# How to Create a Claude Skill: Template and Guide

> What Claude skills are, when a skill beats a project or a prompt, how to plan one from a real business process, the SKILL.md format, and how to install and share skills across your organisation. Free planning template included.

Source: https://kowalah.com/resources/templates/claude-skill-template

## Overview

- **Who it's for:** Process owners, team leads, Claude champions and AI operations leads who want Claude to do a recurring task the organisation's way, every time; no coding needed
- **When to use it:** When a team does the same task repeatedly and gets different results, when a prompt keeps being copied and pasted, or when a good way of working lives in one person's head
- **What you get:** A skill planned from a real process, with the right instructions, reference material and templates, ready to build and share with your team

## Get it

- **Open the planning worksheet in Google Docs:** https://docs.google.com/document/d/19dkuQBOejNuFo5VxeH8N4YJZMHap4oc411kqpeaY4ws/edit?usp=sharing

## How to Use This Template

1. **Pick one process.** Choose a task your team repeats weekly or monthly, where the way it's done matters
2. **Plan it on the worksheet.** Work through the planning worksheet on this page, alone or on a shared screen with the people who do the task
3. **Build it with Claude.** Give Claude your planning notes and ask it to create the skill, then review what it produces
4. **Test on real work, then share.** Run it on three real examples, fix what goes wrong, then share it with your team or organisation

***NOTE**: Copy the worksheet using the "Copy page" button above, or open the Google Docs
version and make your own copy. Everything on this page is correct as of September 2026.*

# How to create a Claude skill

A skill teaches Claude how your organisation does a task. Write it once, and Claude applies
it every time the task comes up, for everyone who has it: the same steps, the same checks,
the same output. It's the difference between a colleague who asks "how do you want this
done?" every time and one who already knows.

This guide is for the people who know the task, not only for developers. For a business
process, plain-language instructions and a template or two are enough.

---

# What a Claude skill is

A skill is a folder with one required file, `SKILL.md`, and three optional sub-folders:

| Part | What it holds | When Claude uses it |
|---|---|---|
| `SKILL.md` | A name, a short description, and the instructions | The description always; the instructions when a task matches |
| `references/` | Background Claude needs: a style guide, a policy, a decision framework | When the instructions point to it |
| `assets/` | Templates for what Claude produces: a report layout, a form, an email | When it's time to write the output |
| `scripts/` | Code for steps that must run exactly: a calculation, a file conversion | When the instructions tell it to run one |

Claude reads the short description of every skill it has, and only opens the rest when a
task calls for it. That's why you can give Claude many skills without cluttering every
conversation, and why the description matters most.

Skills follow an open format, the [Agent Skills specification](https://agentskills.io/specification),
so the same folder works in Claude on the web and desktop, in Claude Code, and in the Claude
add-ins for Microsoft 365 apps.

---

# Skill, project or prompt: which you need

| You want | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Claude to know about a body of work | A **project** | Files, notes and instructions for one client or initiative |
| Claude to do a task the same way every time, wherever it comes up | A **skill** | Writing month-end variance commentary to the finance team's standard |
| A one-off answer or draft | A **prompt** | "Summarise this contract's termination clauses" |

If the same prompt is being copied and pasted around a team, it should be a skill.

---

# Choosing the process to turn into a skill

The best first skills share four traits:

- [ ] **Repeated:** weekly or monthly, not once a year
- [ ] **Done inconsistently:** different people get different results
- [ ] **Rule-based:** a good colleague could write down how it should be done
- [ ] **Output-shaped:** it ends in something concrete, such as a document, an email or a
      decision

If you're choosing across a whole function, start with the process that moves a number
the business reports. Our
[AI use case prioritisation framework](/resources/templates/ai-use-case-prioritization-framework)
sets out how.

---

# The planning worksheet

Plan the skill before anyone writes it. Fill this in with the people who do the task.

| Question | Your answer |
|---|---|
| **Name** (lowercase, hyphens, e.g. `month-end-commentary`) | |
| **What it does**, in one sentence | |
| **When Claude should use it:** the requests and words that should trigger it | |
| **When it shouldn't be used** | |
| **Who uses it** | |
| **Inputs:** what the person gives Claude, or where Claude should look | |
| **The steps**, in the order a good colleague follows them | |
| **Decisions along the way:** "if X, then Y" | |
| **The output:** format, length, tone, where it goes | |
| **The check before finishing:** what must be true before Claude hands it back | |
| **References needed** (policies, guides, examples of good work) | |
| **Assets needed** (templates to fill) | |
| **Scripts needed** (only for steps that must run exactly) | |

Connectors your organisation has already set up (to email, drives, CRM or other systems) don't
need scripts. Name them in the instructions and Claude uses them.

