How to Install and Use Claude Code Skills: Step-by-Step

Prerequisites

You need Claude Code installed and a project directory to work in. Skills work with any Claude subscription tier — Pro, Team, or Enterprise.

Step 1: Create the Skills Directory

In your project root, create the following directory structure:

your-project/
├── .agents/
│   └── skills/
│       └── (skills go here)
├── src/
└── package.json

Run this command:

mkdir -p .agents/skills

Step 2: Add Skills

Each skill is a folder containing at minimum a SKILL.md file. To install a skill, simply copy its folder into .agents/skills/:

.agents/skills/
├── test-driven-development/
│   └── SKILL.md
├── systematic-debugging/
│   └── SKILL.md
└── api-design-reviewer/
    └── SKILL.md

If you purchased a skill bundle, extract the archive and copy the desired skill folders into your project.

Step 3: Verify Installation

Start a new Claude Code session in your project directory. Claude will automatically detect installed skills. You can verify by asking Claude to list available skills.

Step 4: Invoke a Skill

There are two ways to use skills:

Explicit invocation — Type /skill to directly activate a specific skill:

/skill test-driven-development

Automatic routing — Simply describe your task. If a relevant skill is installed, Claude will detect it and follow the skill's instructions automatically. For example, asking "debug this test failure" will trigger the systematic-debugging skill if it's installed.

Step 5: Customize Skills

Skills are plain markdown. Open any SKILL.md in your editor and modify it:

• Add project-specific context — Include your team's coding standards, preferred tools, or naming conventions
• Adjust workflows — Skip steps that don't apply, add steps that do
• Create new skills — Use existing skills as templates for your own domain-specific workflows

Advanced: Skill Composition

Skills can reference other skills. A "full review" skill might invoke the security scanner, the API reviewer, and the performance profiler in sequence. This composability is what makes skills more powerful than isolated prompts.

Troubleshooting

Skills not detected? Ensure the directory path is exactly .agents/skills//SKILL.md. The folder name must match the skill name in the YAML frontmatter.

Skill not triggering automatically? Use explicit invocation with /skill . Automatic routing depends on Claude matching your task description to the skill's description field.

Multiple skills conflicting? If two skills could apply to the same task, Claude will typically ask which one to use. You can also invoke a specific one explicitly.