How to Create Claude Code Agent Skills in 2026 | Code with Beto

Learn how to create your first Claude agent skill using Claude Code in 2026. Agent skills are markdown files that automate repetitive tasks like coding explanations, email replies, or brand-consistent content creation. You’ll see how to set up skills locally, test them, and integrate them into your workflow.

If you want to be more productive with AI agents, this tutorial is for developers and teams looking to leverage Anthropic’s agent skills to save time and avoid copying context repeatedly. You'll also learn how to generate skills dynamically and use them across projects.

What's inside

Introduction to Claude agent skills and their benefits
Setting up Claude Code and exploring available skills
Creating a simple skill folder and skill.md file
Testing the skill by asking Claude to explain code with diagrams
Using the Anthropic skills repo for examples and skill creation
Building a skill generator to automate skill creation
Demo of a skill for replying to emails with custom templates
When and how to use skills in personal and enterprise projects

Introduction to Claude agent skills and their benefits

Claude agent skills are reusable markdown instructions that you can create and reuse across projects to automate tasks. They help avoid copying and pasting context repeatedly, especially for repetitive or style-specific tasks like writing emails, generating posts, or building branded apps.

Anthropic recently announced these skills as a way to make AI agents more efficient and productive. Claude Code automatically detects when to use a skill, so you don’t have to manually manage context every time. This is a big productivity boost for developers and teams working with AI.

Setting up Claude Code and exploring available skills

To start, you install Claude Code and run the command in your terminal. This creates a folder in your project with a subfolder. You can open this folder in your favorite editor like VS Code or Cursor.

Running in the terminal lets you ask the agent what skills are available. Initially, you might have none, but this command helps you verify your setup and see what skills you have ready to use.

Creating a simple skill folder and skill.md file

Skills live inside the folder, each in its own subfolder named after the skill. Inside that folder, you create a file with the skill’s content.

The skill markdown must have a name and description. For example, a skill called "Explaining Code" can be created by making a folder and adding a file describing how it explains code with visual diagrams.

Claude Code detects new skills automatically when you restart or rerun the CLI.

Testing the skill by asking Claude to explain code with diagrams

Once your skill is created, you can ask Claude to use it. For example, you can ask the agent to explain how a specific app works, and it will use the skill to generate a detailed explanation with diagrams.

I demo this with a premium app called Inkigo, showing how the skill generated a professional data flow diagram and explained complex app components like caching, user journey, and server-side logic.

This shows how skills can encapsulate complex knowledge and reuse it across projects.

Using the Anthropic skills repo for examples and skill creation

Anthropic provides a public repo with many skill examples for documents, PDFs, PPTX, and even a skill to create other skills. You can copy these markdown files into your folder to extend your agent’s capabilities.

The skill creator skill is especially useful because it lets you generate new skills by prompting the agent, speeding up your workflow.

Building a skill generator to automate skill creation

I demonstrate creating a skill generator skill that helps you quickly draft new skills, like one for replying to emails.

You create a new skill folder and file with the generator’s markdown. Then you restart Claude so it recognizes the new skill.

You can then ask the skill generator to create a skill that drafts professional email replies with consistent greetings and signatures, tailored to your style.

Demo of a skill for replying to emails with custom templates

Using the skill generator, I create a skill to reply to emails with a friendly tone and a footer including the sender’s name and role.

You can ask Claude to reply to a real customer email, and it will generate a professional response based on the skill’s template.

This skill can be improved by adding more context or even calling scripts or APIs from within the skill markdown for advanced automation.

When and how to use skills in personal and enterprise projects

Skills are valuable for automating repetitive tasks not only for yourself but also for your team.

You can store skills in your local folder for personal use or bundle them inside project folders for project-scoped skills.

Enterprise users can manage skills centrally in the cloud.

Skills can also be packaged as plugins, making them easy to share and reuse.

Use skills when you want to save time, maintain consistency, and avoid repeating context in your AI workflows.

Resources

Premium resourcePro membership

Get access to private GitHub repos with production-ready projects, source code for Inkigo, and a private Discord for faster shipping.

InkigoAI Tattoo Playground

Premium app source code featured in the video, available for Pro members.

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