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How to Install Claude Skills

This guide covers every way to install a skill: uploading it to Claude.ai or Claude Desktop, or adding it to Claude Code and other coding agents. Updated September 2026.

Quick Install (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, OpenCode)

Every skill page on Skills Directory has a ready-to-copy install command. It uses the open-source skills CLI:

# Install into the current project
npx -y skills add owner/repo --skill skill-name --agent claude-code

# Install for your user, in every project
npx -y skills add owner/repo --skill skill-name --agent claude-code -g

Pick a skill from the directory and copy its command from the Claude Code tab.

Installation Methods

Claude.ai and Claude Desktop

Claude.ai and the Chat tab in Claude Desktop install skills from a file upload, not a command. Skills work on the Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans.

  1. Turn on code execution: Settings > Capabilities > Code execution and file creation. On Team and Enterprise, an owner enables Skills for the organization.
  2. Get the skill as a file. A ZIP holds every file in the skill; a single SKILL.md works when the skill has only that one file. On any skill page, open the Claude.ai & Desktop tab to download the ZIP with Skills Directory Pro, or save the SKILL.md shown on the page.
  3. In Claude, open Customize > Skills, click Add skill, then Upload skill.
  4. Choose the file. Claude runs a security scan and adds the skill to your list. Check that its toggle is on.

If the upload is rejected, check that the ZIP contains a SKILL.md file and that the file starts with YAML frontmatter holding a name and a description.

Claude Code (CLI)

Claude Code looks for skills in specific directories:

# Global skills (available in all projects)
~/.claude/skills/

# Project-specific skills
.claude/skills/

Option 1: Clone a repository

git clone https://github.com/anthropics/skills ~/.claude/skills/official

Option 2: Download individual skills

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/my-skill
curl -o ~/.claude/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md https://example.com/skill.md

Option 3: Create from scratch

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/my-skill
touch ~/.claude/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md

OpenCode

OpenCode follows the same conventions as Claude Code:

# Global skills
~/.opencode/skills/

# Project-specific
.opencode/skills/

Cursor / VS Code

Most editors that support Claude Skills use the .claude/skills/ directory convention within your project.

Verifying Installation

After installing, verify the skill is recognized:

# In Claude Code
claude skills list

# Or just ask Claude
"What skills do you have available?"

Skill Load Order

When multiple skills exist, Claude loads them in this order:

  1. Project skills (.claude/skills/) - highest priority
  2. Global skills (~/.claude/skills/)
  3. Built-in skills - lowest priority

If two skills have conflicting instructions, project-level skills take precedence.

Updating Skills

From Git repositories

cd ~/.claude/skills/official
git pull

Manual updates

Simply replace the SKILL.md file with the updated version.

Troubleshooting

Skill not appearing

  1. Check the path - Verify the SKILL.md file is in the correct directory
  2. Restart Claude Code - Sometimes a restart is needed to pick up new skills
  3. Check YAML frontmatter - Ensure the name and description fields are present

Skill not triggering

  1. Check the description - The description should contain keywords related to when to use the skill
  2. Explicitly request it - Try saying "use the X skill" directly
  3. Check for conflicts - Multiple skills with similar descriptions may cause issues

Permission errors

# Fix permissions on the skills directory
chmod -R 755 ~/.claude/skills/

Uninstalling Skills

Simply delete the skill folder:

rm -rf ~/.claude/skills/skill-name

In Claude.ai, open Customize > Skills, open the skill's menu, and choose Remove.