# Skills in Claude Code: where they live, how to install a plugin, how to check > A free one-page cheat sheet for skills in Claude Code: read a SKILL.md, find project and personal skills, install document-skills and check it worked. Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/cheat-sheets/claude-skills-code · Updated 2026-10-20 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) [Lesson cheat sheet](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/cheat-sheets#kind-lesson) · One page · US letter · Claude Code · [Claude](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/tool/claude) By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about) · Published October 20, 2026 · From the free lesson [Install Skills in Claude Code: the Skills Folder and a Plugin Marketplace](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/install-skills-in-claude-code) A free one-page cheat sheet for skills in Claude Code: read a SKILL.md, find project and personal skills, install document-skills and check it worked. [Download the free PDF (80 KB)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/cheat-sheets/claude-skills-code.pdf)Print this sheet Free, no sign-up and no email needed. It prints on one letter-size page; the whole sheet is below. *▶*StepthroughFree printable cheat sheet · learn.ynteractive.com Skills in Claude Code: where they live, how to install a plugin, how to check Claude Code uses skills too: a folder with a **SKILL.md** file that Claude reads when a task calls for it. Riverbend Florist is a made-up shop. ## Where skills live **Project skills** `.claude/skills` inside a project. Anyone working in that folder gets them. **Personal skills** `~/.claude/skills` in your home folder, for every project. On Windows: `C:\Users\\.claude\skills`. **Plugin skills** Installed from a marketplace and named after the plugin first, like `document-skills:xlsx`. ## Install Anthropic's document skills 1. Type `claude` and press **Enter** to start Claude Code in your project folder. 2. Run `/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills`. It is added as **anthropic-agent-skills**. 3. Run `/plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills`. 4. Read **Plugin details** and **Will install**, then pick **Install for you (user scope)** for every project on this computer. 5. Run `/reload-plugins` so it works without a restart. ## Check it worked - `/plugin`, then the **Installed** tab: **document-skills**, enabled. - `/skills`: **docx**, **pdf**, **pptx** and **xlsx** appear, locked on by the plugin, next to your project skills. - To remove a plugin, open `/plugin`, go to **Installed** and uninstall it there. ## Use it Copy ```text Make this week's [REPORT NAME] from [FILE NAME] as an Excel file. ``` Don't name a skill. Claude asks before it creates a file and before it runs a command: read each request, then pick **1. Yes**. **Remember:** The description in each SKILL.md tells Claude when to use it. Plugins can run code, so only install them from people you trust. Practice it free: [Install Skills in Claude Code: the Skills Folder and a Plugin Marketplace](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/claude-skills-code) at learn.ynteractive.com/modules/claude-skills-code. This sheet: learn.ynteractive.com/content/cheat-sheets/claude-skills-code. Riverbend Florist is a made-up business from the lesson. By Robert Breen, October 20, 2026. ## Practice it in the free lesson **Install Skills in Claude Code: the Skills Folder and a Plugin Marketplace**. See what a SKILL.md looks like, learn where Claude Code keeps skills, install Anthropic's document skills from a plugin marketplace, and watch Claude use them on its own. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of Claude Code, it checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, and nothing touches your real accounts. [Start the free lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/claude-skills-code) [Or read the full step-by-step guide](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/install-skills-in-claude-code) ## Lessons on this sheet - [Install Skills in Claude Code: the Skills Folder and a Plugin Marketplace](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/install-skills-in-claude-code): See what a SKILL.md looks like, learn where Claude Code keeps skills, install Anthropic's document skills from a plugin marketplace, and watch Claude use them on its own. - [What Are Claude Skills? Turn One On and Watch It Work](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/what-are-claude-skills): Learn what a Claude skill is, switch on the setting skills need, turn on an example skill in Customize, and watch Claude use its Excel and Word skills on its own. ## Related terms Plain-English definitions, each with an example from a free lesson. [Claude skill](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/claude-skill) · [Markdown](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/markdown) · [AI agent permissions](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/agent-permissions) · [Code execution and file creation](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/code-execution) [The full AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary) ## Related prompts - [Brand skill brief prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/brand-skill-brief-prompt): A copy-ready prompt that gives Claude your colors, fonts, logo placement and voice so it drafts a brand skill that keeps… - [Repeat report skill interview prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/repeat-report-skill-interview-prompt): A copy-ready prompt that asks Claude to interview you about a report you make every week, then draft it as a reusable skill with… [All free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts) ## More cheat sheets - [Claude Excel Skill Cheat Sheet](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/cheat-sheets/claude-skills-excel): A free one-page cheat sheet for Claude's Excel skill: upload a messy CSV, get a Data tab, a SUMIFS Summary and a chart, then check what Claude changed. - [Install a Custom Claude Skill Cheat Sheet](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/cheat-sheets/claude-skills-install): A free one-page cheat sheet for installing a custom Claude skill: upload a .zip with a SKILL.md, check the switch, read the description and test it. - [AI Email Responder in n8n Cheat Sheet](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/cheat-sheets/ai-email-responder-n8n): A free one-page cheat sheet: n8n watches Gmail, an AI agent reads each customer email and saves a reply as a draft in the same thread. [All free cheat sheets](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/cheat-sheets) · [All free tutorials](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content)