Chapter 13 · CLI
Skills and custom commands
Skills are packages of knowledge and procedures that teach Claude how to perform recurring work in your domain. Custom commands add your own shortcuts to the session. Both turn team knowledge into an asset that runs on demand.
Video
Steps
- Learn the skill structure: a directory with SKILL.md holding instructions, and review existing skills before creating a new one.
- Create a skill for a repeated process: what triggers it, which tools it may use and what output to expect.
- Custom slash commands save retyping recurring prompts; store them in the project or user commands directory.
- After creating or changing, reload and verify the skill or command loads and works in a new session.
Common pitfall: A skill that covers everything is useless: the narrower and better defined its domain, the more precise its activation and the fewer clashes with others.
Hands-on exercise: Create a short custom command for a prompt you type often, and verify it works in a new session.
Filmed demo · Video is added in the media phase
Recap
Comprehension check
What is a skill in Claude Code?
Recap
- SKILL.md defines the skill domain
- Custom commands for recurring prompts
- Reload and verify after changes