Guides

How to install and use skills in Claude Code

aaaa.fyi · 2026-07-16 · 6 min read

Claude Code reads skills from a folder and applies them when a task matches. Setting this up takes about a minute.

The install command

npx skills add <owner>/<repo> --skill <name>

This copies the skill into your skills directory. Project-level installs live in .claude/skills/ inside the repo; global installs live in ~/.claude/skills/ and apply everywhere.

How invocation works

Each skill declares a description. When your request matches it, Claude Code loads the skill's instructions into context and follows them. You can also invoke one explicitly by name — type / in the prompt to see what's installed.

Three rules for a healthy skills folder

Install narrow, not broad. A skill that does one thing well beats a mega-skill that tries to cover everything and floods context.

Read before you install. A skill is plain markdown. Thirty seconds of reading tells you exactly what it will push your agent to do.

Prune quarterly. Unused skills still cost you: their descriptions compete for the agent's attention on every request.

What to install first

The most-installed skills are a reliable starting point — install counts come straight from the skills CLI. Pick one for code review, one for debugging, one for your framework, and add from there.