awesome-claude-skills

The definitive collection of Agent Skills for Claude - supercharge your AI workflows across Claude Code, Claude.ai, and API

Claude just got Skills! This is the definitive collection of 50+ Agent Skills for Claude Code, Claude.ai, and Claude API to boost productivity, enforce best practices, and automate complex workflows.

🎯 Why this list? Verified skills ✓ | Active maintenance ✓ | Clear use cases ✓ | Community-driven ✓ | 50+ Skills ✓

💡 New to Skills? Start with the Quick Start Guide • Looking for something specific? Use Ctrl+F to search • Want to contribute? Check Contributing

Contents

• Quick Start
• What are Skills?
• Featured Skills
• How to Install Skills
• Skills vs MCP vs System Prompts
• Skill Categories
  • 📄 Document & File Processing
  • 🧪 Testing & Quality
  • 🐛 Debugging & Troubleshooting
  • 🤝 Collaboration & Workflow
  • ⚙️ Development & Architecture
  • 🔒 Security & Performance
  • 📚 Documentation & Automation
  • 🎬 Media & Content Creation
  • 📊 Data & Analysis
  • ✍️ Writing & Research
  • 🎯 Meta Skills
• Skill Collections
• FAQ
• Resources
• Contributors
• Contributing
• License

Quick Start

Get your first skill running in 30 seconds:

# 1. Install obra's superpowers collection (20+ battle-tested skills)
git clone https://github.com/obra/superpowers ~/.claude/skills/superpowers

# 2. Try test-driven-development skill
# In Claude Code, just say: "Let's use TDD to build a user authentication system"
# Claude will automatically load the TDD skill and guide you through RED-GREEN-REFACTOR!

That's it! Skills load automatically when relevant. No configuration needed.

What are Skills?

Agent Skills are modular capabilities that extend Claude's functionality through organized folders containing instructions, scripts, and resources. Each skill teaches Claude how to perform specialized tasks in a repeatable, standardized way.

Key benefits:

• Efficient: Skills use only 30-50 tokens until loaded
• Portable: Works across Claude Code CLI, Claude.ai, and API
• Composable: Stack multiple skills together
• Context-aware: Claude automatically identifies relevant skills

Skills are available on Claude Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans with code execution enabled.

Featured Skills

Start with these top 10 essential skills:

Skill	Why You Need It	Category	Verified
test-driven-development	Write bulletproof code with RED-GREEN-REFACTOR workflow	🧪 Testing	✅
systematic-debugging	Find bugs 10x faster with 4-phase root cause analysis	🐛 Debugging	✅
using-git-worktrees	Work on multiple features simultaneously without context switching	🤝 Workflow	✅
mcp-builder	Build custom MCP servers to extend Claude's capabilities	⚙️ Development	✅
pdf	Extract text, tables, metadata from PDFs with merge & annotation support	📄 Documents	✅
docx	Create, edit, and analyze Word documents with tracked changes	📄 Documents	✅
artifacts-builder	Build complex React artifacts with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui	⚙️ Development	✅
skill-creator	Create your own skills and contribute to the ecosystem	🎯 Meta	✅
requesting-code-review	Pre-review preparation with formatted diffs and clear PR descriptions	🤝 Workflow	✅
subagent-driven-development	Quality-gated iteration with multi-agent workflows for complex tasks	🎯 Meta	✅

How to Install Skills

Method 1: Git Clone (Recommended)

# Linux/macOS
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
git clone https://github.com/owner/skill-name ~/.claude/skills/skill-name

# Windows (PowerShell)
mkdir $env:USERPROFILE\.claude\skills
git clone https://github.com/owner/skill-name $env:USERPROFILE\.claude\skills\skill-name

Pro tip: Clone entire skill collections like obra/superpowers to get 20+ skills at once!

