Skills & Commands
Knowledge
Apps for Claude Code
Your smartphone only became truly useful once you installed apps. Without apps, it's just an expensive phone. The same applies to Claude Code and Skills: Without Skills, Claude Code is a brilliant but generic assistant. With Skills, it becomes your custom-tailored tool.
A Skill is a reusable workflow that teaches Claude Code how to perform specific tasks. Instead of typing the same instructions every time, you define them once -- and Claude uses them automatically or on demand via /command.
iSkills in a Nutshell
At its core, a Skill consists of a SKILL.md file with frontmatter (metadata) and instructions (Markdown). Optionally, reference files or scripts can be added.
Prompt vs. Skill -- The Crucial Difference
Why not just stick with regular prompts? Here's the comparison:
| Prompt | Skill | |
|---|---|---|
| Lifespan | One-time -- gone after the session | Persistent -- stored permanently |
| Trigger | Manually typed each time | Automatically recognized or via /command |
| Consistency | Varies depending on wording | Always the same quality and structure |
| Shareability | Copy-paste to colleagues | Shareable via Git or plugins |
| Context | In chat history, consumes tokens | Loaded only when needed, saves context |
Imagine you have a specific way of conducting code reviews: First check architecture, then naming conventions, then performance. As a prompt, you'd have to describe that every time. As a Skill, you just type /code-review once -- done.
*When Is a Skill Worth It?
If you type an instruction for the third time, it should become a Skill. Three is the magic number -- the first time it's an experiment, the second time it's a pattern, the third time it's a missed automation.
What to Expect in This Module
We'll work through the world of Skills step by step:
- Skill Types & Anatomy -- The three skill types (Knowledge, Reference, Script) and the structure of a SKILL.md file in detail
- Bundled Skills -- The built-in skills like
/batch,/simplify, and/debugthat you can use right away - Creating Your Own Skills -- A 6-step framework for developing, testing, and refining your own skills
By the end of this module, you'll know how to transform Claude Code from a general-purpose assistant into a specialized tool that works exactly the way you need it to.
What is the main advantage of a Skill over a regular prompt?