Skills User Guide
FreeHow to use skills in Claude
FreeFree tier
About Skills User Guide
Skills extend Claude's capabilities by giving it access to specialized knowledge and workflows. Available on all plans (Free, Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise), skills require code execution to be enabled. Users can toggle built-in Anthropic skills for tasks like Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and PDF creation, or upload custom skills to teach Claude specific workflows. Team and Enterprise organizations can provision skills organization-wide and share skills with individuals or the entire organization.
Key Features
Built-in skills: Enhanced Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and PDF creation
Custom skills: upload private skills to teach Claude your workflows
Organization-wide skill provisioning for Team and Enterprise plans
Skill sharing with specific colleagues or entire organization
Code execution required for skills to function
Toggle individual skills on/off in Customize Skills
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Extends Claude's capabilities with specialized knowledge and workflows
- Easy to enable with simple toggles in settings
- Built-in skills cover common office productivity tasks
- Custom skills allow personalized automation
- Organization-wide provisioning ensures consistent access
- Skill sharing facilitates collaboration within teams
Cons
- Requires code execution to be enabled, which may raise security concerns
- Custom skills require specific folder structure and ZIP packaging
- Sharing is disabled by default and needs owner to enable
- Custom skills are private to individual account unless shared
Best For
Create and manipulate Excel spreadsheets with enhanced capabilitiesGenerate professional Word documents and reportsBuild PowerPoint presentations from user requestsProcess and create PDF filesAutomate custom workflows via personalized skillsProvision standardized skills across an organization
FAQ
How do I enable skills in Claude?
For individual plans (Free, Pro, Max), go to Settings > Capabilities and enable Code execution and file creation. Then navigate to Customize Skills and toggle individual skills on. For Team/Enterprise plans, the organization owner must first enable both code execution and skills in Organization settings, after which members can toggle skills on in Customize Skills.
Can I create my own custom skills?
Yes. You can create a skill following the defined skill structure, package it as a ZIP file, and upload it via Customize Skills. Custom skills are private to your account unless shared.
What built-in skills does Anthropic provide?
Anthropic provides built-in skills for Enhanced Excel spreadsheet creation and manipulation, Professional Word document creation, PowerPoint presentation generation, and PDF creation and processing.