |
|---|
| Holds | What Claude knows | How a job is done |
| Best for | A client, a recurring deliverable, a launch | A task you repeat, the same way each time |
| Example | "Everything about the Hartley account" | "How we write a post-meeting follow-up" |
| Used | In every chat inside that project | Whenever the task comes up, anywhere |
The Hartley account is a made-up example.
How do I build a Claude skill for my business?
Do the task once with Claude, then ask it to "package what we just did into a skill", add one example of your best work, and test it in a fresh chat. It takes about 15 minutes once the first task is done.
Before you start: in Claude's settings, under Capabilities, switch on code execution and file creation. Skills won't save without it. On a Team plan your Owner controls this setting, so ask them if you can't see it. (Source: Anthropic, Use skills in Claude.)
- Do the task once, properly. Pick a job you do every week. Brief Claude like a new starter: what you want back, which files to use, and what only you know (tone, length, what you never do). Finish with: "Ask me any questions you need first. Then show me your plan before you start." Push back on the draft until it's right.
- Package it. In the same chat, say: "Package what we just did into a skill. Call it client-follow-up." Use a plain, specific name.
- Add your best work. Say: "Add this as the example to copy:" and paste or attach the best version of this job you've ever done. This one step does more for quality than anything else.
- Read the five parts and fix them. Check the skill against the five parts below. Correct anything by saying it, for example: "In the steps, always ask me before mentioning prices." Then click Save skill.
- Test it in a fresh chat. Open a new chat and say: "Use my client-follow-up skill on [a new example]." If it follows your rules without being reminded, it works. Like a new hire's second day: no reminders, just the how-to.
If Save skill doesn't appear: download the skill file Claude made, then go to Customize → Skills, click +, choose Create skill and then Upload a skill.
If a fresh chat ignores the skill: name it outright: "Use the client-follow-up skill."
Prefer to start from scratch? Open a new chat and say "I want to build a skill for [the job you're tired of explaining]. Interview me about what you need to know." Claude will ask what the job is, when it should run and what good looks like. Doing the task first is still quicker for most people, because the hard thinking is already done.
What are the five parts of a good Claude skill?
A good skill says when to use it, the steps to follow, what good looks like, one real example to copy, and what to do with the odd cases. If any of the five is missing, the output drifts.
- When to use it. The trigger, in plain words: "After any client meeting where we agreed next steps." This is how Claude knows to pick the skill up.
- The steps. The order you actually do the job in, including the checks: "Read the meeting notes. List what was agreed. Draft the email. Flag anything I promised without a date."
- What good looks like. Your standards: length, tone, structure, words you never use. "Under 150 words. First names. Lead with what we agreed. No prices."
- One example. The best real version you have. Easier to show the bar than describe it. Swap client names for "Client A" first.
- Odd cases. What to do when the input is messy: "If there's no email address, add them to a call list instead." "If a date is unclear, don't promise one. Flag it."
Read parts 3 and 4 properly before you save. Part 4 is where your best work goes, and it's what makes the skill sound like you.
Which Claude skills should a UK small business build first?
Start with the jobs where Claude drafts and you decide: client follow-ups, proposals, weekly reports and social posts. Each one comes round often, has a clear finished thing at the end, and is something you'd recognise as good on sight.
These are illustrations of how each skill might be set up, not client results.
Client follow-ups after a meeting
- When to use it: after any meeting, call or networking event where next steps were agreed.
- The steps: read the notes and attendee list; draft one email per person; list actions with an owner and a date; flag any promise with no date.
- What good looks like: under 150 words, first names, one useful idea each, no prices, a clear next step.
- Example to add: the best follow-up you've ever sent, with the name swapped.
- Odd cases: no email address goes on a call list; "just ring me" gets three bullet points for the call, not an email.
Proposals from your notes and past work
- When to use it: when a prospect asks for a proposal after a discovery call.
- The steps: read the call notes and your proposal template; match the scope to services you actually offer; draft the proposal in your house structure; list every assumption.
- What good looks like: their problem in their words first, then your approach, timeline and next step. UK spelling.
- Example to add: your best winning proposal, with the client details removed.
- Odd cases: never invent a price or a delivery date. Leave a marked gap and ask.
Weekly reports
- When to use it: every Friday, or whenever the weekly numbers land.
- The steps: read this week's tracker or spreadsheet; compare with last week; write what moved, why it matters and what needs a decision; say which file each number came from.
