Distribution and sharing

Skills make your MCP integration more complete. As users compare connectors, those with skills offer a faster path to value, giving you an edge over MCP-only alternatives.

Current distribution model (January 2026)

How individual users get skills:

1. 1. Download the skill folder
2. 2. Zip the folder (if needed)
3. 3. Upload to Claude.ai via Settings > Capabilities > Skills
4. 4. Or place in Claude Code skills directory

Organization-level skills:

• • Admins can deploy skills workspace-wide (shipped December 18, 2025)
• • Automatic updates
• • Centralized management

An open standard

We've published Agent Skills as an open standard. Like MCP, we believe skills should be portable across tools and platforms - the same skill should work whether you're using Claude or other AI platforms. That said, some skills are designed to take full advantage of a specific platform's capabilities; authors can note this in the skill's compatibility field. We've been collaborating with members of the ecosystem on the standard, and we're excited by early adoption.

Using skills via API

For programmatic use cases - such as building applications, agents, or automated workflows that leverage skills - the API provides direct control over skill management and execution.

Key capabilities:

• • /v1/skills endpoint for listing and managing skills
• • Add skills to Messages API requests via the container.skills parameter
• • Version control and management through the Claude Console
• • Works with the Claude Agent SDK for building custom agents

When to use skills via the API vs. Claude.ai: