Introduction to agent skills
Anthropic
Last updated June 20, 2026
Introduction to agent skills is a free, self-paced course from Anthropic on building, configuring, and sharing Skills in Claude Code — its command-line coding agent. A Skill is a reusable set of instructions in a SKILL.md file that Claude applies automatically to the right task at the right time, so you teach it a procedure once instead of repeating yourself. The course starts with what Skills are and how they differ from other Claude Code customization options like the project memory file, hooks, and subagents, then has you build your first Skill from scratch: writing the frontmatter, crafting a description that reliably triggers the Skill, and organizing the directory with progressive disclosure so it doesn't waste the context window. It goes on to advanced configuration — restricting tool access with allowed-tools, and using scripts that run without consuming context — before turning to distribution: sharing Skills with a team through a repository, spreading them more broadly through plugins, and rolling them out organization-wide with enterprise managed settings. It also shows how to wire Skills into custom subagents and walks through a full troubleshooting guide, from a Skill that won't trigger to priority conflicts and runtime errors. It's a companion to Claude Code 101 and assumes you're already working in Claude Code.
What you'll learn
- What Skills are, and how they differ from the project memory file, hooks, and subagents
- Writing your first Skill: the SKILL.md frontmatter and a description that reliably triggers it
- Organizing a Skill with progressive disclosure to keep the context window efficient
- Restricting tool access with allowed-tools, and using scripts that run without consuming context
- Sharing Skills through a repository, plugins, and enterprise managed settings
- Wiring Skills into custom subagents for isolated task delegation
- Troubleshooting Skills that won't trigger, priority conflicts, and runtime errors
Frequently asked questions about Introduction to agent skills
Who is Introduction to agent skills for?
Developers already working in Claude Code who want to capture repeatable procedures as Skills and share them consistently across a team.
Is Introduction to agent skills free?
Yes — Introduction to agent skills is completely free to take.
What are the prerequisites for Introduction to agent skills?
Familiarity with Claude Code, since Skills are a Claude Code feature — Claude Code 101 is the natural lead-in if it's new to you.
Do you need to code for Introduction to agent skills?
Yes — Introduction to agent skills involves hands-on coding.
Why we suggest this course
A practical next step for anyone already using Claude Code who keeps re-explaining the same procedure — Skills let you capture it once and have Claude apply it automatically. The course goes past defining the feature: you write a real SKILL.md, make its description trigger reliably, keep it context-efficient with progressive disclosure, then share it across a team and troubleshoot it when it misbehaves. It pairs naturally with the already-live Claude Code 101 (start there if Claude Code itself is new) and sits alongside Introduction to subagents as the two ways to extend it. Two things worth knowing: it teaches Anthropic's Claude Code specifically — Skills are a Claude Code feature, not a general coding-agent standard; and you'll need Claude Code installed in your terminal to run the exercises.