Claude Agent Skills

The Claude Ecosystem: A Modular "Building Block" Architecture

graph TD
    subgraph "The Claude Ecosystem"
        direction TB
        A["Claude (Core Intelligence/The Brain)"] -- "Directs & Uses" --> BB;

        subgraph BB [Building Blocks]
            direction TB
            B["Skills
(Instruction Manuals
'How to do it')"];
            C["MCPs/Tools
(External Capabilities
'What can be done')"];
        end

        BB -- "Are combined within" --> D["Project
(Dedicated Workspace)"];
        D -- "Results in" --> E["Specific Ongoing Work
(e.g., Q3 Marketing Campaign)"];
    end

    %% Styling
    style A fill:#c9c9ff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style D fill:#e0d4ff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style E fill:#f9f9f9,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px

What is a Claude Skill?

graph TD
    subgraph "What is a Claude Skill?"
        direction TB
        subgraph B [ ]
            direction TB
            B1["Instructions & Workflow
(e.g., Step-by-step process)"]
            B2["Tools to Use
(e.g., Ahrefs MCP, Notion)"]
            B3["Resources & Standards
(e.g., Brand Guidelines)"]
        end

        B -- "Are packaged into" --> C{"Claude Skill
(Reusable Manual)"};
        C -- "Enables" --> D["Consistent & Automated
Task Execution"];
    end

    %% Styling to make the 'Skill' container visually distinct
    style B fill:#f0e6ff,stroke:#9673d3,stroke-width:2px,stroke-dasharray: 5 5

How Skills Solve Portability Issues

graph LR
    subgraph "How Skills Solve Portability: Before vs. After"
        subgraph "After: Skills are Portable & Reusable"
            direction TB
            S["Reusable Skill"]
            P3["Project A"] -- "Uses" --> S;
            P4["Project B"] -- "Uses" --> S;
            P5["Any New Chat"] -- "Uses" --> S;
            style S fill:#e0ffe0,stroke:#0b0
        end

        subgraph "Before: Instructions are Trapped"
            direction TB
            subgraph P1 [Project A]
                I1["Instructions"]
            end

            P2["Project B"] -- "Cannot Access" --x P1;
            style I1 fill:#ffe0e0,stroke:#b00
        end
    end

How Skills Solve Stackability Issues

graph LR
    subgraph "How Skills Solve Stackability: Before vs. After"
        subgraph "After: Skills are Stackable Building Blocks"
            direction TB
            CS["Copywriting Skill"] --> NTP2["New Task Project"];
            AS["Analysis Skill"] --> NTP2;
            NTP2 ==> CO["Combined Output"];
        end
        subgraph "Before: Projects are Isolated"
            direction TB

            subgraph P1 [Copywriting Project]
                I1["Instructions"]
            end

            subgraph P2 [Analysis Project]
                I2["Instructions"]
            end

            NTP["New Task Project"]

            NTP -- "Wants to combine, but cannot" --x P1
            NTP -- "Wants to combine, but cannot" --x P2
        end
    end

    %% Styling
    style P1 fill:#fde7e7,stroke:#b00
    style P2 fill:#fde7e7,stroke:#b00
    style CS fill:#e0ffe0,stroke:#0b0
    style AS fill:#e0ffe0,stroke:#0b0

The Three Types of Claude Skills

mindmap
  root((Claude Skills))
    ::icon(fa fa-cogs)
    Official Skills
      ::icon(fa fa-check-circle)
      Built by Anthropic
      (e.g., theme-factory, skill-creator)
    Custom Skills
      ::icon(fa fa-user-edit)
      Created by You
      (e.g., branded-deck, keyword-research)
    Community-Created
      ::icon(fa fa-users)
      Shared by other users
      (Use with caution)