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Creating your first skill

3:41EnglishTranscribed Jul 24, 2026
0:03

So, let's create a skill. This skill

0:06

will teach Claude how we would like it

0:08

to explain code using visual diagrams

0:10

and analogies. [music]

0:11

Then, we'll look at what happens under

0:14

the hood when Claude uses it.

0:18

First, [music] let's create a directory

0:20

for your skill. We're going to be making

0:22

a personal skill, so it'll live in many

0:24

projects, so it will go in your home

0:26

directory. Take into consideration that

0:28

we're creating a directory with the

0:29

skill name inside of the skills

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directory.

0:33

Now create the skill.

0:38

The name identifies your skill. The

0:41

description tells Claude when to use it.

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This is the matching criteria. And then

0:46

everything after the second dashes is

0:49

the instructions that Claude follows.

0:52

Cloud code loads skills at startup. So

0:55

restart your session. Then verify it's

0:57

available.

1:00

You should see PR description in the

1:02

list.

1:04

Now test it. Make some changes on a

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branch and say, "Write a PR description

1:09

for my changes."

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Claude will then show you that it's

1:13

using the PR description skill.

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After that, it'll check your diff and

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write a description following your

1:20

template. Same format every single time.

1:24

When Cloud Code starts, it scans four

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locations for skills. Enterprise paths,

1:29

your personal Claude skills, the

1:31

project's Claude skills, and installed

1:33

plugins. It loads only the name and

1:35

description of each skill, not the full

1:37

content. This is important later. When

1:40

you send a request, Claude compares it

1:41

to the descriptions of your skills.

1:43

Explain what this function does matches

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a skill described as explain code with

1:47

visual diagrams because the intent

1:49

overlaps. It will then ask you to

1:51

confirm loading up the skill. This

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confirmation step keeps you aware of

1:55

what context Claude is using. After you

1:58

confirm, Claude reads the complete file

2:00

and follows its instructions. Now, let's

2:02

say you clone a Git repository and have

2:04

an overlapping skill name. Well, which

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one wins? Here's the priority list. The

2:11

highest is enterprise, which lives in

2:13

the manage settings. Two is the

2:15

personal, which lives in your root

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directory configuration like we're doing

2:19

right now. Three is the project which is

2:21

the claw directory inside of your

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repository. And the lowest is the

2:25

plugins where you store your plugins

2:27

that you got online. This lets

2:29

organizations enforce standards while

2:31

allowing individual customization

2:33

through differently named skills. If

2:35

your company has an enterprise code

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review skill and you create a personal

2:40

code review skill, the enterprise

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version of that takes precedence. To

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avoid conflicts, use descriptive names.

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Instead of review, use front-end PR

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review or security review. To update a

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skill, edit it skill.md file. Simple. To

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remove one, delete its directory.

3:00

Restart clock code after changes for

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them to take effect.

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Creating a skill means making a

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directory with a skill.md file

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containing metadata and instructions.

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Claude loads skill names and

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descriptions at startup. matches

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incoming requests against those

3:19

descriptions and asks for confirmation

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before loading the full content.

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Priority rules handling name conflicts.

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Enterprise overrides personal personal

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overrides project overrides plugins.

3:32

[music] Edit the skill.md file to update

3:34

a skill and restart cloud code for

3:36

changes to take effect.

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