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How Do You Install a Claude Skill from GitHub? Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Cowrie
Cowrie
Dev @ Bswen

Purpose

This post demonstrates how to install community-created Claude skills from GitHub repositories. You will learn the complete process for both Claude.ai web interface and Claude Code CLI.

Environment

  • Claude.ai (web interface)
  • Claude Code CLI (optional)
  • GitHub repository with a skill

What is a Claude Skill?

A Claude skill is a modular package that extends Claude’s capabilities with specialized knowledge. Skills use a progressive disclosure model - they load only when triggered, keeping context efficient.

Community members share skills on GitHub. The question is: how do you install them?

Installing from GitHub to Claude.ai

Step 1: Find a skill on GitHub

I found the prompt-master skill on GitHub that I wanted to try. The repository URL was:

https://github.com/nidhinjs/prompt-master

Step 2: Download the ZIP

On the GitHub repository page:

Download steps
1. Click the green "Code" button
2. Select "Download ZIP"
3. Save the file to your computer

The ZIP file contains the skill directory with all reference files included.

Step 3: Upload to Claude.ai

In Claude.ai:

Upload steps
1. Open Claude.ai in your browser
2. Click the sidebar menu (three lines icon)
3. Select "Customize"
4. Click "Upload skill" or drag-and-drop the ZIP
5. The skill installs automatically

That’s it. The skill is now available in your Claude.ai session.

Step 4: Verify installation

To check if the skill installed correctly:

Verification
1. Start a new conversation
2. Type a message that matches the skill's trigger description
3. Claude should activate the skill automatically

For the prompt-master skill, I asked Claude to help me write a prompt, and it triggered the skill.

Installing for Claude Code CLI

I also wanted to use the skill in Claude Code (the VS Code extension). The process is different.

Method 1: Manual installation

Install skill manually
# Navigate to your Claude skills directory
cd ~/.claude/skills


# Create the skill directory
mkdir -p prompt-master


# Extract the ZIP contents
unzip ~/Downloads/prompt-master-main.zip -d prompt-master/

Method 2: Clone directly

If you have git installed:

Clone skill repository
cd ~/.claude/skills
git clone https://github.com/nidhinjs/prompt-master.git

Verify Claude Code installation

Check skill directory
ls ~/.claude/skills/prompt-master/

You should see the SKILL.md file and any reference files.

What I tried that didn’t work

Attempt 1: Direct URL upload

I tried pasting the GitHub URL directly into Claude.ai’s Customize menu. This didn’t work - Claude.ai requires a local file upload, not a URL.

Attempt 2: Extracting then uploading

I extracted the ZIP first, then tried to upload the extracted folder. Claude.ai rejected this - it needs the ZIP file, not the extracted directory.

Attempt 3: Renaming to .skill extension

I saw some documentation mention .skill files. I renamed my ZIP to prompt-master.skill and tried uploading. This worked, but so did the regular .zip extension. Both formats are accepted.

How to uninstall a skill

After installing several skills, I wanted to remove one. Here’s how:

Uninstall steps
1. Open Claude.ai
2. Go to Customize in the sidebar
3. Find the skill in your installed skills list
4. Click the delete/remove button

For Claude Code CLI:

Remove skill from CLI
rm -rf ~/.claude/skills/prompt-master

The reason this works

Claude skills are self-contained packages. The ZIP file includes:

Skill package structure
prompt-master/
├── SKILL.md           # Required: skill definition
├── references/        # Optional: documentation
├── scripts/           # Optional: executable code
└── assets/            # Optional: templates, images

When you upload the ZIP, Claude.ai extracts it and registers the skill. The SKILL.md file contains the name and description fields that Claude uses to decide when to trigger the skill.

Summary

In this post, I showed how to install Claude skills from GitHub. The key point is downloading the repository as a ZIP and uploading it through Claude.ai’s Customize menu.

For Claude.ai:

  1. Download ZIP from GitHub
  2. Upload via Customize menu
  3. Skill installs automatically

For Claude Code CLI:

  1. Extract ZIP to ~/.claude/skills/
  2. Or clone directly with git

The process is straightforward once you know where to look. Community skills extend Claude’s capabilities without manual configuration.

Final Words + More Resources

My intention with this article was to help others share my knowledge and experience. If you want to contact me, you can contact by email: Email me

Here are also the most important links from this article along with some further resources that will help you in this scope:

Oh, and if you found these resources useful, don’t forget to support me by starring the repo on GitHub!

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