Transcript of What are skills?
Claude
0:03Every time you explain your team's0:05coding standards to Claude, you're0:07repeating yourself.0:09Every PR review, you redescribe how you0:12want feedback [music] structured. Every0:13commit message, you remind Claude of0:16your preferred format.0:18And skills fix this.0:20A skill is a markdown file that teaches0:22Claude how [music] to do something once,0:24and Claude applies that knowledge0:26automatically whenever it's relevant.0:32Agent skills are folders of0:34instructions, scripts, and resources0:36that agents can discover and use to do0:38things more accurately and efficiently.0:41With Claude Code, we have the skill.md0:43file.0:45The description is how Claude decides0:47whether to use the skill. When you ask0:49Claude to review this PR, it matches0:52your request against available skill0:53descriptions and finds this one.0:57Claude reads your request, compares it0:58to all available skill descriptions, and1:00activates the ones that match.1:05You can store skills in a few places1:07depending on who needs them.1:10Personal skills go in the home directory1:13.claude/skills1:15and follow you across all your project.1:17These are your preferences, your commit1:19message style, your documentation1:21format, how you like code explained.1:24Project skills go in the .claude/skills1:27inside of the root directory of your1:29repository. Anyone who clones the1:31repository gets these skills1:32automatically. This is where team1:34standards live, like your company's1:36brand guidelines, preferred fonts, and1:38colors that you use for web design.1:43Claude Code has several ways to1:44customize behavior.1:46Skills are unique because they're1:48automatic and task-specific.1:51Claude.md files load into every1:52conversation. If you want Claude to1:55always use TypeScript strict mode, that1:57goes in your claw.md file. Skills, on1:59the other hand, load on demand when they2:01match your request. It only loads in the2:04name and description, so it doesn't fill2:06up your entire context window. Your PR2:09review checklist doesn't need to be in2:11the context when you're debugging.2:13It loads when you actually ask for a2:16review.2:17Slash commands require you to type them.2:19Skills don't.2:21Claude applies them when it recognizes2:23the situation.2:27Skills work best for specialized2:29knowledge that applies to specific2:31tasks.2:32Code review standards your team follows,2:34commit message formats that you prefer,2:37brand guidelines of your organization.2:42If you find yourself explaining the same2:44thing [music] to Claude repeatedly,2:46well,2:47that's a skill waiting to be written.
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