What Is a Skill?

A skill is a set of instructions you give Claude that teaches it how to handle a specific workflow. Instead of typing out detailed instructions every time you want Claude to do something complex, you write the instructions once, save them to Claude, and then trigger the workflow with a single short prompt.

Skills are stored as Markdown files (.md) and pasted into Claude's Project Instructions. Once installed, Claude reads them automatically at the start of every conversation in that Project — you never have to explain the process again.

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Example: The meeting-to-asana skill is a 150-line instruction file. Without it, you'd have to explain the 5-phase workflow every time. With it, one sentence — "Run the meeting-to-asana skill" — triggers the whole thing.

Anatomy of a Skill File

A skill file is a plain text Markdown file with two parts: a front matter block that tells Claude when to activate the skill, and the instruction body that tells Claude what to do.

Skill File Sections

Section What It Contains Why It Matters
Front matter name, description Tells Claude when to activate the skill. The description is the trigger — write it to match the phrases people will actually say.
Role definition You are acting as… Sets Claude's persona for this workflow. Be specific: "a focused project manager" not just "an assistant."
Phases / steps Phase 1, Phase 2… Breaks the workflow into sequential stages. Claude works through each one in order and doesn't skip ahead.
Output formats Show to user for confirmation Defines exactly what Claude shows you at each checkpoint before taking action. Controls the confirmation flow.
Quality standards Task quality standards Rules Claude follows when creating output — naming conventions, what to include in descriptions, when to leave fields blank.
Edge cases Handling Edge Cases Instructions for uncommon situations — missing data, ambiguous inputs, no matching project, etc.

Example Skill File

Plain Text — Skill File 
---
name: weekly-status-report
description: Generate a weekly project status report. Trigger when the user asks
  for a status report, weekly summary, or project update. Pull from Asana and
  Granola to summarize completed work, open tasks, and blockers.
---

# Weekly Status Report Skill

You are acting as a focused project reporter. Your job is to:
1. Pull completed and open tasks from Asana for each active project
2. Pull relevant meeting notes from Granola for the week
3. Generate a structured status report and confirm before sending

## Phase 1: Gather Data
- Call get_projects to find active projects
- For each project, call get_tasks filtered to this week
- Call list_meetings with time_range: this_week

## Phase 2: Draft Report
Format as: Project Name / Completed / In Progress / Blockers / Next Steps
Show draft to user and ask: "Does this look right before I send?"

## Phase 3: Deliver
Post to Slack #ops-team or email — ask user which they prefer.
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Tip: Keep skills focused on one workflow. A skill that does too many things becomes hard for Claude to follow reliably. If you want multiple workflows, create multiple skill files.

How to Install a Skill Setup

Skills are installed by pasting the skill file contents into the Project Instructions of a Claude Project. There are two paths depending on whether you're installing for yourself only or for the whole team.

Option A — Install for Yourself (Personal Project)
  1. Open the skill file — Open the .md file in any text editor. Select all (Ctrl+A / Cmd+A) and copy the entire contents.
  2. Go to claude.ai and open Projects — Click Projects in the left sidebar. If you don't have a Project yet, click New Project and give it a name.
  3. Open Project Instructions — Inside your Project, click the Edit Instructions button. This opens the system prompt field for that Project.
  4. Paste the skill — Paste the full contents of the skill file into the instructions field. If you already have other instructions there, add the skill below them with a blank line in between.
  5. Save — Click Save or Done. The skill is now active for every conversation you start inside this Project.
  6. Test it — Start a new chat inside the Project and use the trigger phrase from the skill's description. Claude should recognize the workflow and begin the process.
Option B — Install for the Team (Shared Project)

Use this when you want everyone on the Praxent Team plan to have access. An admin sets it up once and the whole team gets it automatically.

  1. Create a shared Project — Go to claude.ai → Projects → New Project. Name it something like "Praxent AI Assistant" or "Ops Workflows."
  2. Add the skill to Project Instructions — Open the Project → Edit Instructions → paste the skill file contents → Save.
  3. Invite teammates — In Project settings, add team members by email. Anyone on the Praxent Team plan can be added.
  4. Each person connects their own integrations — Skills that use Granola, Asana, or Gmail require each person to connect their own account under Settings → Integrations. The Project handles the skill logic; the integrations stay personal.
  5. Announce and share the trigger phrase — Let the team know the Project is ready and what prompt to use. Share the skill's how-to doc so people know what to expect.
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Note: Skills in a shared Project are visible to all members. Don't include sensitive information, personal credentials, or private routing logic in a shared skill file.

