Pick the job you explain to Claude every week and write it down once as a skill. From then on you just ask, and Claude follows your steps, your format and your rules without the long prompt. This page writes the skill file for you.
What you’ll need.
Get these set up first. Everything below uses them.
Claude
The AI assistant I use for writing, building and thinking things through.Free planClaude Code
Claude working inside a folder on your computer: it reads, sorts, renames and makes files for you.Paid
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Know what a skill is
A skill is a saved set of instructions Claude picks up by itself when your request matches.
A skill is a folder with one file inside called SKILL.md. The top of the file says what the skill does and when to use it. The rest is your step-by-step instructions.
Claude reads the short description on every chat. When you ask for something that matches, it opens the full instructions and follows them. You don’t have to remember a command.
- Skills work on the Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans.
- They need Code execution and file creation switched on. Check under Settings, then Capabilities.
- One skill, one job. A skill that does one task well gets picked up more reliably than one that tries to do five.
Pick one weekly job
The best skill to start with is a task you already do every week, the same way, and explain to Claude every time.
Good skills to start with
- Your weekly update email to each client
- Friday’s sales summary from a payments or shop export
- Turning call notes into a follow-up email and a to-do list
- Monday’s task list for your assistant
- Polite reminders for unpaid invoices
Describe the job
Your answers write your SKILL.md. They stay in your browser and nobody else sees them.
--- name: [A SHORT NAME FOR THE SKILL] description: "[WHAT IT DOES IN ONE LINE]. Use when [WHEN SHOULD CLAUDE USE IT]." --- # [THE JOB IN A FEW WORDS] ## What I'll give you [WHAT YOULL GIVE CLAUDE EACH TIME] ## What to do [THE STEPS YOU FOLLOW] ## What good looks like [WHAT A GOOD ONE LOOKS LIKE] ## How to hand it back An email with a subject line and the body, ready for me to copy and send. ## Always - Use only the facts in what I give you. Never make up names, numbers or dates. - If something you need is missing, ask me one short question before you start.
Add it to Claude
Claude takes skills as a zipped folder. It takes two minutes.
Make the folder
- Download your SKILL.md from the last step of this guide.
- Make a new folder and give it exactly the short name you chose, like weekly-client-update.
- Put SKILL.md inside it. The file must be called SKILL.md.
- Zip the folder. On a Mac, right-click it and choose Compress. On Windows, right-click it and choose Compress to ZIP file (or Send to, then Compressed (zipped) folder).
Upload it
- Go to claude.ai and open Customize, then Skills.
- Click the + button, then + Create skill, then Upload a skill.
- Choose your zip file.
- Make sure your new skill is switched on in the list.
Use Claude Code? Add it there too
Claude Code keeps skills in a folder on your computer. One message puts it there.
Skip this step if you only use Claude in the browser or the app. If you use Claude Code, open it in the folder where you saved SKILL.md and send this:
Install the SKILL.md in this folder as one of my personal skills. Put it at ~/.claude/skills/[A SHORT NAME FOR THE SKILL]/SKILL.md (on Windows, the .claude\skills folder inside my user folder). Show me where you saved it.
Claude Code spots new skills without a restart. Type a slash and your skill’s short name (like /weekly-client-update) to run it, or just ask for the job and let Claude pick it up.
Test it
Three quick chats tell you if Claude picks it up when it should, and leaves it alone when it shouldn’t.
- Start a new chat for each test.
- Test 1: ask the way you normally would. Claude should use your skill.
- Test 2: ask a different way. It should still use it.
- Test 3: ask for something unrelated. It shouldn’t use it.
- For tests 1 and 2, check the answer against "what good looks like".
[HOW YOUD ASK FOR IT IN A CHAT]
Can you help me with my [THE JOB IN A FEW WORDS]? Here's what I've got: [paste or attach it]
Write me a short thank-you note to a friend.
If it misses
- Claude didn’t use the skill: add more of the words you’d type to the description, then upload the new version.
- It used the skill but the answer was off: make the steps more specific, or add a real example.
- To update it, change SKILL.md, zip the folder again, remove the old version from your skills and upload the new one.
Take your downloads
Tick what you want. Each file is written from your answers in step 3.
Your tools, one more time.
If something goes wrong.
The upload fails
Check three things: the folder name matches the name line in SKILL.md exactly, the file is called SKILL.md, and the zip has the folder inside it (not just the file on its own).
I can’t find Skills in Customize or Settings
Make sure Code execution and file creation is switched on in Settings, then Capabilities. On a Team or Enterprise plan, the account owner has to turn skills on for everyone first.
Claude never uses my skill
Check it’s switched on, and start a new chat. Then rewrite the description with the exact words you type when you ask for this job. You can also call it by name: "Use my weekly-client-update skill for this."
It uses my skill for things it shouldn’t
Your description is too broad. Make it name one job only, like "weekly client update emails" instead of "emails".
Claude made something up
Add a line to the Always section: "If a fact isn’t in my notes, write [CHECK] instead." Then upload the new version.