Overview
After a few weeks of using Claude, you'll notice yourself pasting the same prompts again and again — the email translator you built, the meeting-notes formatter, the LinkedIn post template. Each time, you're copy-pasting from somewhere or typing it out. Skills end that. A Skill is a saved prompt with a short name; you trigger it by typing a slash command. The prompt runs, you fill in the specifics, you get the output. In this guide, we'll build two Skills (a translation polisher and a birthday card generator), then give you 5 ready-to-use templates you can copy.
Who This Is Useful For
What You Will Build
A growing personal library of Skills you can trigger with a slash. By the end of this guide:
After 2-3 weeks of regular use, most people end up with 8-12 Skills they actually use. That's the right number — fewer means they're not paying off, more means you've over-engineered.
What You Need
Step 1: Skill vs Project vs Style — Quick Map
A common confusion. Here's the clean version:
A Skill can run inside any Project, with any Style — they all stack. The Skill is the task, the Project is the context, the Style is the voice.
Step 2: The Skill Structure
Every Skill has 4 parts:
You build a Skill once. After that, typing /skill-name in any chat runs the prompt body — and Claude prompts you for any details that need to be filled in.
Step 3: Build Your First Skill — The Translation Polisher
This is one of the highest-use Skills for anyone who works in two languages.
In any Claude chat, type / → click Create new skill (or go to Settings → Skills → New).
Fill in:
Prompt body:
You are a translator/polisher. The user will paste text in any
language and tell you the target language (繁體中文 or English).Your job:
1. Translate accurately, then polish for natural flow
2. Match the original tone (formal stays formal, casual stays casual)
3. Fix obvious grammar issues in either direction
4. Use Taiwan-style 繁體中文 vocabulary when translating to Chinese
Output format:
The polished translation, no preamble
Then a "Notes" section if you changed anything significant
Ask the user one question if you're unsure of target language or context
Save. Now in any chat, type:
/translate-polish
[paste any text here]
Target: 繁體中文
Claude runs the Skill, polishes the text, and gives you the output. No more pasting your "best translation prompt" from a Notion doc.
Step 4: Build a More Complex Skill — Birthday Card Generator
Skills shine for multi-step jobs. Let's build one that handles birthday cards end-to-end.
Name: birthday-card
Description: "Generate a personalized birthday card draft based on the recipient"
Prompt body:
You are helping the user write a birthday card. They will tell
you who it's for. Your job is to gather the right context and
produce the card.Step 1: Ask the user 3 quick questions, all in one message:
Who is the recipient (name, relationship to user)?
One thing the user appreciates about them or a specific memory together
Tone preference: warm and sincere / funny / short and classic Step 2: Once you have all 3 pieces, draft a birthday card
in 4 short paragraphs:
Opening greeting using their name
A specific reference to the memory or appreciation
A wish for the year ahead
A warm closing Step 3: After the draft, offer 2 alternatives:
A shorter version (3 sentences for a small card)
A more humorous version (if user picked sincere)
Save. Now whenever a birthday is coming up, type /birthday-card. Claude asks the 3 questions, you answer, you get a draft + 2 alternatives in 30 seconds.
Step 5: Use Skills Across Projects and Styles
Skills work in any chat, any Project, any Style. This is where they get powerful:
1. Open your Work Project (which already has your job context loaded)
2. Switch to your My Voice Style (so output sounds like you)
3. Type /birthday-card (the Skill provides the structure)
The result combines all three — your work context, your voice, the Skill's logic.
Step 6: Five Ready-to-Use Skill Templates
Copy any of these into a new Skill, tweak as needed.
Skill: meeting-notes (cleans up rough meeting notes)
The user will paste rough meeting notes. Your job:
1. Identify the meeting topic and attendees from context
2. Restructure into:
- Decisions (what was agreed)
- Action items (who does what by when)
- Open questions (still unresolved)
- Discussion notes (everything else, summarized)
3. Format clearly with headers and bullets
Keep total length under half the original input.
Skill: rewrite-formal (turns a casual draft into formal)
The user will paste a casual message. Rewrite it as a formal
version suitable for: official letters, legal correspondence,
or formal email.Rules:
Use full sentences, no contractions
Use proper salutations and sign-offs
Replace casual words with formal equivalents
Keep the meaning identical
Skill: explain-like-im-12 (simplify complicated info)
The user will paste something complicated — a contract clause,
a medical report, a technical article, a financial document.Your job:
1. Explain it as if to a smart 12-year-old
2. Use everyday analogies — no jargon
3. Highlight the 1-3 things the user should actually pay attention to
4. End with: "Questions you should ask before signing/agreeing/acting"
Keep under 200 words.
Skill: pack-list (generate a packing list for any trip)
The user will tell you about a trip. Ask any of these you don't
know yet, all in one message:
Destination and duration
Type of trip (business / leisure / outdoor / family)
Will they need formal wear? Then generate a packing list with sections for:
CARRY-ON ESSENTIALS
CLOTHING (specific quantities)
TOILETRIES
ELECTRONICS
DOCUMENTS
TRIP-SPECIFIC EXTRAS
Skill: weekly-recipe (suggest a meal plan for the week)
Suggest a 5-day weekday dinner meal plan.Defaults (override if user specifies):
1 hour or less to cook
Mostly home ingredients
Mix of cuisines, no repeats
1 vegetarian day For each day, give:
Dish name
5-bullet shopping list
Total estimated cooking time End with a master shopping list combining all 5 dinners.
Step 7: Share a Skill With Someone Else
Built a great Skill? Share it.
In Settings → Skills → click the Skill → Share. You get a link. Anyone with a Claude account who clicks it gets a one-click "Add to my Skills" prompt.
Common use cases:
The Skill is read-only when shared — the recipient gets a copy. They can edit their copy without changing yours.
Going Further
Key Takeaways
Here's what you learned in this guide: