> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/anthropics/skills/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Getting started

> Learn how to use Anthropic skills to teach Claude specialized workflows and improve performance on custom tasks

Skills are folders of instructions, scripts, and resources that Claude loads dynamically to improve performance on specialized tasks. Skills teach Claude how to complete specific tasks in a repeatable way, whether that's creating documents with your company's brand guidelines, analyzing data using your organization's specific workflows, or automating personal tasks.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="What are skills?" icon="lightbulb" href="/what-are-skills">
    Understand how skills work and the progressive disclosure system
  </Card>

  <Card title="Installation" icon="download" href="/installation">
    Get started with skills in Claude Code, Claude.ai, or the API
  </Card>

  <Card title="Creating skills" icon="code" href="/creating-skills/overview">
    Build your first custom skill with the template and examples
  </Card>

  <Card title="Example skills" icon="folder-open" href="/skills/overview">
    Explore skills for documents, design, development, and more
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What you can build

This repository contains skills that demonstrate what's possible with Claude's skills system:

**Document skills** - Create, edit, and process documents with production-quality capabilities:

* **PDF** - Extract text/tables, merge/split PDFs, fill forms, add watermarks, OCR scanned documents
* **Word** - Create formatted documents with tables of contents, track changes, add comments
* **PowerPoint** - Generate presentations with custom themes and layouts
* **Excel** - Build spreadsheets with formulas, charts, and formatting

**Development skills** - Build and test applications:

* **MCP builder** - Generate Model Context Protocol servers for external integrations
* **Web artifacts builder** - Create interactive web components and visualizations
* **Webapp testing** - Automated testing workflows for web applications
* **Skill creator** - Meta-skill for creating and optimizing new skills

**Creative skills** - Design and artistic tools:

* **Algorithmic art** - Generate visual art through code
* **Canvas design** - Create visual designs and layouts
* **Frontend design** - Build UI components with best practices
* **Theme factory** - Generate and apply visual themes

**Enterprise skills** - Communication and branding:

* **Brand guidelines** - Apply Anthropic's official brand colors and typography
* **Internal comms** - Write newsletters, FAQs, and company updates
* **Doc coauthoring** - Collaborative document creation workflows
* **Slack GIF creator** - Generate custom GIFs for team communication

## How skills improve Claude

Skills enable Claude to:

* **Follow specialized workflows** - Load task-specific instructions when needed
* **Access bundled resources** - Use scripts, templates, and reference materials
* **Maintain consistency** - Apply company standards and style guidelines
* **Handle complex tasks** - Break down multi-step processes into reliable patterns
* **Scale expertise** - Share knowledge across teams and use cases

## Quick start

The fastest way to try skills:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install in Claude Code">
    Add the skills marketplace:

    ```bash theme={null}
    /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills
    ```

    Then install a skill set:

    ```bash theme={null}
    /plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Use a skill">
    Just mention what you want to do:

    "Use the PDF skill to extract the form fields from `path/to/file.pdf`"

    Claude will automatically load and use the relevant skill.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  These skills are provided for demonstration and educational purposes. While some capabilities may be available in Claude, implementations may differ from what is shown here. Always test skills thoroughly in your own environment.
</Note>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Understand skills" icon="book" href="/what-are-skills">
    Learn about the progressive disclosure system and how skills are structured
  </Card>

  <Card title="Install skills" icon="rocket" href="/installation">
    Set up skills in your preferred environment
  </Card>
</CardGroup>