How to install Claude Code skills in 60 seconds

Claude Code skills let you extend your AI coding agent with specialised knowledge — a frontend style guide, a SQL reviewer, a deployment checklist — without rewriting your system prompt every session. Here's how to find one and get it running in under a minute.

Step 1 — Find a skill

Browse the ClaudeSkill marketplace at claudeskil.com/explore. Use the search bar to find skills by keyword ("react", "sql", "seo") or filter by category. Each skill page shows:

• A description of what it does and when to use it
• The install command (one line)
• Stars, installs, and last updated date
• The raw SKILL.md file so you can review it before installing

Step 2 — Install it

From the skill detail page, copy the install command. It looks like:

curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o ~/.claude/skills/frontend-shadcn-builder/SKILL.md https://claudeskil.com/skills/frontend-shadcn-builder/SKILL.md

Run it in your terminal. It downloads the skill's SKILL.md into ~/.claude/skills/frontend-shadcn-builder/, the folder Claude Code reads personal skills from, so the skill is available in every project. To install a skill for one project only, save it to .claude/skills/frontend-shadcn-builder/SKILL.md inside the project instead, and commit that folder to share it with your team. The whole operation takes under 5 seconds.

Step 3 — Use it

Start a new Claude Code session. Claude reads each installed skill's name and description up front and loads the full instructions when your request matches the description, so there are no trigger phrases to memorise. You can also run a skill directly by typing its name as a command, e.g. /frontend-shadcn-builder.

For the frontend-shadcn-builder skill, you might type:

Build a pricing section with three tiers using shadcn Card components

Claude then loads the skill's rules, style preferences, and component conventions into the context automatically. You don't need to say anything extra.

Step 4 — Manage your skills

To see your installed personal skills:

ls ~/.claude/skills

To remove one:

rm -r ~/.claude/skills/frontend-shadcn-builder

To update to the latest version, re-run the install command — it overwrites the old SKILL.md.

For skills installed in a project, use .claude/skills in place of ~/.claude/skills.

Installing multiple skills

Skills are composable. You can install a frontend skill, a testing skill, and a documentation skill at the same time. Claude uses whichever one's description best matches the current task.

If two skills overlap (both want to handle "write a test"), make their descriptions more specific or remove the one you don't need; you can always pick one explicitly by typing /<skill-name>. There is no version pinning: the install command always fetches the current SKILL.md. To stay on a version you like, keep your copy and don't re-run the install (committing it under .claude/skills/ does this for a whole team).

Tips for picking good skills

• Check the "last updated" date — skills that haven't been touched in 6 months may be stale
• Look at the SKILL.md source before installing (it's one click away on the skill page)
• Prefer skills with evals or example outputs listed in the README
• Start with one skill per category and add more only when you feel the gap

The full list of available skills is at claudeskil.com/explore.