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Create Your First Claude Skill

You’ve been manually typing /stock-report AAPL to generate reports. What if Claude could automatically decide when to create a stock report based on your conversation? That’s the power of Skills—like upgrading from manual gear shifting to an automatic transmission that shifts when needed.

Key Concepts

• Skill - A model-invoked capability stored in .claude/skills/ that Claude automatically activates based on context
• Model-invoked - Claude decides when to use the Skill by reading its description, without you typing a command
• SKILL.md - The main file containing YAML frontmatter (metadata) and instructions for Claude

What You’ll Need

• Completed Create Custom Slash Commands tutorial
• The stock-report slash command from that tutorial
• VS Code installed
• 10-15 minutes

Step 1: Navigate to Project Folder

Windows (WSL):

• Open Ubuntu from the Start menu
• Type:

  cd /mnt/c/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Documents/test_claude
  

  Replace YOUR_USERNAME with your Windows username

  If the folder doesn’t exist, create it first:

  mkdir -p /mnt/c/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Documents/test_claude
  cd /mnt/c/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Documents/test_claude
  

Mac:

• Open Terminal (Applications > Utilities)
• Type:

  cd ~/Documents/test_claude
  

  If the folder doesn’t exist, create it first:

  mkdir -p ~/Documents/test_claude
  cd ~/Documents/test_claude
  

Step 2: Start Claude Code

Type:

claude

Claude Code starts and displays the welcome message.

Step 3: Enable Auto-Approve for Edits

Press Ctrl+E (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+E (Mac) to enable auto-approve mode for edits.

This allows Claude to create and modify files without asking permission each time.

Step 4: Ask Claude to Convert the Slash Command

Type this prompt:

Convert my stock-report slash command to a Skill called generate-stock-reports.
The Skill should activate automatically when I ask about companies or stocks.

Claude analyzes your existing slash command and converts it to a Skill in .claude/skills/stock-report/.

What happens: Claude creates a new folder structure with SKILL.md containing YAML frontmatter that tells Claude when to automatically use this Skill.

Step 5: Review the Skill Structure

Open VS Code and view the project:

• Click File > Open Folder
• Select Documents/test_claude
• In the file explorer, navigate to .claude/skills/stock-report/
• Click SKILL.md to open it

Notice the structure:

---
name: stock-report
description: Generates reports on companies... Use when users ask about stocks, companies, or ticker symbols.
---

[Rest of the instructions]

The description field is the key—it tells Claude exactly when to activate this Skill automatically.

Step 6: Test the Skill (Without Typing a Command)

Instead of typing /stock-report AAPL, just ask a natural question:

What's happening with Apple lately?

The key difference: You didn’t type a command. Claude reads your question, recognizes you’re asking about a company, checks the Skill descriptions, and automatically decides to use the stock-report Skill.

Watch Claude work—it should generate the same comprehensive report you saw before.

Step 7: Compare the Two Approaches

Slash Command (Manual):

/stock-report AAPL

• You explicitly tell Claude what to do
• Same every time
• Good for repeated, predictable tasks

Skill (Automatic):

Tell me about Tesla's recent developments

or

I'm thinking about investing in Microsoft

or

What's NVIDIA up to?

• Claude decides whether to use the Skill
• More natural conversation
• Good for complex workflows Claude manages for you

Step 8: Test Edge Cases

Try questions that should NOT trigger the stock report Skill:

How do I install Python?

Claude answers normally without invoking the Skill.

Now try a question that SHOULD trigger it:

Compare Google and Meta

Claude should use the Skill twice—once for Google, once for Meta.

Step 9: Modify the Skill Description (Optional)

Let’s make the Skill more selective. Ask Claude:

Update the stock-report Skill to only activate when I explicitly mention
"analyze" or "report" along with a company name.

Claude updates the description field in SKILL.md. Test the difference:

What's Apple doing?

(Might not trigger the Skill now)

Analyze Apple

(Should trigger the Skill)

Next Steps

Now that you understand Skills, create more for your workflows:

• Research Skill - Automatically activates when you ask questions requiring web research
• Code Review Skill - Activates when you mention bugs, issues, or code problems
• Meeting Notes Skill - Activates when you paste meeting transcripts or mention summaries

The pattern: Define when Claude should automatically help, not just shortcuts you manually trigger.

Troubleshooting

• Skill doesn’t activate: Check the description field in SKILL.md—it must include trigger words related to your question
• Skill activates too often: Make the description more specific about when to use it
• Can’t find the Skill folder: Skills are in .claude/skills/ (hidden folder—enable “Show hidden files” in your file explorer)
• Changes to SKILL.md not working: Skills load automatically when modified—no restart needed. If still not working, check YAML formatting

Workflow Overview

• Slash commands are shortcuts you type manually (like bookmarks)
• Skills are capabilities Claude discovers and uses automatically (like an assistant who knows your preferences)
• Skill descriptions act as instructions telling Claude: “Use me when the user says X”
• Both can coexist - Use slash commands for quick, repetitive tasks; use Skills for complex workflows
• Skills scale better - You don’t need to remember command names; Claude decides based on context

Created by Steven Ge on December 13, 2025.