Anthropic's official skill library, includes production document-creation skills, the Agent Skills spec, and a plugin marketplace installable directly in Claude Code.
When you need a new capability in Claude Code, the first question is whether one already exists. The official library is the authoritative answer, and it includes more than just Claude Code skills. The document creation skills that power Claude.ai's native docx, pdf, pptx, and xlsx export capabilities are source-available here. The formal Agent Skills specification shows you how skills work across Claude Code, Claude.ai, and the Claude API. Install the entire library as a plugin marketplace with one command.
Steps
Open the repo and read the top-level README. It lists every published skill with a one-line description. Confirm the capability you want is not already here before writing anything custom.
Pick a skill relevant to your current project, install it, and use it on something real right away. Skills that live only in the 'installed' state teach you nothing. Watching it run on your actual code is the fastest way to understand it.
Every official skill has a SKILL.md that defines its trigger conditions, what it does, and what it returns. This file is the contract between the skill and the Claude Code runtime, and the template you follow when writing your own.
If the library does not have what you need, copy an official skill as your starting point. Rewrite the SKILL.md for your use case, adapt the implementation. Starting from a known-good pattern is faster and produces skills that behave consistently.
How do you know it worked?
If something looks off
Skills & Commands Reference
The official Anthropic skill lifecycle, install, study, and build from reference.
| Command / Skill | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
claude skill install [name] | Install a skill from the official library into your Claude Code config | Adding a capability you found in the library before writing anything custom |
claude skill uninstall [name] | Remove a skill, keeps session context lean | Any skill you installed but no longer use: each one adds to session startup overhead |
claude skill list | Show all installed skills and their trigger conditions | Auditing what's active before starting a session with a narrow scope |
SKILL.md | The skill contract: trigger conditions, what it does, and what it returns | Read this for any official skill before using it; use it as your template for custom skills |
/[skill-name] [task] | Invoke an installed skill in a Claude Code session | When the task falls within the skill's declared trigger domain |
~/.claude/skills/advanced | Local directory where installed skills live, editable markdown files | Customizing an official skill for your stack or debugging unexpected behavior |
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills | Register the Anthropic skills repo as a plugin marketplace source | One-time setup, enables installing any official skill via /plugin install |
/plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills | Install the production docx/pdf/pptx/xlsx document creation skills | When you need Claude to generate formatted documents, not just text |