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How to Install Agent Skills

A practical guide to installing agent skills — official Claude platform methods, community tools like `npx skills add`, and emerging standards for universal discovery.

Agent skills are modular capabilities that extend what AI agents can do. Think of them as plugins or extensions that give agents specialized knowledge and workflows. Installing skills correctly ensures your agents work effectively across different environments.

Official methods (Claude platform)

Anthropic provides several ways to install skills depending on your workflow.

Claude.ai

Upload skill packages directly through the web interface:

  1. Navigate to Settings → Features.
  2. Upload your skill as a .zip file.
  3. The skill becomes available immediately in your conversations.

Claude Code

Skills are filesystem-based and can be installed in two locations:

  • Global skills: ~/.claude/skills/ — available across all projects.
  • Project skills: .claude/skills/ — scoped to a specific project.

Place your skill directory in either location. Claude Code automatically discovers and loads skills on startup.

Claude API

For programmatic installation, use the skills endpoints:

curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/skills \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@my-skill.zip"

Claude Agent SDK

When building with the Agent SDK, place skills in the .claude/skills/ directory of your project. The SDK loads them automatically when initializing an agent.

Community tools: the npx skills add command

The community has built tooling to simplify skill installation. skills.sh provides a one-command installation experience:

npx skills add owner/repo

This approach offers several benefits:

  • One-command installation — no manual downloading or file management.
  • Cross-platform support — works with 20+ AI agents including Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and others.
  • Version management — install specific versions of a skill.

Example:

npx skills add anthropics/claude-code-example-skill

Most of the skills catalogued in this directory install via this pattern. The install command is printed on every skill's detail page.

Emerging standards: the well-known URI RFC

Cloudflare has proposed a standardized discovery mechanism using the well-known URI pattern:

/.well-known/skills/

This RFC suggests that skill providers host a manifest at a predictable URL, enabling:

  • Universal discovery — agents can automatically find skills from any domain.
  • Progressive disclosure — expose skill capabilities in stages.
  • Decentralized distribution — no central registry required.

While still emerging, this standard could simplify how agents discover and install skills across the web.

Bonus: skills + MCP integration

Skills become more powerful when combined with MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers. A skill can define workflows that leverage MCP tools, creating enhanced capabilities:

  • A *code review* skill can use MCP tools for Git operations.
  • A *deployment* skill can connect to cloud-provider MCP servers.
  • A *data analysis* skill can query databases through MCP.

This combination of declarative skills and executable tools unlocks sophisticated agent workflows.

Summary

Installing agent skills is straightforward, with several options depending on the workflow:

| Method | Best for |

|---|---|

| Claude.ai upload | Quick testing and personal use |

| Filesystem (~/.claude/skills/) | Local development |

| Claude API | Automated deployments |

| npx skills add | Cross-platform installation |

| Well-known URI | Future-proof discovery |

Pick the method that fits your workflow, and your agents will gain new capabilities instantly.

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