Guides/Install Skills

Installing AI Skills

Skills are SKILL.md instruction files that give Claude specialized domain knowledge on demand. Install them from GitHub, organize by domain, or write your own in minutes.

Skills System143 AvailableExtensible

What Are Skills?

A skill is a SKILL.md file that contains structured instructions for Claude. When Claude sees a matching trigger — a user request, a keyword, or a task type — it loads the skill and follows its instructions instead of improvising.

Skills are the difference between Claude making a reasonable guess about how to do a code review and Claude following your exact process with your checklist, your standards, and your output format.

A skill file looks like this:

# Code Review

## Trigger

When asked to review code, do a PR review, or audit a file.

## Instructions

1. Check for security issues first (SQL injection, XSS, secrets)

2. Review logic and edge cases

3. Verify TypeScript types are correct

4. Output as: Critical / Warning / Suggestion / Nitpick

Where Skills Are Stored

Skills live in ~/.claude/skills/ by default. This global location makes them available in every project on your machine.

# Skills directory structure

~/.claude/

└── skills/

├── frontend/

│ ├── react-components.md

│ └── tailwind-audit.md

├── backend/

│ ├── api-design.md

│ └── database-migrations.md

├── security/

│ └── security-review.md

└── writing/

└── technical-docs.md

You can also put project-specific skills in .claude/skills/ — these load only when working in that project.

How to Install Skills from GitHub

Find a Skills Repository

Search GitHub for repositories containing SKILL.md files. Many open-source projects publish skills collections organized by domain.

Clone and Copy

# Clone the skills repo

$ git clone https://github.com/example/ai-skills /tmp/skills-repo

# Review skills before installing (important!)

$ ls /tmp/skills-repo/skills/

# Copy to your global skills directory

$ cp -r /tmp/skills-repo/skills/* ~/.claude/skills/

Verify Installation

$ claude

> What skills do you have for code review?

I have the following code review skills loaded:

- code-review.md (security, logic, types, formatting)

- security-review.md (OWASP, injection, secrets)

The Dual-Gate Review Process

Before installing any skill from an unknown source, run it through this two-gate review. The AI Starter Package auditor agent automates this — but the logic is simple enough to do manually:

Security scan

Check for malicious instructions, prompt injection attempts, or commands that exfiltrate data

Quality check

Verify the skill is specific, actionable, and follows SKILL.md format conventions

Deduplication

Merge overlapping skills from different sources into clean canonical versions

Indexing

Add to the skills index so Claude can discover it via keyword and semantic search

Organizing Skills by Domain

A well-organized skills directory loads faster and is easier to audit. Use subdirectories by domain:

Frontend

React patterns, Tailwind components, accessibility audits

Backend

API design, database migrations, auth flows

DevOps

Docker, CI/CD, Terraform, AWS deployment

Security

Vulnerability scanning, OWASP checks, secrets auditing

Writing

Blog posts, PRDs, technical documentation, changelogs

Data

SQL queries, pandas analysis, visualization, ML pipelines

Business

GTM strategy, pricing frameworks, OKR writing

Research

Literature review, hypothesis generation, paper writing

Creating Your Own Custom Skills

A custom skill is just a markdown file with a specific structure. Write one for any repeatable task you do more than twice:

# Skill Name

One clear noun phrase — e.g., "Code Review" or "SQL Query Writer"

## Trigger

When should this skill activate? Be specific about signals.

## Instructions

Step-by-step behavior. What to do, in what order, with what output format.

## Examples

At least one input/output example. This is the highest-leverage section.

## Anti-patterns

What NOT to do. Common failure modes and how to avoid them.

Get 143 Pre-Audited Skills

The AI Starter Package includes 143 skills security-audited from 123 repositories — organized, indexed, and ready to install in one command.

Get the Package Browse Skill Library