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How to add a skill to Claude

It takes about 2 minutes, and you only do it once per skill.

Which Claude plans can add skills?

Adding your own skills works on every Claude plan:

  • Free
  • Pro
  • Max
  • Team
  • Enterprise

Works on every Claude plan, Free included. On Team or Enterprise, an Owner must allow Skills and code execution in Organization settings (on by default for Team).

Checked against Claude's help article: Use Skills in Claude

Add your skill in 4 steps

  1. Download the skill

    Keep the .zip as it is; don't unzip it.

  2. Turn on code execution

    In Claude, go to Settings › Capabilities and switch on “Code execution and file creation”.

  3. Upload it

    Go to Customize › Skills, click “+”, then “Create skill” › “Upload a skill”, and choose the .zip.

  4. Switch it on and try it

    Toggle the skill on, start a new chat and paste the example from the skill's page.

Find a skill to add

Extra settings some skills need

Let Claude make files

Some skills hand you a Word file, slides, a spreadsheet or a PDF. Skills need “Code execution and file creation” switched on, so this is also step 2 of adding a skill.

  1. In Claude, go to Settings › Capabilities.
  2. Switch on “Code execution and file creation”.
  3. On a Team or Enterprise plan, an Owner may need to allow it first in Organization settings.
  4. Start a new chat and ask for the file.

Back to the steps

Connect Gmail

Email skills work best when Claude can read your Gmail. You can always paste emails in instead.

  1. Open Settings, then “Connectors”.
  2. Find Gmail and click Connect.
  3. Sign in with Google and allow Claude to read your email.

Not checked yet

Back to the steps

Attach a file or photo

Some skills work from your own files, like a resume, a PDF or photos of receipts.

  1. Click the + button next to the message box.
  2. Pick the file or photo from your computer or phone.
  3. Wait for it to finish loading, then send your message.

Not checked yet

Back to the steps

Something not working?

My download turned into a folder (Safari)

Safari sometimes opens zip files for you. Right-click the folder and choose Compress to make a zip again, or in Safari Settings, General, untick “Open ‘safe’ files after downloading” and download again.

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I can't find where to upload a skill

Go to Customize › Skills, click “+”, then “Create skill” › “Upload a skill”. If it isn't there, check that “Code execution and file creation” is switched on in Settings › Capabilities. On a Team or Enterprise plan, an Owner must allow Skills and code execution in Organization settings.

Claude isn't using my skill

Make sure the skill's toggle is on in Customize › Skills, start a new chat, and paste the example from the skill's page. Mentioning the skill by name helps too.

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The skill says it can't make files

Skills need “Code execution and file creation”. Switch it on in Settings › Capabilities, then start a new chat. On a Team or Enterprise plan, an Owner may need to allow it in Organization settings.