Skills with Claude Code

Claude Code is a strong environment for skill development because it combines:

• local filesystem access
• shell/tool execution
• iterative editing in-repo
• agent/subagent workflows

Practical Workflow

1. Add or install the skill collection you want to use (for example from anthropic/skills).
2. Verify available skills from inside Claude Code.
3. Trigger the skill with a clear task prompt.
4. Review generated file diffs and script outputs.
5. Refine SKILL.md description/body until activation and output quality are stable.

Typical Local Paths

• Project-scoped: .claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md
• User-scoped: ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md

High-Value Claude Code Patterns

• Use skill-creator to bootstrap structure quickly.
• Keep deterministic logic in scripts; keep orchestration logic in SKILL.md.
• Use subagents in parallel to evaluate multiple skills against the same checklist.
• Treat skill reviews like code reviews (activation quality, edge cases, output contracts).

Example Prompt Pattern

Use the skill-creator skill to evaluate these two skills against best practices:
1) generating-practice-questions
2) analyzing-time-series

Run evaluations in parallel subagents and produce a short scorecard:
- metadata quality
- workflow clarity
- edge-case handling
- output predictability

Common Pitfalls in Claude Code

• Installing a skill but forgetting to enable/reload it
• Over-trusting generated scaffolding without domain constraints
• Leaving script dependencies implicit
• Validating only happy paths