If you pay for Claude, there's a whole menu of built-in Skills sitting in your settings that most people never switch on. They're not prompts or clever hacks. They're official tools Anthropic built that teach Claude to do one specific job really well, like building a real PowerPoint deck or a working Excel model that actually calculates.

I pulled the 7 most useful ones straight from Anthropic's public skills repo on GitHub. Below is what each one does, a prompt to try, and exactly how to turn them on. The whole thing takes about 30 seconds to set up.

First, what is a Skill?

A Skill is a small bundle of instructions and scripts you turn on once. After that, Claude uses it automatically whenever it fits, the same way every time. You don't re-explain anything. Think of it like installing an app for one job, except the app lives inside Claude.

How to turn Skills on

Three ways, depending on where you use Claude. Pick the one that matches you:

  • In the Claude app (paid plans): open Settings, go to Capabilities, find Skills, and toggle on the ones you want. The official ones below are already available to paid plans.
  • Add a custom or extra one: in that same Skills area you can upload your own, or grab any skill folder from github.com/anthropics/skills and add it.
  • In Claude Code: run /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills, then install the document-skills or example-skills pack. After that you just mention the skill and Claude uses it.

Once a Skill is on, you use it by just asking normally. No special syntax. Say "make me a deck about X" and the deck Skill quietly kicks in.

The 7 skills worth turning on

1. pptx, real PowerPoint decks

Claude builds an actual editable PowerPoint file from a prompt: real slides, charts, layouts, even speaker notes. Not a text outline, a finished .pptx you can open and present.

Try: "Make me a 10-slide pitch deck for a coffee subscription startup, with a market-size chart and speaker notes."

2. xlsx, Excel models that actually calculate

This one builds full Excel spreadsheets with live formulas, not dead tables. Budgets, trackers, simple financial models, dashboards that update the second you change a number.

Try: "Build me a 12-month budget spreadsheet with formulas that total each category and flag any month I overspend."

3. algorithmic-art, generative art from code

Claude writes code that generates real art: posters, patterns, and generative visuals you can re-run and tweak forever. Every output is genuinely one of one.

Try: "Generate a piece of algorithmic art with flowing blue and gold waves, and give me the code so I can re-run it."

4. canvas-design, graphics that look designed

This Skill lays out clean graphics from a prompt: posters, cards, social posts that actually look designed instead of like a default template nobody chose.

Try: "Design a simple event poster for a Saturday rooftop party, bold type, warm colors."

5. slack-gif-creator, custom animated GIFs

Claude builds custom animated GIFs on the spot: reactions, loaders, and little moments for Slack or anywhere you drop a GIF. Made to order instead of searching for one.

Try: "Make me a looping GIF of a rocket taking off with a 'shipping it' vibe."

6. web-artifacts-builder, working web apps

This builds real, interactive web apps you can use right away: calculators, dashboards, little tools, all actually functional with no code on your end.

Try: "Build me an interactive tip calculator that splits the bill by the number of people."

7. brand-guidelines, everything on your brand

Feed Claude your brand once, your colors, fonts, and tone, and every output after that matches it. Decks, docs, graphics, all consistent without you reminding it each time.

Try: "Here are my brand colors and fonts. Save them and use them on everything you make for me."

The trick with Skills isn't doing anything clever. It's just turning them on. Most people never open that menu.

Flip on the two or three that fit what you actually do, then ask Claude the way you normally would. The Skill handles the rest in the background, and suddenly you're getting finished decks, spreadsheets, and graphics out of a chat box.

Go turn a couple on and make something you'd normally pay for.
– Anir

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