Claude Skills Tutorial (2026): Build, Run, and Share

About this video

David DeWinter explains Claude Skills as reusable saved prompts invoked by typing a forward slash and the skill name. To create one, no paid plan is needed: on Claude.ai go to Customize and the Skills tab, click plus, Create Skill, then Create with Claude. A skill is a Markdown file; simple skills are just a prompt, while more complex ones such as a Dashboard Updater can embed Python code. He builds a Thread Reply skill that summarizes a long email or Slack thread, calls out action items, and drafts a reply in the user’s tone. Adding ‘What else should I clarify?’ makes Claude ask questions instead of assuming, including how the skill should be triggered. Claude drafts the skill as front matter describing it plus a body containing the prompt, then tests it against a real example thread. Feedback on the tests refines it before saving via Save Skill. Prompts are not loaded in every conversation, only when triggered — either by slash name, which he says is more reliable, or by Claude inferring context. Skills can be updated by asking Claude, for example not to sign off with ‘best.’ A sponsor example shows a payroll sanity-check skill run on a PDF from QuickBooks Payroll preview details. The same skill appears automatically in Claude Desktop across Chat, Cowork, and Code, plus Claude for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In Cowork it can use files in a local folder as context. In Claude Code inside VS Code, skills differ between global and project skills; importing is done by downloading the skill, renaming it to .zip, extracting it, and copying its folder into .claude/skills, then starting a new session. Sharing options covered are zip download/upload (which risks version divergence), organization skills for Claude Teams or Enterprise accounts (usable but not editable by members), an experimental shared-drive method using a CLAUDE.md file to preload skills because OneDrive does not support dot folders, and Git for version history and reverts.

Key takeaways

• A skill is a saved Markdown prompt file that loads only when triggered, either by typing / plus its name or by Claude inferring context
• Create skills via Customize > Skills > Create with Claude and prompt Claude to ask clarifying questions instead of making assumptions
• Test a new skill against real examples and give feedback before saving; great skills are specific, example-based, and refined over time
• Skills carry across Chat, Cowork, and other Claude surfaces automatically, but Claude Code needs manual import into a .claude/skills folder
• Sharing by zip creates divergent copies; Teams/Enterprise organization skills, a shared-drive CLAUDE.md workaround, or Git avoid that problem

Episode details: published May 27, 2026 · 14:33 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Kevin Stratvert’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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