Method 2: Manual Installation

1. Create a folder in ~/.claude/skills/
2. Add a SKILL.md file with YAML frontmatter and instructions
3. (Optional) Include supporting scripts and resources

Verify installation:

# Check if skill is loaded
ls ~/.claude/skills/

# Skills load automatically - just start using Claude!

Skills vs MCP vs System Prompts

Confused about when to use Skills vs other Claude customization methods? Here's the breakdown:

Feature	Skills	MCP Servers	System Prompts
Purpose	Task-specific workflows	External tool integration	General behavior modification
Setup	Git clone to ~/.claude/skills/	Install & configure MCP server	Edit CLAUDE.md in project
Activation	Automatic (context-aware)	Explicit tool calls	Always active
Best For	TDD, debugging, git workflows	APIs, databases, file systems	Project conventions, style guides
Portability	Cross-platform (CLI, web, API)	Platform-dependent	Project-specific
Token Cost	30-50 until loaded	Per-call	Always consuming tokens
Examples	test-driven-development	Weather API, GitHub integration	"Use TypeScript strict mode"

When to use what:

• ✅ Skills → Repeatable workflows (TDD, debugging, code review)
• ✅ MCP → External data/tools (APIs, search, databases)
• ✅ System Prompts → Project-specific rules and conventions

Skill Categories

📄 Document & File Processing

pdf

Source: anthropics/skills | Verified: ✅ Description: Extract text, tables, metadata from PDFs. Merge documents and add annotations. Use Case: Processing contracts, extracting data from reports, combining PDF files Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

docx

Source: anthropics/skills | Verified: ✅ Description: Create, edit, and analyze Word documents with support for tracked changes and comments. Use Case: Automating document generation, processing feedback, extracting structured data Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

xlsx

Source: anthropics/skills | Verified: ✅ Description: Excel spreadsheet operations including formulas, charts, pivot tables, and data validation. Use Case: Financial reports, data analysis, automated spreadsheet generation Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

pptx

Source: anthropics/skills | Verified: ✅ Description: PowerPoint presentation creation with templates, charts, and multimedia integration. Use Case: Automated slide generation, presentation analysis, template customization Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

---

🧪 Testing & Quality

test-driven-development

Source: obra/superpowers | Verified: ✅ Description: RED-GREEN-REFACTOR cycle: write failing tests, implement code, refactor for quality Use Case: Building new features with strong test coverage guarantees Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

webapp-testing

Source: anthropics/skills | Verified: ✅ Description: Playwright-based web app testing for UI verification and debugging Use Case: Testing web UIs, validating user flows, catching visual regressions Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

condition-based-waiting

Source: obra/superpowers | Verified: ✅ Description: Async testing patterns with proper wait conditions to prevent flaky tests Use Case: Testing asynchronous operations, API calls, animations Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

testing-anti-patterns

Source: obra/superpowers | Verified: ✅ Description: Identifies common testing mistakes: brittle assertions, test interdependence, poor isolation Use Case: Code reviews, refactoring existing test suites Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

e2e-testing-skill

Status: Community-needed Description: End-to-end test automation across multiple services and browser environments. Use Case: Integration testing, cross-browser compatibility validation

snapshot-testing

Status: Community-needed Description: Visual regression testing with component snapshot management. Use Case: Component libraries, design system maintenance

---

🐛 Debugging & Troubleshooting

systematic-debugging

Source: obra/superpowers | Verified: ✅ Description: Four-phase root cause process: reproduce, isolate, identify, verify fix. Use Case: Complex bugs, production issues, multi-component failures Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

root-cause-tracing

Source: obra/superpowers | Verified: ✅ Description: Deep problem investigation with dependency chain analysis. Use Case: Tracing cascading failures, understanding system interactions Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

verification-before-completion

Source: obra/superpowers | Verified: ✅ Description: Ensures fixes are validated before marking work complete. Use Case: Bug fixes, refactoring work, feature additions Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

defense-in-depth

Source: obra/superpowers | Verified: ✅ Description: Multiple validation layers for comprehensive error handling. Use Case: Critical systems, production code, API endpoints Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

performance-profiling

Status: Community-needed Description: Identify performance bottlenecks, memory leaks, and CPU-intensive operations. Use Case: Optimization work, scaling applications, investigating slowness

---

🤝 Collaboration & Workflow

requesting-code-review

Source: obra/superpowers | Verified: ✅ Description: Pre-review preparation and PR best practices with formatted diffs. Use Case: Before submitting PRs, preparing for team review Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

receiving-code-review

Source: obra/superpowers | Verified: ✅ Description: Constructive feedback integration and iteration on review comments. Use Case: Responding to PR feedback, implementing requested changes Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

using-git-worktrees

Source: obra/superpowers | Verified: ✅ Description: Parallel development branches for context switching optimization. Use Case: Juggling multiple features, emerg