anthropics/skills — Public repository for Agent Skills
by Anthropic
The canonical example set for the Agent Skills format, from the team that created it.
Overview
anthropics/skills is Anthropic's public reference repository for Agent Skills, the open folder format for extending AI agents with specialised knowledge. It is organised into four top-level directories: skills/ holds worked examples, spec/ carries the Agent Skills specification, template/ provides a starting skeleton, and .claude-plugin/ registers the repo as a Claude Code plugin marketplace. The examples span creative and design work, development and technical tasks such as testing web apps and generating MCP servers, enterprise communication and branding workflows, and four document skills — skills/docx, skills/pdf, skills/pptx and skills/xlsx — that back Anthropic's own file-generation features. Every skill is a self-contained folder whose SKILL.md carries YAML frontmatter with two mandatory fields, name (lowercase, hyphenated) and description (what the skill does and when to use it), followed by markdown instructions, examples and guidelines, plus optional scripts/, references/ and assets/ subfolders that agents load on demand through progressive disclosure. Licensing is deliberately split: most skills are Apache 2.0, while the four document skills are source-available rather than open source, published as reference implementations of production-grade skills. Installation is documented for Claude Code (/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills), claude.ai upload, and the Skills API. Created in September 2025, the repo carries 169,610 stars and 20,194 forks and is still actively pushed.
At a Glance
- Topic
- Skills
- Level
- Intermediate
- Format
- Documentation
- Cost
- Free
- Duration
- ~1-2 hours to read the spec, template and two reference skills
- Provider
- Anthropic
- Hands-on
- Yes — code/exercises
- Certificate
- None
What You’ll Learn
- ✓How a SKILL.md is structured: YAML frontmatter plus markdown instructions
- ✓The two mandatory frontmatter fields, name and description, and their constraints
- ✓How Anthropic organises skills into scripts, references and asset subdirectories
- ✓Reading production-grade reference implementations for docx, pdf, pptx and xlsx generation
- ✓Installing skills into Claude Code via the plugin marketplace commands
- ✓Which parts are Apache 2.0 and which are source-available only
- ✓How progressive disclosure keeps many skills loaded at small context cost
Highlights
- •Written by the team that created the format — this is the canonical example set
- •169,610 stars and 20,194 forks make it the most-forked skills corpus available anywhere
- •The four document skills are real production implementations, not toy demonstrations
- •Ships a spec/ directory and a template/ skeleton, so you start from a working shell
- •Doubles as an installable Claude Code plugin marketplace, so the examples run in minutes
Who It’s For
Best For
- ✓Engineers writing their first Agent Skill and wanting a working reference
- ✓Teams standardising internal workflows into portable, version-controlled skill folders
- ✓Developers evaluating whether Skills or MCP is the right extension point
Prerequisites
- •Comfort with git, YAML frontmatter and reading markdown-based instructions
- •Access to Claude Code, a paid claude.ai plan, or the Claude API to run the skills
FAQ
What is anthropics/skills — Public repository for Agent Skills?
Anthropic's public reference repository for Agent Skills: the open folder format that packages procedural knowledge for AI agents. It holds the specification, a starter template, and dozens of worked example skills including the production document skills for docx, pdf, pptx and xlsx. For engineers writing their first skill or standardising team workflows into portable folders.
Is anthropics/skills — Public repository for Agent Skills free?
anthropics/skills — Public repository for Agent Skills is free to access.
What level is anthropics/skills — Public repository for Agent Skills for?
anthropics/skills — Public repository for Agent Skills is aimed at a intermediate audience. Recommended background: Comfort with git, YAML frontmatter and reading markdown-based instructions, Access to Claude Code, a paid claude.ai plan, or the Claude API to run the skills.
How long does anthropics/skills — Public repository for Agent Skills take?
Expect roughly ~1-2 hours to read the spec, template and two reference skills. Most learners work through it at their own pace.
What will I learn from anthropics/skills — Public repository for Agent Skills?
You'll learn: How a SKILL.md is structured: YAML frontmatter plus markdown instructions; The two mandatory frontmatter fields, name and description, and their constraints; How Anthropic organises skills into scripts, references and asset subdirectories; Reading production-grade reference implementations for docx, pdf, pptx and xlsx generation; Installing skills into Claude Code via the plugin marketplace commands; Which parts are Apache 2.0 and which are source-available only; How progressive disclosure keeps many skills loaded at small context cost.
Topics
Sources
This page was written from 4 sources, 3 on domains other than github.com.