Installing a skill in Claude in 2 minutes

A skill is a bit like an instruction manual you give Claude once: it reads it, understands when to use it, and applies the method every time you need it, without you having to explain it again. The catch is that the process to activate one isn’t the same depending on whether you use claude.ai in your browser or Claude Code in a terminal. Here are both, verified against Anthropic’s official documentation.

First, a checkbox that’s often overlooked

On claude.ai, skills rely on a feature called “code execution.” According to the official help center, you first need to check, under Settings then Capabilities, that the code execution and file creation option is turned on. Without it, the skills menu stays inaccessible or empty, and you can spend a while wondering why nothing shows up.

If you’re in a Team or Enterprise workspace, this setting isn’t yours to change: it’s up to the organization’s owners to turn it on, under Organization Settings then Plugins & Skills, on the Policy tab. If you still see nothing after checking your own settings, that’s probably where to look, or ask an admin to do it.

Activating a skill Claude already offers

Once code execution is turned on, head to Customize, then Skills. You’ll find a list of skills there, which you can toggle on individually as needed. This is the simplest step: no file to prepare, just a switch to flip.

Importing a skill as a zip file

For a skill you received or built yourself (like ones offered by a third-party studio), the process is different but still short. Still under Customize then Skills, click the “+” button, then “Create a skill,” then “Import a skill.” You just need to select the corresponding zip file. Claude reads the SKILL.md file it contains and adds it to your list, where you can then turn it on or off like the others.

One thing to check before using it for coursework or an exam: every serious academic skill reminds you to check your institution’s own AI usage rules, since they vary a lot from one school to another.

Claude Code: just a folder

If you use Claude Code (the command-line tool), the logic changes entirely: no menu, no zip file to import from an interface. The official documentation is very direct on this point: you just place a folder containing a SKILL.md file in the right spot.

Two possible locations, with two different scopes:

• ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md: the skill is available across all your sessions, on all your projects, on this machine.
• .claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md: the skill is available only in this specific project, which is handy if you want to commit it and share it with a working group.

The SKILL.md file is the only required file in the folder. It contains two parts: a header (the name and description that let Claude know when to suggest the skill) and the Markdown body, which describes the method to follow. Everything else (reference files, examples, small scripts) is optional and only gets loaded on demand, so as not to needlessly clutter the conversation’s context.

In practice, if you get a skill as a folder, you just copy it as-is into ~/.claude/skills/, without renaming anything, and Claude Code detects it automatically the next time you start a session.

What if two skills share the same name?

The documentation covers this case too: in the event of a name conflict, priority runs from organization-level down to personal, then to project-level, and a locally installed skill takes precedence over a default built-in one. Useful to know if you replace an existing skill with a customized version and can’t figure out why the old one still triggers.

Key takeaways

• On claude.ai: Settings > Capabilities to turn on code execution, then Customize > Skills to activate an existing skill or import one via zip file.
• In Team/Enterprise workspaces, the initial activation depends on a setting made by the organization’s admin.
• In Claude Code: drop a folder with a SKILL.md into ~/.claude/skills/ (all your sessions) or .claude/skills/ (a single project).
• The SKILL.md file is the only required file; everything else (references, scripts) loads on demand.
• Remember to check your institution’s AI usage rules before using a skill in a graded academic context.

Once this setting is in place, you can try the principle right away with the flashcards-anki skill, which turns a course into revision flashcards ready to import.