If you regularly give ChatGPT or Claude the same instructions, there’s a better option: Skills.
A Skill is a saved set of instructions for a particular type of task. It can tell the AI what to do, what rules to follow, what a good result looks like, and when those instructions should be used.
Skills can also contain examples, reference material and, for more advanced uses, code. ChatGPT and Claude can then use an appropriate Skill when your request matches the job it was created for.
Why Would You Create a Skill?
Imagine that every week you ask an AI to summarize a meeting. Each time, you give it the same instructions: “keep the summary under 200 words,” “list action items on top of the agenda,” etc.
Instead of copying those instructions into every conversation, you could create a Meeting Summary Skill containing those rules.
For a one-off task, there is little reason to create a Skill. The useful candidates are usually hiding in prompts you already reuse.
Where to Find Skills in Claude
In Claude, open your Settings, Customize, then Skills.
Claude includes Skills for some common tasks which are created on its own, and you can add your own. Once a Skill is enabled, you normally continue talking to Claude as usual. You don’t have to remember a special command every time. Claude can choose the relevant Skill from the request you give it.
You can create a Skill in Claude in several ways. The simplest option is to ask Claude to create one for you. Describe the task, explain how you want it done, and tell Claude what the finished result should look like. Claude can turn those instructions into a Skill that you can review and save.
You can also create a Skill yourself by writing its instructions in a SKILL.md file. Include the Skill’s name, when it should be used, the steps Claude should follow, and any examples or reference files that might help. Put the file in a folder, compress the folder into a ZIP file, and upload it from Customize > Skills.
If someone has already created a Skill, you can upload their ZIP file instead of making one from scratch. For example, if a coworker has created a Skill for turning weekly project updates into a management summary, they can share it with you. After you add it in Customize > Skills, you can give Claude your project notes and ask for the summary.
Claude can recognize that the shared Skill applies and follow its instructions automatically. Before using a Skill created by someone else, check what it does and make sure you trust its instructions and any files or code it contains.
Where to Find Skills in ChatGPT
In ChatGPT, go to the sidebar and select Plugins, then open the Skills tab in the Plugin Directory.
You’ll see Skills you have installed or created, along with Skills that have been shared with you or your workspace.
For a beginner, creating one is straightforward. Go to Skills > Create > Create with chat. You can then describe the job in ordinary language and ChatGPT will turn it into a Skill. Eligible accounts also include a skill-creator Skill that ChatGPT uses when helping you build or modify one.
You might type: “Create a Skill for reviewing our weekly project updates. Keep the summary short, identify anything running late, separate risks from general updates, and finish with the decisions management needs to make.”
ChatGPT can ask questions about how you want the process to work before you install the finished Skill. If you want more control, there’s also an editor where you can work on the Skill directly or upload one you already have. You can also just upload the created skill into your ChatGPT account.
A Good First Skill is Usually a Small One
It can be tempting to create something called "Help me with my work" and fill it with every instruction you can think of. That gives the AI a fairly vague job.
A better place to start is one task you can describe clearly.
For example, "Turn my weekly project notes into our management update" gives the Skill a recognizable situation and a defined result. You can tell it when to use the Skill, explain the process you normally follow, describe the output you expect, and include an example if you have one.
Then try it on several real requests. If the AI applies the Skill when you expect it to and the result needs fewer corrections, it’s doing its job.
One simple way to find your first Skill is to look back at the prompts you have used over the past few weeks. Find the sentence you seem to type again and again. That's the instruction worth saving.
