Finding and Installing Skills

Skills come from three places Anthropic's official library, the community, and yourself. This lesson covers the first two.

Method 1: Official Skills in the Desktop App

The Claude Code Desktop App has a built-in skill browser. This is the fastest and most reliable way to install skills.

Open the Claude Code Desktop App. Click Customize at the top of the screen or find the gear or settings icon. Click Skills. Click Browse Skills or Add Skills. Browse the skill library. Click the plus button next to any skill to add it to your workspace.

Once installed the skill appears in your available skills list. You activate it in any prompt by typing a forward slash followed by the skill name.

Key skills to install first:

• Frontend Design is essential for anyone building websites, landing pages, or apps. It contains design principles from Anthropic's own design team and prevents the generic AI-website look.
• Code Reviewer checks your code for quality, security, and common mistakes before you ship anything.
• Tech Writer writes documentation, README files, and explanations in plain English so clients and users can understand what you built.

Method 2: Community Skills via GitHub

Thousands of community-built skills are published on GitHub. To install one, follow three steps.

Step 1: Find a skill

Search GitHub for "claude code skills" or "claude code .md skill" or look for a specific type such as marketing skills, copywriting skills, or SEO skills.

Step 2: Ask Claude Code to install it

You do not need to know how GitHub works. Just give Claude Code the link:

I found this Claude Code skill on GitHub: [PASTE THE GITHUB URL]

Install it into my project.

Claude Code knows how to pull files from GitHub and put them in the right place.

Step 3: Verify it installed

List all skills currently available in this project.

Method 3: Download and Drop (zip files)

Some skill creators distribute their skills as zip files downloadable from their websites. If you have a zip file of skills, open the Claude Code Desktop App, drag the zip file into the Claude Code chat window, and Claude Code will unzip it, read the contents, and install the skills automatically. Confirm by typing:

List the skills you just installed and what each one does.

How to Activate a Skill in Your Prompt

Once a skill is installed you reference it when it is relevant in two ways.

In-prompt reference:

• Build me a landing page for my AI consultancy.
• Please use the /frontend-design skill throughout.

Slash command: type a forward slash in the input box and Claude Code will show a list of available slash commands. Installed skills appear here. Select the one you want and describe your task after it.

Checking What Skills You Have

At any time type:

/help

This shows all available slash commands including installed skills. Or ask directly:

What skills are installed and available in this project?

Your Action Right Now

Open the Claude Code Desktop App. Go to Customize then Skills then Browse Skills.

Install the Frontend Design skill and one other that interests you.

Confirm installation by typing /help and checking that your new skills appear in the list.