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Guide · Skills

How to Install Claude Skills

Every way to install Claude skills: manual copy, the agentscamp CLI, GitHub repos, plugins, team distribution, and uploading to claude.ai.

3 min readAgentsCamp
Updated Jul 18, 2026
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Installing a Claude skill is copying a folder: .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md for the project, ~/.claude/skills/ to follow you everywhere. No restart — skills are picked up live. Faster paths: npx agentscamp add skills/<name> installs from our library in one command, plugins bundle skill sets for teams, and claude.ai takes skills as ZIP uploads with code execution enabled.

Steps at a glance

  1. Pick the scope. Project skills live in .claude/skills/ (checked in, shared with everyone who clones the repo); personal skills live in ~/.claude/skills/ (follow you across all projects). Default to project scope for team procedures, personal for your own habits.
  2. Create the folder and drop in SKILL.md. mkdir -p .claude/skills/<name>, then save the SKILL.md inside it. The directory name becomes the /name invocation and must match the frontmatter name field — lowercase, numbers, hyphens.
  3. Or install from the AgentsCamp library in one command. npx agentscamp add skills/<slug> installs into the current project's .claude/; add -g for ~/.claude/. Bare npx agentscamp opens an interactive picker; npx agentscamp add --all installs the full library to ~/.claude/.
  4. Verify it loaded. Type / in Claude Code — the skill appears in the menu under its name. Skill directories are watched live, so no restart is needed; if the top-level skills folder itself didn't exist when the session started, restart once.
  5. Test the trigger. Ask for the job in natural words ('write a commit message for this') and confirm the skill activates on its own. If it only works via /name, the description needs trigger phrasing — that's a description problem, not an install problem.
  6. Share it with the team. Commit .claude/skills/ to the repo and every clone gets the skills. For distribution across repos, package skills into a plugin; enterprise admins can push skills org-wide through managed settings.

A Claude skill installs by existing in the right folder — there's no package manager step, no registry, no build. This guide covers every route: manual copy, the one-command CLI, GitHub repos, plugins, teams, and the non-Claude-Code surfaces. If you're not sure what a skill is yet, read What Are Claude Skills? first.

The two folders that matter

ScopePathUse for
Project.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.mdTeam procedures — checked into the repo, everyone who clones gets them
Personal~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.mdYour own habits — follow you into every project

The directory name is the skill's identity: it defines the /name invocation and must match the name in the frontmatter (lowercase, numbers, hyphens). Everything else in the folder — scripts, templates — rides along and loads only when the skill's instructions reference it.

Route 1: manual copy

mkdir -p .claude/skills/conventional-commits
# paste the SKILL.md into that folder

Every skill page in the AgentsCamp library shows the complete SKILL.md with a copy button and the exact install path. Paste, save, done — skill directories are watched live, so the skill is available in your current session without a restart.

Route 2: the agentscamp CLI

One command from any terminal:

# into this project's .claude/
npx agentscamp add skills/conventional-commits
 
# into ~/.claude/ (all projects)
npx agentscamp add skills/conventional-commits -g
 
# browse and pick interactively
npx agentscamp
 
# the whole library in one shot (installs to ~/.claude/)
npx agentscamp add --all

The CLI has zero runtime dependencies and installs agents and commands the same way (agents/<slug>, commands/<slug>). It's the fastest path from "that looks useful" to installed.

Route 3: GitHub repos

Skills distributed as git repos install by clone-and-copy:

git clone https://github.com/anthropics/skills /tmp/skills
cp -r /tmp/skills/<skill-name> ~/.claude/skills/

The anthropics/skills repository is Anthropic's official collection — including the document skills (docx, xlsx, pptx, pdf) that also power claude.ai. Community skills on GitHub follow the same shape: find the folder with the SKILL.md, copy it in.

WARNING

Read before you install. A skill's body is instructions Claude follows, and bundled scripts are code it may run — all under your session's permissions. For unfamiliar sources, skim the SKILL.md and check what allowed-tools pre-approves. On a new repo, claude-settings-auditor reviews checked-in skills and settings before you trust them.

Route 4: plugins and teams

For a set of skills — your team's whole workflow — three tiers:

  1. Check .claude/skills/ into the repo. Zero infrastructure; every clone is provisioned. This is the right default for team procedures.
  2. Package a plugin. A plugin bundles skills, agents, commands, and hooks into one versioned, installable unit with its own namespace (/plugin:skill-name). Packaging and Sharing Skills walks through it; the plugin-scaffolder skill automates the scaffolding.
  3. Enterprise managed settings. Org admins can distribute skills to every user centrally — the skills appear automatically, highest in precedence.

Beyond Claude Code

  • claude.ai — zip the skill folder, upload under Settings → Customize → Skills, and make sure code execution is on under Settings → Capabilities. Available on all plans; Team/Enterprise admins can enable skills workspace-wide.
  • Claude API — upload to the /v1/skills endpoint and attach by skill_id to Messages requests via the code-execution container. Code and beta headers in Claude Skills on claude.ai and the API.
  • Other tools — since Agent Skills became an open standard (agentskills.io), the same SKILL.md installs into GitHub Copilot, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI, and more — each tool documents its own skills directory.

Surfaces don't sync: each one needs its own copy of the skill.

Verify and tune

After installing, two checks. First, type / — the skill should be in the menu. Second, and more important: ask for the job in plain words and confirm the skill fires on its own. If it doesn't, the install is fine but the description isn't — see Testing and Debugging Skills for the fix loop.

Frequently asked questions

Where do Claude skills go?
Project: .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md inside the repo. Personal: ~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md. The folder name is the skill's /name, and it must match the name field in the frontmatter.
Do I need to restart Claude Code after installing a skill?
Usually not — skill directories are watched, so new and edited skills take effect in the current session. The one exception: if the skills directory itself didn't exist when the session started, restart once so it gets watched.
How do I install skills from GitHub?
Clone the repo and copy the skill folders you want into ~/.claude/skills/ or .claude/skills/. Anthropic's official anthropics/skills repository works exactly this way, and skills distributed as Claude Code plugins install through the plugin system with their own namespace.
How do I uninstall a skill?
Delete its folder. There's no registry or lockfile — the filesystem is the source of truth, and removal is picked up live like installation.
Can I install skills on claude.ai?
Yes — zip the skill folder and upload it under Settings → Customize → Skills, with code execution enabled under Settings → Capabilities. Note that surfaces don't sync: a skill on claude.ai doesn't appear in Claude Code or the API.
Is it safe to install skills from the internet?
The same way installing packages is: read before you run. A skill's instructions and bundled scripts execute with your session's permissions, so review the SKILL.md, check what its allowed-tools pre-approves, and prefer sources you trust.

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