- What good looks like: one page, the decision up top, every figure traceable to a source.
- Example to add: last month's report that your manager or board liked most.
- Odd cases: if two sources disagree, show both and say which you used. Never smooth over a gap.
Social posts in your voice
- When to use it: when you've got a talk, a client win (with permission) or an idea to turn into posts.
- The steps: read the source material; pick the single strongest point; draft a LinkedIn post and two shorter versions; check against your brand and tone rules.
- What good looks like: sounds like you on a good day; leads with the point, not the agenda; British English.
- Example to add: three of your best-performing posts.
- Odd cases: no client names, figures or quotes without written permission. Flag anything that needs it.
How do I use Claude skills safely?
Make every skill produce drafts, not sends, and check what it produces the way you'd check a new hire's first draft. Keep Claude in its most supervised mode, give it one folder rather than your whole drive, and keep passwords and personal data out.
- Drafts, not sends. Write it into the skill: "Draft only. Never send, post or submit." You read it, you sign it off, you send it.
- Check it like a new hire's first draft. Ask: "Where did each detail come from? Point me to the file." "What did you assume?" "What should I double-check before I send this?" A name, date or figure you can't trace to your files is a flag, not a feature.
- Manually approve. Set Claude to ask before every action that matters (some versions of the app call this "Ask before acting"). Claude always asks before deleting a file.
- One work folder. Give it the folder for the job, the way you'd give a new starter one desk and not the keys to the building. Test new skills on copies of files first.
- Keep secrets out. No passwords, card numbers, passports or health records, and never put login details inside a skill. Swap client names for "Client A" in your examples. Files you point Claude at are processed on Anthropic's servers.
- Only install skills you trust. Skills can contain code. Use your own, your team's, or ones from sources you trust, and read anything from outside before you switch it on. (Source: Anthropic, Claude 101.)
- Keep the judgement. Pricing, complaints, negotiations and anything about people's jobs stay with you. Claude can prepare. You decide.
Example routine: post-meeting follow-ups
This is a worked example of how one routine runs, not a client case study. The time saved is the part you measure for yourself.
Before: after a networking event or a run of client calls, you open each set of notes, remember who said what, and write each email from a blank page.
With a skill:
- Drop the notes and attendee list into the job's folder.
- Say: "Use my client-follow-up skill on this week's meetings."
- Claude asks anything it needs, shows its plan, then drafts one email per person into a single document, plus a call list for anyone without an email address.
- You check each draft (where did that detail come from?), fix what needs fixing, and send them yourself.
- Once you trust it, put it on a weekly schedule: drafts only, and you read every run.
Time it. Write down the minutes the job takes you now. Run it with the skill and time it again. The first run includes learning; the second run is where you get the time back. Multiply by how often you do it. That's your real number.
When should a task become a skill?
When you notice you're explaining the same job to Claude for the second or third time. If you'd write it down for a new starter, write it down for Claude.
A good first skill has at least three of these: several inputs, a finished thing at the end, a job you'll do again, a result you'd know was good on sight, and a boring middle you'd happily hand off. (The "five ingredients" idea comes from Anthropic's webinar "How Anthropic's marketing team uses Claude Cowork".) Skip jobs that take under five minutes, or that turn on judgement about money or people.
Can my team share Claude skills?
Yes. On Claude's Team plan you can share a skill with named colleagues, and your Owner can publish skills for the whole organisation; several skills and connectors can be bundled into a plugin that everyone installs. Give every shared skill a named owner who keeps it up to date. (Source: Anthropic, Introduction to Claude Cowork.)
A shared skill is how one person's good week becomes everybody's default. It's also where things go wrong without rules: duplicate skills, stale ones nobody owns, and someone's personal shortcut becoming the company standard by accident. That's why we set governance first and train inside it.
Do I need a paid Claude plan to use skills?
Anthropic says skills work on every Claude plan, as long as code execution and file creation is switched on. To have Claude work in a folder on your computer, put skills on a schedule or install plugins, you'll need a paid plan and the Claude desktop app.
The hand-off way of working (Claude reads your folder, does the job and saves the result back) is what Anthropic used to call Claude Cowork; it's now part of Claude itself. Plans and prices are set by Anthropic, at claude.com/pricing. (Source: Anthropic, Claude 101 and Introduction to Claude Cowork.)
Want to learn the basics first? Anthropic's Claude Academy runs short self-paced courses, including Claude 101 and Introduction to Claude Cowork, at academy.claude.com.
