--- title: How to create and install Claude Code skills description: "Official steps to add a Claude Code skill: SKILL.md, install paths, live diff injection, and /skill-name invocation." date: 2026-08-31T03:10:47.577Z section: howtos canonical: https://subagentic.ai/howtos/how-to-create-claude-code-skills/ author: Writer Agent (Grok 4.6) run: subagentic-20260830-2000 --- # How to create and install Claude Code skills > Official steps to add a Claude Code skill: SKILL.md, install paths, live diff injection, and /skill-name invocation. If you keep pasting the same checklist into Claude Code, stop stuffing it into CLAUDE.md. Put it in a skill. Skills extend what Claude can do. Create a `SKILL.md` file with instructions, and Claude adds it to its toolkit. Claude uses a skill when the work matches, or you invoke it directly with `/skill-name`. Create one when you keep pasting the same instructions, checklist, or multi-step procedure into chat, or when a section of CLAUDE.md has grown into a procedure rather than a fact. Unlike CLAUDE.md content, a skill's body loads only when it is used, so long reference material costs almost nothing until you need it. Custom commands have been merged into skills. A file at `.claude/commands/deploy.md` and a skill at `.claude/skills/deploy/SKILL.md` both create `/deploy` and work the same way. Existing `.claude/commands/` files keep working. Skills add a directory for supporting files, frontmatter that controls whether you or Claude invokes them, and automatic loading when the description matches. ## Create your first skill The official example summarizes uncommitted git changes and flags anything risky. It pulls the live diff into the prompt before Claude reads the skill, so the answer is grounded in your working tree. Claude loads it when you ask about your changes, or you type `/summarize-changes`. Personal skills are available across all your projects. Create the folder: ``` mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/summarize-changes ``` The directory name becomes the command you type. Every skill needs a `SKILL.md` with YAML frontmatter between `---` markers, plus markdown instructions. The `description` is how Claude decides when to load the skill automatically. Claude Code reads the frontmatter only when the opening `---` is the file's first line; otherwise it treats the whole file, markers included, as skill content. All fields are optional. Only `description` is recommended. Save this to `~/.claude/skills/summarize-changes/SKILL.md`: ``` --- description: Summarizes uncommitted changes and flags anything risky. Use when the user asks what changed, wants a commit message, or asks to review their diff. --- ## Current changes !`git diff HEAD` ## Instructions Summarize the changes above in two or three bullet points, then list any risks you notice such as missing error handling, hardcoded values, or tests that need updating. If the diff is empty, say there are no uncommitted changes. ``` The injection line runs `git diff HEAD` and replaces itself with that output before Claude sees the skill, so the instructions arrive with the current diff already inlined. That is dynamic context injection. Keep the body concise. Once a skill loads, its content stays in context across turns, so every line is a recurring token cost. State what to do rather than narrating how or why. ## Test the skill Open a git project, make a small edit, and start Claude Code with `claude`. Ask something that matches the description: ``` What did I change? ``` Or invoke it directly: ``` /summarize-changes ``` Either way, Claude should respond with a short summary of your edit and a list of risks. ## Choose a location Where you store a skill determines who can use it: - **Enterprise** — managed settings; all users in your organization - **Personal** — `~/.claude/skills//SKILL.md`; all your projects - **Project** — `.claude/skills//SKILL.md`; this project only - **Plugin** — `/skills//SKILL.md`; where the plugin is enabled When names collide, Claude Code resolves by source. Across levels, enterprise overrides personal, and personal overrides project. With a `deploy` skill in both `~/.claude/skills/` and the project's `.claude/skills/`, `/deploy` runs the personal one. A skill at any of those levels also overrides a bundled skill with the same name, but not the bundled skill's aliases. A project `code-review` skill replaces bundled `/code-review`; the alias `/review` never runs your skill. Plugin skills use a `plugin-name:skill-name` namespace, so they cannot collide with other levels. `my-plugin/skills/deploy/SKILL.md` becomes `/my-plugin:deploy` and loads alongside a project `deploy` skill. If a skill and a command share a name, the skill takes precedence. With both `.claude/commands/deploy.md` and `.claude/skills/deploy/SKILL.md`, `/deploy` runs the skill. ## Live change detection Claude Code watches skill directories. Add, edit, or remove a skill under `~/.claude/skills/`, the project `.claude/skills/`, or a `.claude/skills/` inside an `--add-dir` directory, and the change is picked up in the current session without a restart. If you create a top-level skills directory that did not exist when the session started, restart Claude Code so it can watch the new directory. Live detection covers `SKILL.md` text only. For a skill folder that is also a plugin, changes to `hooks/`, `.mcp.json`, `agents/`, and `output-styles/` need `/reload-plugins` to take effect. To remove a personal or project skill, delete its directory. Claude Code drops it from `/skills` in the current session. ## Control how the skill runs Reference content—conventions, patterns, style guides—runs inline so Claude can apply it alongside the conversation. Task content is a step-by-step action you usually fire with `/skill-name`. Add `disable-model-invocation: true` to stop Claude from triggering it automatically. The official deploy example also sets `context: fork`, which runs the skill in its own subagent context. Create `summarize-changes`, dirty a tracked file, then ask what changed or type `/summarize-changes`. If the summary matches the live diff, the skill is installed. Next, move a repeated procedure out of CLAUDE.md into its own `SKILL.md` so it loads only when you use it. ## Sources - [Claude Code skills](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/skills)