Nightschool AI: Build your first Claude Skill
Claude Skills (Agent Skills) are modular capabilities that extend what Claude can do: each Skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file (instructions plus name/description metadata) that Claude discovers and uses automatically when it's relevant.
What you'll have built
- A working SKILL.md for a real, specific task you do often
- That Skill placed where Claude discovers it, and triggering correctly on a matching request
- A pattern you can reuse to write your next Skill faster
What's inside
Guide
Writing SKILL.md frontmatter and instructions, and where to put the file so Claude finds it.
Copy-paste templates
A copy-paste SKILL.md starter with the frontmatter fields already filled in correctly.
Test checklist
How to confirm Claude actually triggered your Skill (and didn't just answer generically) before you trust it.
Worked example
One real Skill, written and triggered successfully, with the before/after shown.
Not ready to join the waitlist? Start with a free lesson instead: MCP Servers: Connecting Claude to Your Stack (free lesson)
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do Skills live?
In a skills directory Claude reads from (for example under .claude/skills/ in a project, or a user-level skills folder) — the kit shows exactly where.
Is this different from a custom instruction or prompt?
Yes — a Skill is discovered and triggered automatically when relevant, rather than something you have to paste in each time.
When does the kit ship?
It doesn't exist yet. We're measuring demand first — join the waitlist and we'll build the top-requested kit first.