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Agent Skills Docs — Anthropic logo

Agent Skills Docs — Anthropic

Free

Official docs & spec

FreeFree tier
Type
Open Source
Company
Anthropic
Visit Website GitHub (40 stars)

About Agent Skills Docs — Anthropic

Agent Skills are reusable, filesystem-based resources that provide Claude with domain-specific expertise, including workflows, context, and best practices, transforming a general-purpose agent into a specialist. Unlike prompts, Skills load on demand and do not require repeating guidance across conversations. Anthropic offers pre-built Agent Skills for common document tasks (PowerPoint, Excel, Word, PDF) and supports custom Skills for organizational knowledge. Skills are available on claude.ai, the Claude API, Claude Platform on AWS, and Microsoft Foundry, leveraging Claude’s virtual machine environment for capabilities beyond what is possible with prompts alone. This documentation covers the overview, quickstart, best practices, and API usage for Agent Skills.

Key Features

Reusable filesystem-based resources for domain-specific expertise
On-demand loading reduces repetition across conversations
Pre-built Skills for PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and PDF
Custom Skills to package domain expertise and organizational knowledge
Works across claude.ai, Claude API, AWS, and Microsoft Foundry
Leverages Claude's VM environment for extended capabilities beyond prompts

Pros & Cons

Pros
  • Eliminates need to repeat guidance across conversations
  • Loads on demand without cluttering conversation context
  • Composable: combine multiple Skills for complex tasks
  • Pre-built Skills available for common document tasks
  • Custom Skills allow packaging organizational knowledge
  • Works across multiple Claude deployment platforms

Best For

Specializing Claude for domain-specific tasks or workflowsAutomating document creation and editing (PowerPoint, Excel, Word, PDF)Composing multiple Skills for complex, multistep agent tasksReducing repetitive guidance by loading Skills on demand

FAQ

What are Agent Skills?
Agent Skills are reusable, filesystem-based resources that give Claude domain-specific expertise: workflows, context, and best practices, designed to turn a general-purpose agent into a specialist.
How do Skills differ from prompts?
Unlike prompts, which are conversation-level instructions for one-off tasks, Skills load on demand so you do not have to repeat guidance across multiple conversations.
What pre-built Skills does Anthropic provide?
Anthropic provides pre-built Agent Skills for common document tasks: PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and PDF.
Where can I use Agent Skills?
Pre-built Agent Skills are available on claude.ai, the Claude API, Claude Platform on AWS, and Microsoft Foundry. Custom Skills can be created in Claude Code, uploaded through the API, or added in claude.ai settings.
Can I create custom Skills?
Yes, Custom Skills let you package domain expertise and organizational knowledge. They are available across Claude's products and can be uploaded via the Skills API on supported platforms.