---

# What goes in SKILL.md

```markdown
---
name: month-end-commentary
description: Writes month-end variance commentary to the finance team's standard. Use when asked to explain budget variances or draft management accounts commentary.
---

# Month-end variance commentary

## Steps
1. Ask for the management accounts extract if it hasn't been shared.
2. Flag every line more than 10% or £25k from budget (see references/thresholds.md).
3. For each flagged line, state the variance, the cause if known, and the action.
4. Write the commentary using assets/commentary-template.md.

## Decisions
- If the cause isn't known, write "Cause to confirm with [budget holder]"; never guess.

## Before finishing
- Every flagged line has a variance, a cause or a named follow-up, and an action.
```

**The frontmatter.** `name` uses lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens, and matches the
folder name. `description` says what the skill does and when to use it. The open
specification allows up to 1,024 characters, but Anthropic's help centre currently gives
200 for skills uploaded to Claude, so keep it tight.

**The body.** Steps, decisions, output format and a final check. Keep it under about 500
lines and move detail into references.

---

# References, assets and scripts

- **References** are what a new colleague would need to read first: the style guide, the
  thresholds, three examples of good work. Keep each one focused; Claude loads them only
  when needed.
- **Assets** are the templates Claude fills in. An asset shows the shape of the output far
  better than a description of it.
- **Scripts** are for steps that must be exact every time, such as a calculation or a file
  conversion. Skip them unless a step has to be exact. Never put passwords or API keys in
  a script.

---

# A worked example: month-end variance commentary

| Worksheet question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What it does | Writes variance commentary to the finance team's standard |
| When to use it | "Explain the variances", "draft the commentary", management accounts |
| Inputs | The management accounts extract (spreadsheet) |
| Steps | Flag variances over threshold → explain each → fill the template |
| Decisions | Unknown cause → name the budget holder to confirm; never guess |
| Output | One page, in the commentary template, plain English |
| Check | Every flagged line has variance, cause or follow-up, and action |
| References | `thresholds.md`, three past commentaries the finance director liked |
| Assets | `commentary-template.md` |
| Scripts | None |

---

# Building, installing and sharing a skill

1. **Build it.** Give Claude your completed worksheet and ask it to create the skill. Review
   the result against your plan; the description and the checks are where it needs your
   judgement.
2. **Package it.** A skill is uploaded as a ZIP file with the skill folder at its root
   (`month-end-commentary/SKILL.md`, not `SKILL.md` on its own).
3. **Install it for yourself.** In Claude, go to **Customize > Skills**, upload the ZIP file, and enable the skill.
4. **Share it.** On Team and Enterprise plans, an organization owner can upload the skill in
   **Organization settings > Skills** so it automatically becomes available to all users. Admins can also let people share skills
   with groups.

Menu names change as Claude updates; Anthropic's help centre has the current steps.

---

# Testing and keeping it current

- **Test on three real examples** before sharing: one easy, one awkward, one that should
  make the skill ask a question.
- **Watch where it goes wrong,** then fix the instructions, not the output.
- **Give it an owner.** When the process changes, the skill changes.
- **Collect good outputs** as examples in `references/`; they improve the skill fastest.

For examples of complete skills, download any of ours from the
[templates library](/resources/templates), such as the
[AI business case skill](/resources/templates/ai-business-case-template).

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What is a Claude skill?

A folder of instructions, and optionally reference files, templates and scripts, that teaches Claude how to do a specific task your way. Claude reads each skill's short description, and loads the full instructions only when a task calls for them. Skills work in Claude on the web and desktop, in Claude Code, in the Claude add-ins for Microsoft 365 apps and, in beta, through the API.

### What's the difference between a Claude skill and a Claude project?

A project holds the context for a body of work: files, instructions and conversations about one client, product or initiative. A skill holds a way of doing a task, and Claude can apply it in any conversation or project when the task comes up. Use a project for what you're working on, and a skill for how a task should be done.

### Do I need to code to create a Claude skill?

No. A skill is mostly plain-language instructions in a Markdown file. Scripts are optional and only needed when a skill has to run code, for example to process a spreadsheet in a particular way. Claude can also write the skill for you from a description of the process.

### Which Claude plans include skills?

As of September 2026, skills are available on Claude's Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans, with code execution turned on, as well as in Claude Code. Check Anthropic's help centre for the current position, as it changes.

### How do we share a skill across the organisation?

On Team and Enterprise plans, an organization owner can upload a skill in **Organization settings > Skills** so it automatically becomes available to all users. Admins can also let users share skills with the organisation or with groups. Individual users can upload a skill for themselves by going to **Customize > Skills**.

### How long should the description be?

Short and specific. The description is how Claude decides when to use the skill, so say what it does and the situations and words that should trigger it. Anthropic's help centre currently gives a 200-character limit for skills uploaded to Claude, so write it tight and put detail in the body.

### What makes a skill work well?

One task per skill, a description that names when to use it, steps in the order a good colleague would follow them, the decisions they'd make along the way, a clear output format, and a check before finishing. Test it on real examples before sharing it.

---

Free and ungated, from Kowalah, a UK Anthropic implementation specialist. More templates and skills: https://kowalah.com/resources/templates. Talk to us: https://kowalah.com/contact