Personal vs. Shared Project — Which to Use?

  Personal (Project Instructions) Shared (Team Project)
Who has access Just you Everyone invited to the Project
Setup effort 2 minutes — paste and save 5 minutes — create Project, paste, invite team
Best for Testing a skill or personal workflows Team-wide rollout on Team or Enterprise plan
Skill updates Edit your own Project Instructions Admin edits once, everyone gets the update instantly
Integrations Each person connects their own Each person still connects their own — auth stays personal

Installing Multiple Skills

You can install more than one skill in a single Project by pasting multiple skill files into the Project Instructions, one after another. Claude reads all of them and activates the right one based on what you ask.

Project Instructions — Multiple Skills 
# ── SKILL 1: Meeting → Asana ──────────────────
# (paste full contents of meeting-to-asana-SKILL.md here)


# ── SKILL 2: Weekly Status Report ─────────────
# (paste full contents of weekly-status-report-SKILL.md here)
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Tip: Use a comment header (# ── SKILL NAME ──) between skills to keep the instructions file readable. Claude ignores comment lines but they help you stay organized when editing.

Updating a Skill

  1. Open the Project — Go to claude.ai → Projects → select the Project containing the skill.
  2. Edit Instructions — Click Edit Instructions to open the instructions field.
  3. Find and edit the skill — Locate the skill section you want to update and make your changes directly in the text.
  4. Save — Click Save. The updated skill takes effect immediately for all new conversations.
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Tip: For shared Projects, only the Project admin can edit the instructions. If you need a skill updated and aren't the admin, ask whoever created the Project.

Writing Your Own Skill

You can build a skill for any repeatable workflow. Here's the process:

1
Identify the workflow

A good skill candidate is something you do repeatedly that involves multiple steps, requires Claude to call integrations, or needs consistent output formatting. Ask yourself: am I explaining the same process to Claude more than once a week?

  • Good candidates: status reports, recruiting digests, onboarding checklists, meeting prep briefs, contract review workflows
  • Poor candidates: one-off tasks, things that change every time, simple questions that don't need a process
2
Write the front matter

Start with the YAML front matter block. The description field is the most important — write it using the exact phrases people will naturally say:

YAML front matter 
---
name: your-skill-name
description: Describe what this skill does and list the trigger phrases that should
  activate it. Use natural language — "when the user asks for X", "trigger when
  the user says Y or Z". The more specific, the better.
---
3
Define the phases

Break the workflow into sequential phases. Each phase should have a clear purpose and specify when Claude pauses to show you output or ask for confirmation. Never build a skill that takes action without a confirmation step.

1
Gather
What data does Claude need to fetch?
2
Process
What does Claude do with that data?
3
Show & Confirm
What does Claude show you before acting?
4
Execute
What action does Claude take after confirmation?
5
Report
How does Claude summarize what was done?
4
Add quality standards and edge cases

Tell Claude exactly how to handle outputs and what to do when things go wrong:

  • Naming conventions for tasks, cards, or files Claude creates
  • What to include in descriptions (always include context like meeting name and date)
  • When to leave fields blank vs. make a best guess (lean toward blank)
  • What to do if a required integration is missing or returns no data
  • What to do if the user's request is ambiguous
5
Test and refine

Install the skill in a personal Project first and run it a few times before sharing it with the team. After each run, note anything Claude did that surprised you and add a rule to handle it. Most skills need 2–3 test runs before they're ready for team use.

Quick Reference

Task How
Install a skill for yourself Projects → New/Open Project → Edit Instructions → Paste skill → Save
Install for the team Create a shared Project → paste skill → invite teammates
Add multiple skills Paste them one after another in Project Instructions with a comment header between them
Update a skill Projects → Open Project → Edit Instructions → Edit text → Save
Trigger a skill Use the phrase from the skill's description field in any chat inside the Project
Test before sharing Install in a personal Project first, run 2–3 times, then move to shared Project
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Praxent skill files: All published Praxent skill files are stored in Guru under the AI Adoption collection. Download the .md file, paste it into your Project Instructions, and you're set.

Community-Built Skills

Skills and Claude Code workflows submitted to the AI Innovation Challenge or featured in office hours. Click any card to see the full write-up in Guru or watch the recording.

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