Claude Code skills. Where they live and how to install them.

What skills are in Claude Code

A skill is a folder that contains a SKILL.md file: YAML frontmatter with a name and a description, followed by instructions. The folder can also hold scripts, reference documents and templates. Claude Code reads only the name and description at startup, then loads the full instructions when a task matches the description or when you type the skill's name as a slash command, for example /frontend-design.

The format is the open Agent Skills standard, so the same folder also works in other agents. Claude Code adds optional frontmatter fields on top of the standard, such as disable-model-invocation, allowed-tools and paths. The name field is optional here and defaults to the folder name.

Where Claude Code looks for skills

If two skills share a name, enterprise beats personal and personal beats project.

Install a skill

The examples use the frontend-design skill from the anthropics/skills repository, which lives at skills/frontend-design.

Option 1: plugin marketplace

If a repository publishes a .claude-plugin/marketplace.json, you can register it and install its plugins. Anthropic's repository does this under the marketplace name anthropic-agent-skills:

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills
/plugin install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills

Inside a session, /plugin install opens the plugin's details so you can review what it adds and pick a scope: user, project or local. The same thing works from your shell with claude plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills and claude plugin install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills. A plugin installs the skills it bundles as a set; to take just one skill, use option 2, 3 or 4.

Option 2: the skills CLI

The skills command-line tool installs a single skill into the right folder:

npx skills add anthropics/skills --skill frontend-design -a claude-code

This is a project install. Add -g to install into ~/.claude/skills/ instead.

Option 3: GitHub CLI

gh skill is in public preview and needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later:

gh skill install anthropics/skills frontend-design --agent claude-code
gh skill install anthropics/skills frontend-design --agent claude-code --scope user

Option 4: copy the folder yourself

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/anthropics/skills.git skills-src
mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -r skills-src/skills/frontend-design .claude/skills/frontend-design
rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. On Windows PowerShell, use Copy-Item -Recurse for the copy step.

Check that it loaded

Run /skills inside Claude Code. The menu lists every skill it found and where it came from. Then type /frontend-design or describe a matching task and watch for Claude to load it. For a plugin, claude plugin list in your shell shows the plugin and its status.

Claude Code watches the skill folders, so edits to an existing SKILL.md apply in the current session. If you create a top-level skills folder that did not exist when the session started, run /reload-skills.

Update and remove

• Plugins: open /plugin, go to the Installed tab and choose Update now or Uninstall. Or run /plugin uninstall <plugin>@<marketplace>.
• skills CLI: npx skills update and npx skills remove frontend-design.
• GitHub CLI: gh skill update or gh skill update --all. Pinned skills are skipped.
• Manual copies: delete the folder, or copy the new version over it.

Troubleshooting

• The skill is missing from /skills: check that the file is named exactly SKILL.md, that it sits one folder below skills/, and that the opening --- is the very first line of the file.
• You created .claude/skills after starting Claude Code: run /reload-skills.
• A skill in a subfolder such as apps/web/.claude/skills does not load at startup. It loads the first time Claude reads or edits a file in that subfolder.
• A plugin install fails with a marketplace error: add the marketplace first, then install with plugin@marketplace.
• Cloud sessions and scheduled routines do not read ~/.claude/skills/ on your machine. Commit the skill to the repository's .claude/skills/ instead.

Safety

A skill is instructions plus any scripts it ships, and it runs with the permissions of your Claude Code session. Read SKILL.md and everything under scripts/ before you install it, and be careful with the allowed-tools field, which pre-approves tools while the skill runs. Plugins can also bundle hooks and MCP servers, so read the plugin's details before you accept it. Prefer repositories you trust, and pin a tag or commit when you can, for example with gh skill install ... --pin.