paulund
#ai #claude #copilot #skills #agents

What Are AI Skills?

AI Skills are a concept used across many AI coding tools, including Claude and GitHub Copilot. They refer to specialised capabilities or functions that enhance the AI's ability to perform specific tasks or operations.

In Claude, skills are the capabilities and tools that agents can access to accomplish their work. They form part of the agent framework and enable agents to perform specialised operations within their domain.

Skills available to agents include:

  • File and code manipulation
  • Terminal execution
  • Testing and validation
  • Web fetching and searching
  • Code analysis and exploration
  • Debugging and diagnostics

Rather than being invoked directly by the user, skills are automatically selected and used by agents as needed to complete assigned tasks. When you dispatch an agent to accomplish something, it determines which skills are appropriate and uses them autonomously.

Creating Custom Skills for Your Projects

You can define custom skills in your .claude/skills/ directory to capture reusable guidance, conventions, and frameworks that multiple agents can reference. Unlike agents (which define workflows), skills define reference material: the "what" rather than the "how".

What Skills Should Contain

Reusable guidelines — Anything that applies across multiple contexts or agents

  • Platform-specific style guides (how to write for X vs LinkedIn vs blogs)
  • Domain expertise (architectural patterns, security practices, performance guidelines)
  • Brand frameworks (voice, messaging, positioning principles)
  • Specialized conventions (naming schemes, coding standards for a specific technology)

Examples and templates — Concrete demonstrations of principles in action

  • Sample posts showing good hook techniques
  • Code snippets demonstrating architectural patterns
  • Real-world examples of the principle in practice

Decision frameworks — Guidance on when to choose one approach over another

  • When to use one technology vs another
  • How to evaluate trade-offs
  • Questions to ask when making decisions

What Skills Should NOT Contain

Workflow or process steps — That belongs in agents. Skills don't define how to do things; agents do.

Tool-specific instructions — How to use a particular tool (git, npm, etc.) goes in CLAUDE.md, not skills.

One-off guidance — If something applies to only one agent, put it in that agent's definition instead.

Example: Content Creation Skills

Paulund uses several interrelated skills for content creation:

Platform style guides (blog-style-guide.md, x-style-guide.md, linkedin-style-guide.md):

  • Format requirements (word count, character limits, structure)
  • Tone and voice principles
  • Examples of strong posts/articles
  • Specific do's and don'ts for each platform

Specialized expertise (technical-writing-principles.md):

  • How to explain complex AI and engineering concepts
  • Writing philosophy: clarity, narrative, actionable insights
  • Specialization guidance for tutorials vs opinion pieces
  • Tone principles for technical authority

Brand frameworks (professional-brand-guidelines.md):

  • Four brand pillars with descriptions
  • Content principles (hook, voice, formatting, engagement)
  • Platform-specific guidance on post types
  • Rule of thumb for different situations

General reference (content-from-sources.md):

  • How to turn podcast notes into posts
  • How to expand a quick thought into a full article
  • Techniques for mining different content sources

These skills are referenced by agents (tech-article-writer, linkedin-content-drafter, x-content-drafter). Each agent has a focused workflow; the skills provide the standards they apply.

Organizing Skills Hierarchically

For larger projects, organize skills in subdirectories:

.claude/skills/
├── social-content/
│   ├── SKILL.md                           # Overview of the entire skill
│   └── references/
│       ├── blog-style-guide.md            # Platform guide
│       ├── technical-writing-principles.md # Specialized expertise
│       ├── professional-brand-guidelines.md # Brand framework
│       └── content-from-sources.md        # General reference
│
├── api-development/
│   ├── SKILL.md
│   └── references/
│       ├── rest-api-patterns.md
│       ├── security-best-practices.md
│       └── performance-guidelines.md

Each subdirectory becomes a skill that agents can reference. The SKILL.md file provides an overview; references/ contains the detailed guidance.

Learn How to Create Claude Skills

Here is a helpful guide on creating Claude skills from scratch: Guide To Agent Skills

Resources

Skills Library

Development

Writing

Media & Content

Planning

Security

Testing

Utilities