Claude Skills — Official Docs & Reference
Technical documentation for Claude skills — SKILL.md format, plugin structure, invocation patterns, and the complete skill development reference.
What It Is
Claude skills documentation covers the SKILL.md specification, plugin manifest format, invocation syntax, tool integration patterns, and best practices for building production-grade skills.
How to Use It
- 1Read the SKILL.md format specification to understand the structure
- 2Use the skill-creator skill to generate a starter template
- 3Follow naming conventions: .claude/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md
- 4Test your skill with the Skill tool in Claude Code
- 5Publish as a plugin by creating a plugin manifest file
Example Skills
The standard format for defining a Claude skill — role, task, steps, output, quality standards
JSON manifest that bundles multiple skills into an installable plugin package
How to invoke skills via the Skill tool, slash commands, or natural language
How skills can call MCP tools, read files, run bash commands, and produce file outputs
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the official Claude skills documentation?
Anthropic publishes documentation at docs.claude.com. Community documentation is also available on GitHub.
What is the SKILL.md format?
A Markdown file that defines a Claude skill — purpose, step-by-step instructions, expected inputs, output format, and quality standards.
How do I structure a plugin with multiple skills?
Create a plugin directory with a manifest file referencing each skill's location.
Is there an official CLI for skill development?
Claude Code serves as the development environment. You can use the skill-creator skill to scaffold new skills.