How to Install a Claude Code Skill (2026 Guide)

The fastest way to install a Claude Code skill is one command: npx skills add <owner/repo> --skill <name>, run from your project (or add -g to install it globally). It downloads the skill's SKILL.md and any bundled scripts into your .claude/skills/ folder, where Claude Code loads it automatically on your next session.

Key takeaways

• The one-command install is npx skills add <owner/repo> --skill <name> (add -g to install globally instead of per-project); it works for any skill published to a public GitHub repo, not just ones listed on skills.sh.
• Skills install as plain files: a SKILL.md plus optional scripts/ and references/, dropped into .claude/skills/<name>/ (project) or ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ (global, every project). There is no build step and nothing to compile - Claude Code reads SKILL.md directly.
• No CLI available, or the skill ships inside a plugin bundle? Use /plugin marketplace add <owner/repo> then /plugin install <name>@<marketplace> from within Claude Code instead.
• The Skillselion catalog currently tracks 60,788 skills across 81,860 total listings and 125,034,658 recorded installs (skills.sh registry, July 2026) - every listing's own page shows its exact install command in an install tab, so you rarely need to hand-write one.

The one-command install

Open a terminal in your project (or anywhere, for a global install) and run:

npx skills add <owner/repo> --skill <skill-name>

For example, to install Vercel's find-skills skill - a meta-skill that helps Claude Code discover and install other skills for whatever you're building - the real command from its Skillselion listing is:

npx skills add https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills --skill find-skills

This resolves the GitHub repo, pulls the matching skill folder, and writes it under .claude/skills/ in your current directory. Add the -g flag (npx skills add <owner/repo> --skill <name> -g -y) to install it globally instead, so every project on your machine can use it, or -y alone to skip the confirmation prompt in a script. No Claude Code session needs to be running for this step - it's a plain filesystem write; Claude Code picks up the new skill the next time it starts or reloads skills.

Where installed skills live: project vs. global

Claude Code looks in two places, and the difference matters for whether a skill travels with your repo or with you:

• `.claude/skills/<name>/` (project-local) - checked into the repo alongside your code, so teammates who clone it get the same skill automatically. Use this for anything specific to how this project is built or reviewed.
• `~/.claude/skills/<name>/` (global, your home directory) - available in every project you open, regardless of what's checked into that repo's git history. Use this for general-purpose skills you personally want everywhere (a writing-style skill, a debugging workflow, etc.).

Both are just directories containing a SKILL.md (required) plus any scripts/ or references/ files the skill bundles. You can inspect, edit, or delete either by hand - there's no registry lock-in.

Installing from a plugin marketplace instead

Some skills ship bundled inside a plugin rather than as a standalone install - a plugin can bundle multiple skills, slash commands, and hooks together as one unit. For those, install the marketplace first, then the plugin:

/plugin marketplace add <owner/repo>
/plugin install <plugin-name>@<marketplace-name>

run directly inside a Claude Code session (these are slash commands, not shell commands). Check a listing's type on Skillselion before assuming which path applies - a plugin page bundles more than one thing; a skill page is a single standalone workflow installable with npx skills add.

A real example: 2.4M installs

vercel-labs/find-skills is the highest-install skill in the Skillselion catalog right now: 2,403,483 installs, 25,465 GitHub stars, maintained by Vercel Labs. It's a meta-skill - instead of doing one task itself, it searches the skills.sh leaderboard and catalog on your behalf and recommends (and can install) whichever real skill fits what you're building, favoring options with 1,000+ installs and trusted sources. Installing it is the same one command as any other:

npx skills add https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills --skill find-skills

The full install-ranked list is on the Top 100 leaderboard.

Common pitfalls

• Installing without checking the listing type first. npx skills add targets standalone skills; a plugin or marketplace listing needs the /plugin marketplace add flow above instead - running the skills command against a plugin repo without a --skill match will fail or grab the wrong thing.
• Confusing project-local and global installs. A skill installed with -g won't show up in a fresh clone of your repo (nothing was written to .claude/skills/); a project-local install won't follow you into a different project. Pick deliberately, not by default.
• Skipping the install count and source check. A skill with a handful of installs and no verifiable GitHub repo is a bigger trust question than one with tens of thousands - check the listing's real install count and repo link before running anything with file-system or network access, the same way you'd vet any dependency.

Common questions