Most people use Claude like a smarter chatbot and never touch the features that actually make it powerful. These four are the ones I get asked about most once people see them. Here's what each does and exactly how to turn it on.

1. Skills

A skill is a set of instructions you save once, and Claude follows them in any chat where they're relevant. Instead of re-explaining how you want something done every time, you set it up a single time and it stays consistent. This is the best way to get reliable results on a specific, repeated task: a writing style, a design format, a research process, whatever you do often.

How to set it up: on Claude.ai, go to Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills, and turn them on. Anthropic publishes a set of official skills (document creation, a humanizer, and more) at github.com/anthropics/skills, and you can build your own with the Skill Creator skill. I wrote a full breakdown of my favorites here.

2. Connectors

Connectors plug Claude into the tools you already live in: your email, calendar, Notion, Google Drive, and a long list of others. Once connected, Claude can pull from your real information when it answers, so it's working with your actual schedule, docs, and inbox instead of guessing. Ask it what your week looks like or to find that file, and it just does it.

How to set it up: on Claude.ai or the desktop app, open Settings, then Connectors. Pick the tool you want, click connect, and sign in to that app once to authorize it. Add them one at a time as you need them. Each connection asks for your permission before Claude can read anything.

3. Interactive charts and tools

This is the one that makes people stop. Claude can build interactive charts, dashboards, calculators, and little apps right inside the chat, and you can actually click and control them, not just look at a static image. Give it your numbers and ask for a chart you can filter, or describe a small tool and it builds a working version on the spot. They genuinely look great.

How to set it up: nothing to install. Make sure Artifacts are enabled (Settings, then Capabilities or Features), then just ask. Try something like "build me an interactive chart of this data that I can filter," and it appears in a panel next to the chat where you can use it live. Ask for changes in plain English and it updates.

4. The Chrome extension

The Claude Chrome extension connects Claude directly to your browser. It can see the page you're on and take real actions in it, so instead of you copying things back and forth, it works inside the tab with you to get actual tasks done. It's the closest thing to handing Claude the wheel for browser work.

How to set it up: this one is newer and still rolling out as a preview, so access can depend on your plan and region. When it's available to you, you add the Claude extension from the Chrome Web Store, sign in, and pin it. Because it can act on real pages, give it permission carefully and keep an eye on it the first few times, the same way you would with anything that can click around your accounts.

Where to start

If you only set up one this week, make it Connectors, it changes how useful Claude is day to day more than anything else. Then add a Skill or two for the tasks you repeat. The charts and the Chrome extension are the fun ones to play with once the basics are wired in.

Turn on the one that fits how you already work, not all four at once. Connectors first, then a skill for whatever you do every day, and the rest will make sense from there.
– Anir

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