CLAUDE SKILLS

What Are Claude Skills?

Claude Skills are reusable workflow packages that Claude can load when a task matches. Anthropic describes a Skill as a folder-based bundle (instructions plus optional resources and scripts) that helps Claude perform specialized, repeatable work more reliably than ad hoc prompting.

Skills are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans when code execution is enabled. Claude can choose and apply relevant Skills automatically, so users can work naturally without manually invoking every step.

When To Use a Skill vs. a One-Off Prompt

Use a one-off prompt when the task is novel, low-stakes, or unlikely to repeat. Use a Skill when the task recurs and quality consistency matters — for example status-report formatting, board packet drafting, incident summaries, policy rewrites, or template-specific spreadsheet and slide workflows.

• One-off prompt: quick, exploratory, and disposable.
• Skill: repeatable, standardized, and easier to scale across people and time.
• Rule of thumb: if you keep pasting the same instructions, turn it into a Skill.

Plans, Surfaces, and Product Coverage

Skills are supported across Claude surfaces, including Claude chat, Cowork, and Claude for Excel/PowerPoint. In all of these contexts, Claude can detect and apply enabled Skills automatically when they fit the request.

How Skills Behave in Excel, PowerPoint, and Cowork

Anthropic notes that the same Skill can adapt to the current surface. A research-style Skill might output a document in Cowork, produce structured data work in Excel, or generate deck-ready content in PowerPoint. You can trigger Skills naturally with plain language, or use slash commands where supported.

How Skills Relate to Projects, Connectors, and Plugins

Projects provide persistent workspace context (files, instructions, and chat history). Connectors bring in external systems and data. Skills define how work should be done. In Cowork, plugins can bundle skills, connectors, commands, and sub-agents together to make full workflows deployable.

What a Custom Skill Folder Looks Like

A custom Skill is uploaded as a ZIP containing a root folder. At minimum, that folder needs a Skill.md file with YAML metadata (name and description) plus instructions. You can add extra reference files (for style guides, SOPs, examples) and scripts for code-executed operations.

• Required: Skill.md with required metadata.
• Optional: resources (templates, assets, policy docs).
• Optional: executable scripts and declared dependencies for advanced automation.
• Packaging: ZIP should contain the skill folder at its root.

Business Skill Ideas by Silo

• Operations: weekly KPI brief, incident-to-report conversion, SOP QA checks.
• Finance: invoice exception triage, close-week variance summary, reconciliation memo drafts.
• HR & People Ops: policy-to-manager FAQ conversion, role-based onboarding packs.
• Sales: discovery-note normalization, proposal structure enforcement, recap templates.
• Marketing: brand-guideline enforcement, campaign summary templates, editorial QA.
• Executive/Admin: board update packet structure, decision memo formatting, meeting brief prep.

Why PromptedWork Skill Workflows Matter

PromptedWork workflows built around Skills are designed to be reusable operating procedures, not one-time prompts. They help teams keep output quality steady as people, projects, and deadlines change.