Claude Code Skills are reusable instruction sets that extend Claude's capabilities in coding tasks. They include code generation, debugging, refactoring, documentation writing, test creation, and code review. Skills can be official (from Anthropic) or community-created.

To add skills to Claude Code: 1) Create a .claude/skills/ folder in your project or user directory 2) Add skill files (markdown or text format) to the folder 3) Claude Code will automatically detect and load available skills. You can also install community skills from GitHub repositories.

To use skills in Claude Code: 1) Invoke a skill by typing /skill-name in the chat 2) Or mention the skill in your prompt and Claude will use it automatically 3) Skills can also be triggered based on context when Claude detects a relevant task.

To create a custom skill: 1) Create a markdown file in .claude/skills/ directory 2) Define the skill name, description, and instructions 3) Optionally add examples and constraints 4) Save and Claude Code will load it automatically. Use clear, specific instructions for best results.

Yes, Claude Code can use skills automatically when it detects a relevant task. For example, if you ask for code review, Claude may invoke a code-review skill if available. You can also explicitly invoke skills using /skill-name or mention them in your prompt.

Most Claude Code Skills are free to use. Official Anthropic skills and community-created skills on GitHub are typically free. However, using Claude Code itself requires a Claude Pro subscription ($20/month) or API access with usage-based pricing.

Claude Skills work by providing pre-defined instructions and context to Claude. When a skill is invoked, Claude receives the skill's instructions along with your prompt, enabling specialized behavior. Skills can include system prompts, examples, and specific guidelines for particular tasks.

Skills are stored in: 1) Project-level: .claude/skills/ in your project directory 2) User-level: ~/.claude/skills/ in your home directory 3) System-level: varies by OS. Project skills take precedence over user and system skills.

Popular Claude Code Skills include: code-reviewer (for code review), commit (for git commits), test-writer (for test generation), refactor (for code refactoring), and doc-writer (for documentation). Browse our directory to find skills for your specific needs.

Skills are instruction sets that modify Claude's behavior for specific tasks, while Subagents are specialized AI agents that Claude can delegate tasks to. Skills are simpler and run within Claude's context, while Subagents are separate processes with their own capabilities and can run in parallel.