How to Import Skills into Claude: Complete Guide

Importing skills into Claude Code means placing SKILL.md files where Claude looks for them. There is no installer and no package manager: Claude scans its skills directories at session start, reads the frontmatter of every SKILL.md it finds, and makes those skills available. This guide covers every import route, how to verify the import worked, and what to do when a skill doesn't show up.

Quick Answer: To import skills into Claude Code, download them from a marketplace like Agensi, clone them from GitHub, use the built-in /plugin browser, write them yourself, or copy them from another compatible agent. Personal skills live in ~/.claude/skills/, project skills in .claude/skills/ inside your repo. Each skill needs its own folder with a SKILL.md file at the root, and Claude picks them up on the next session.

Where do imported skills have to end up?

Claude Code reads from two locations:

On Windows the personal path is C:\Users\<username>\.claude\skills\, and inside WSL it is ~/.claude/skills/ within the distribution. Full path details are in Where Are Claude Skills Stored?.

Whichever route you use, the end state must look like this:

~/.claude/skills/code-reviewer/SKILL.md
~/.claude/skills/code-reviewer/references/patterns.md   (optional)

How do I import from a marketplace?

This is the fastest and safest route, because every listing is scanned before publication.

1. Browse agensi.io/skills and open a skill.
2. Click Download (free skills) or Buy (paid skills).
3. Unzip it into your skills directory:

unzip skill-name.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

4. Start a new Claude Code session.

If you prefer a single command, the install endpoint streams the skill straight into place:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && \
  curl -sL https://www.agensi.io/api/install/<slug> | tar xz -C ~/.claude/skills/

Marketplace skills also carry a version, so when a creator ships an update you can re-download and overwrite the folder instead of hunting for a changed file in a repo.

How do I import from GitHub?

git clone https://github.com/author/skill-repo.git
cp -r skill-repo/skill-name ~/.claude/skills/

Two things to check afterwards. First, folder depth: a GitHub zip often creates skill-name/skill-name/SKILL.md, and Claude ignores the skill if SKILL.md is nested one level too deep. Move the inner folder up one level. Second, the content itself. GitHub skills are unvetted, so read the SKILL.md end to end and open anything in scripts/. Be wary of instructions that read credentials, touch files outside the project, or make network calls you didn't expect. For what a review should cover, see how the Agensi security scan works.

How do I import through the plugin browser?

Type /plugin in any Claude Code session to open the built-in marketplace browser, then select a skill to install it. This handles the download and placement for you, but the catalogue is smaller than a dedicated marketplace and there is no security report attached to each entry.

How do I import a skill I wrote myself?

Writing one from scratch takes a minute:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/my-skill

Create ~/.claude/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md:

---
name: my-skill
description: Enforces our API error-handling conventions when writing endpoints.
---

# My Skill

- Return typed error objects, never raw strings
- Log with the request ID from context
- Never swallow an exception without a comment explaining why

The description field is what Claude matches your request against, so it should say both what the skill does and when to use it. See How to Write a SKILL.md Description That Actually Triggers and the SKILL.md format reference for every supported field.

How do I import skills from another agent?

SKILL.md is a cross-agent standard, so an existing skill folder works unchanged:

# From OpenClaw
cp -r ~/.openclaw/skills/skill-name ~/.claude/skills/

# From Codex CLI
cp -r ~/.codex/skills/skill-name ~/.claude/skills/

Only the directory differs per agent: ~/.claude/skills/ for Claude Code, ~/.openclaw/skills/ for OpenClaw, ~/.codex/skills/ for Codex CLI, and .cursor/skills/ (project-level) for Cursor.

How do I import skills for my whole team?

Put them in the repository instead of your home directory:

mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -r ~/.claude/skills/team-review .claude/skills/
git add .claude/skills && git commit -m "Add team review skill"

Every teammate who pulls the repo now has the same skill, with no individual setup. Project skills take precedence over personal skills with the same name, so a repo can enforce its own house rules without wiping anyone's personal setup.

How do I verify the import worked?

ls ~/.claude/skills/skill-name/SKILL.md

If the file exists at that exact path, start a new session and ask Claude "what skills do you have available?" — it lists them by name.

When a skill doesn't appear, it is almost always one of these:

• Wrong depth. SKILL.md is nested inside a second folder.
• Wrong filename. It must be exactly SKILL.md; on Linux and macOS the casing matters.
• Invalid frontmatter. A missing name or description, or a YAML syntax error, makes Claude skip the file.
• Same session. Skills load at session startup, so restart after importing.
• Hidden folder on Windows. Enable "Hidden items" in Explorer to see .claude.

Which skills should I import first?

Start with a small set that covers daily work: a code reviewer, a commit-message writer, and a documentation generator. Pick them from the best Claude Code skills of 2026 or the free skills list, then add more once you see which ones actually trigger during your workflow. Importing dozens at once mostly makes it harder for Claude to pick the right one.

---

Import security-scanned skills from Agensi.