Claude.ai

Use a skill in Claude.ai

No terminal for this one. Zip the skill folder, upload it once, and Claude can use it in any chat on your account, on every plan from Free up.

Free and paid plansNo command lineWorks across every chat
Step 1 of 4
Zip the folder, not what is inside it
Right
sponsor-outreach.zipsponsor-outreach/SKILL.md
Rejected
sponsor-outreach.zipSKILL.md

Zip the folder, not the files

The zip has to contain the skill folder itself, with SKILL.md inside it. Selecting the files and zipping those is the single most common reason an upload is rejected.

The one that catches people out. Zipping the contents instead of the folder. The zip must open to a folder with SKILL.md inside it, a bare SKILL.md at the top level of the zip is turned away.

A skill is not the same as a project file

Dropping a file into a Project gives Claude reference material for chats inside that one project. A skill is installed on your account, works everywhere, and Claude decides when to use it from the description you wrote. They are easy to confuse and they behave very differently.

Using something else?