Imagine you keep asking Claude Code the same thing every week: "Review my website for broken links." Instead of typing that out every time, you can save it as a shortcut and just type /check-links. That's what skills are — saved instructions you can reuse with a single command.

Why This Matters

Without a skill

Every time: "Check all the links on my website, make sure none are broken, test the contact form, verify the images load, and send me a summary of any problems."

With a skill

Every time: /site-check

What this means for you

Any task you do regularly can become a one-word command. Weekly reports, quality checks, deployment steps, content updates — save the instructions once, reuse them forever.

Creating Your First Shortcut

A skill is just a text file with your instructions. You put it in a special folder, and Claude Code picks it up automatically.

Step 1: Create the folder

In your project, create a folder structure like this:

.claude/skills/weekly-report/
└── SKILL.md              <-- Your instructions go here

Step 2: Write your instructions

Open SKILL.mdand write what you want Claude Code to do. Here's a real example for a weekly status report:

---
name: weekly-report
description: Generate a weekly status report from recent changes
---

Create a weekly status report by:

1. Look at all changes made in the past 7 days
2. Summarize what was accomplished
3. List any outstanding issues
4. Suggest priorities for next week
5. Save the report as a new file in the reports/ folder

Step 3: Use it

Now just type /weekly-report in any Claude Code session and it runs your saved instructions.

---

Real-Life Shortcut Examples

For a small business owner

Daily email summary — /email-digest:

---
name: email-digest
description: Summarize the day's important emails and action items
---

Review today's communications and create a brief digest:

1. List any urgent items that need attention today
2. Summarize key messages from clients
3. Note any upcoming deadlines mentioned
4. Create a simple to-do list from action items

For a student

Research organizer — /organize-notes:

---
name: organize-notes
description: Organize research notes by topic and create an outline
---

Look at all the notes in the current folder and:

1. Group them by topic or theme
2. Identify the main arguments or findings
3. Create a structured outline
4. Flag any gaps where more research is needed
5. Save the organized outline as outline.md

For a manager

Meeting prep — /prep-meeting:

---
name: prep-meeting
description: Prepare materials for an upcoming meeting
---

Prepare for the meeting by:

1. Review recent project changes and progress
2. Identify any blockers or risks to discuss
3. Summarize key metrics and status updates
4. Create a short agenda with time estimates
5. Note any decisions that need to be made

For a website owner

Content publisher — /publish:

---
name: publish
description: Deploy website changes with safety checks
---

Publish the website by following these steps:

1. Make sure there are no unsaved changes
2. Run a test build to check for errors
3. If everything passes, push the changes live
4. Verify the website loads correctly after publishing

Stop immediately if any step fails and tell me what went wrong.

---

Shortcuts That Accept Details

Some shortcuts are more useful when you can pass them extra information. For example, instead of just /invoice, you might want /invoice Acme Corp.

---
name: invoice
description: Generate an invoice for a client
argument-hint: [client name]
---

Create a professional invoice for $ARGUMENTS:

1. Use our standard invoice template
2. Fill in the client name
3. Add today's date
4. List recent work items from the project log
5. Calculate totals
6. Save as invoices/[client-name]-[date].pdf

The $ARGUMENTS part gets replaced with whatever you type after the command. So /invoice Acme Corp creates an invoice for Acme Corp.

What this means for you

You can make your shortcuts flexible. One /invoice shortcut works for every client — you just tell it which one each time.

---

Shortcuts That Pull In Live Information

Skills can grab fresh information before running. For example, this shortcut pulls in the latest changes to your project before creating a review:

---
name: review-changes
description: Review recent changes for quality
---

Review these recent changes:

!`git diff main...HEAD`

Check for:
- Anything that looks wrong or incomplete
- Missing pieces that should be added
- Things that could be simplified

The !`git diff main...HEAD` part runs automatically before Claude Code reads the rest, so it always reviews the current changes, not old ones.

---

Shortcuts Claude Code Uses Automatically

Here's a powerful feature: some shortcuts can trigger automatically when Claude Code recognizes the situation matches. For example, if you have a shortcut called "check security" with a good description, Claude Code might use it on its own when it notices security-related work.

You control this behavior:

• Let Claude Code decide (default) — It reads the description and triggers the shortcut when the context matches. Great for reference materials and best practices.
• Manual only — Add disable-model-invocation: true to the top of your skill file. The shortcut only runs when you type it. Best for actions that do something (like publishing or deleting).

What this means for you

For "safe" shortcuts (like coding standards or review checklists), let Claude Code use them automatically — it makes Claude Code smarter over time. For shortcuts that take action (like deploying or sending emails), keep them manual-only.

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Where to Put Your Shortcuts

Location	Who can use it	Example
In your project folder	Anyone working on this project	Project-specific shortcuts like /deploy or /test
In your home folder	Just you, across all projects	Personal shortcuts like /weekly-report or /invoice

---

Tips for Great Shortcuts

• One shortcut, one job — keep each shortcut focused on a single task
• Write clear descriptions — this helps Claude Code understand when to use it
• Start simple — create your first skill for something you do every week
• Build up over time — add new shortcuts whenever you catch yourself repeating instructions
• Test them — run a new shortcut once to make sure it does what you expect before relying on it

Built-in shortcuts

Claude Code comes with a few shortcuts already built in:

• /simplify — Review and clean up your code
• /debug — Turn on detailed logging to troubleshoot issues
• /batch — Make the same change across many files at once