How to Install Skills on Claude Code — Step by Step Guide(2026)

What are skills and why install them

Skills are Markdown files (.md) that you add to Claude Code to give him specialized knowledge on a subject. Without skills, Claude only uses general knowledge of the model. With skills, he starts to follow frameworks, rules and good practices in a specific area.

In practice, a skill works like a detailed briefing. Imagine that you hired a copywriter and, before he started, delivered a document with the brand's tone of voice, the frameworks he should use (PAS, AIDA, BAB), the mistakes he should never make and examples of the type of results you expect. This is a skill.

The difference is that you configure it once and Claude automatically follows these instructions in every conversation that uses that skill. You don't need to repeat the prompt every time.

Claude Code supports two types of installation:

• Local skills (per project):stay in the folder.claude/skills/within the project directory. They are only loaded when you open Claude Code in that project.
• Global skills (all projects):stay in~/.claude/skills/in your user's home folder. They are loaded into any project you open.

For most uses, global skills are the best option — you install them once and they're available everywhere.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, confirm that you have:

• Claude Code installed— if you haven't installed it yet, follow Anthropic's official documentation atdocs.anthropic.com. Claude Code runs in the terminal (Mac, Linux or Windows with WSL).
• Open terminal— on Mac, use Terminal or iTerm2. On Linux, any terminal emulator. On Windows, use WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux).
• Access to the skills pack— you receive the download link by email immediately after purchase.

Step 1 — Download the skills pack

After purchase, you will receive an email with the download link. The file comes in format.zipcontaining all files.mdorganized by category.

Click the link and save the file in the Downloads folder on your computer. The file name will be something likeminhaskills-mega-bundle.zip ou minhaskills-mega-bundle.zip.

Step 2 — Extract the files

You can extract it using the Finder (Mac), file explorer (Linux) or the terminal. Using the terminal is faster:

After extraction, you will have a folder with all the files.mdorganized. Each file is an independent skill.

Step 3 — Copy to the correct folder

Now you need to copy the files to where Claude Code looks for skills. You have two options:

Option A: Global installation (recommended)

Global skills are available in all projects. Ideal for skills you use frequently.

Option B: Local installation (by project)

Local skills are within a specific project. Ideal for skills that only make sense in that context.

Step 4 — Check that Claude has detected

Claude Code automatically loads skills when starting a conversation. There is no "install" command — if the file.mdIt's in the right folder, Claude can now use it.

To confirm, open Claude Code and ask directly:

Claude will list the skills he detected. If you installed the Mega Bundle, it should mention copywriting, SEO, tracking skills, etc.

Another way to check and use the command/skillswithin the Claude Code (available in recent versions). It shows the list of skills loaded in the current session.

Step 5 — Test with a prompt

The best way to test and request something that the skill covers. For example, if you installed the copywriting skill for ads:

Without the skill, Claude would generate generic headlines. With the copywriting skill, he will apply frameworks such as PAS (Problem-Agitation-Solution), use mental triggers suitable for the audience and follow good copy practices for social media ads — all automatically.

You will notice the difference in the quality and specificity of the answers. Claude stops "inventing" and starts following professional processes.

Complete folder structure

For reference, this is the folder structure that Claude Code expects:

Important rules:

• Files must have the extension.md(Markdown)
• The file name doesn't matter to Claude — he reads the content, not the name. But descriptive names help you stay organized.
• You can create subfolders withinskills/to organize by category (ex:skills/marketing/, skills/dev/)
• There is no skill limit. You may have dozens or hundreds of files.
• Project local skills take priority over global skills if there is a conflict.

Practical example: installing and using copywriting skill

Let's do the complete process from scratch. Suppose you just purchased the Mega Bundle.

1. Download and extraction

2. Global installation

3. Open Claude Code and test

With the email copywriting skill installed, Claude will:

• Use the appropriate structure for launch emails (subject, preview text, body, CTA)
• Apply mental triggers relevant to the audience
• Follow good deliverability practices (length, formatting, links)
• Include subject line variations for A/B testing

All this without you having to explain in the prompt how to write a good email. The skill already contains these instructions.

Troubleshooting: skills don't appear?

If you have installed the skills but Claude doesn't seem to be using them, check these points:

1. Wrong folder

The most common mistake. Confirm the exact path:

2. Wrong extension

Files must have the extension.md. Check that they have not been left with.md.txtor another double extension (common on Windows):

3. Old talk

Claude loads skills at the beginning of each conversation. If you added skills with an already open conversation, Claude may not have loaded them. Solution:

Or close and reopen Claude Code in the terminal.

4. File permissions

Claude Code needs read permission on the files. If you copied from an external source, check:

5. Empty or corrupted file

Check if the file has contents:

If the file has 0 lines, ZIP extraction may have failed. Download again and re-extract.