Lesson 154 · 3 min
Skills: teach the AI a task once
A skill is a saved recipe of instructions, and sometimes files, that the AI picks up whenever a task calls for it.
You probably have tasks with rules: how your company formats a proposal, which checks to run on an invoice, how to write a product description. Typing those rules into every chat gets old fast.
Some assistants, including Claude, let you package such rules as a skill. A skill is a small folder with a written guide and any examples, templates or helper scripts the task needs. The assistant keeps a short note of what each skill is for and reads the full guide only when a task matches.
That means you can have many skills without crowding every chat. Ask for "a proposal for the Nguyen family order" and the proposal skill comes into play. Ask about the weather and it stays on the shelf.
Write a skill the way you would brief a new hire: the goal, the steps, a good example and a list of common mistakes. Test it on three real tasks and fix whatever it gets wrong. Only add skills from people you trust, since a skill can contain instructions you have not read.
Do it now
Draft your first skill on paper
- 1. Choose one task you explain to AI more than once a week.
- 2. Write the goal, five steps, one good example and three mistakes to avoid.
- 3. Paste it into a chat with the prompt below and test it on a real case.
Here are my instructions for a task I do often: [PASTE YOUR NOTES] Turn them into a clear, reusable guide with sections for Goal, Steps, Example and Common mistakes. Then point out anything unclear.
Quick check
Words from this lesson
- Prompt
- The instruction or question you give an AI. Clearer prompts with context usually get much better answers.
- Context engineering
- Choosing which documents, instructions and history to give an AI so it has exactly what it needs for a task.
- System prompt
- Background instructions set by the app maker, hidden from you, that tell the AI how to behave in every conversation.