Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has recently launched a new module system called “Skills” (Skills) for its flagship model Claude. This system aims to transform complex prompt engineering into stackable, portable, and efficient modular components, greatly enhancing Claude's practicality and ability to handle complex tasks.
The core mechanism and advantages of "Skills"
"Skills" are essentially topic-based folders that contain instructions, scripts, and resources that Claude can extract as needed when performing specific tasks. Anthropic emphasizes that the most core feature of this system is that Claude can decide on its own which skills to use and load them under appropriate circumstances, thus turning complex prompt combinations into functional modules.
The practicality of the skill system hinges on whether Claude can reliably select, combine, and load the appropriate modules for each task. This mechanism supports skills running on Claude applications, Claude Code, and API, marking its broad potential for cross-platform application.
Application scenarios and user permissions
In the Claude application, the "Skill" feature is available for Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise users. Anthropic provides preset skills suitable for generating tables, presentations, PDFs, and other documents. Users can not only create and customize their own skills, but Claude will also clearly show which skills are active during the editing process. For Team and Enterprise accounts, administrators must enable this feature first.
Anthropic even offers a “Skills Creator Skill,” helping users create custom skills by setting up folder structures, SKILL.md configuration files, and required resources.
API and code integration: powerful developer tools
For developers, the skill system has strong integration capabilities. If the code execution tool is enabled (currently in testing), users can manage skills through the message API and the /v1/skills endpoint.
In Claude Code, skills can be installed from the official Anthropic anthropics/skills market or manually installed to the ~/.claude/skills directory. Claude will automatically load the appropriate skills, and it includes built-in version control and team collaboration features. Additionally, the Claude Agent SDK allows integration with custom agents.
Anthropic has already provided ready-made skills for Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, and PowerPoint presentations, and users can build and manage custom skills through the Claude console.
Security notice: emphasize trusted sources
Anthropic strongly advises users to only install skills from trusted sources. Before using skills from less familiar sources, users should carefully check them, especially:
Check all files to understand how they work, especially paying attention to code dependencies and embedded resources (such as images or scripts).
Be alert to any code or instructions that tell Claude to connect to untrusted external network sources, to ensure security.
