What You’ll Build Today

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll have created your own custom AI agent skill using Claude’s desktop app—no coding required. We’re building an affiliate partner recruiter that searches for influencers and drafts outreach messages. The same process works for any skill you want to create for your education business.

Before You Start: Requirements

You need three things before building skills:

1. Claude Desktop App (not the web version—desktop unlocks tools that let skills connect to external services)
2. Claude Pro subscription (about $20/month—required for skill creation features)
3. Code Execution enabled (this setting lets Claude write and install skills on your computer)

💡 Why Desktop vs Web? The desktop version connects to MCP tools that let your skills actually do work in other systems—like scheduling social media posts or updating spreadsheets—not just generate text.

Step 1: Enable Code Execution

Open Claude Desktop and click your profile in the bottom left corner. Select Settings, then go to Capabilities.

Turn on “Code Execution and File Creation”—this gives Claude permission to write skills and install them on your computer. When this is active, you’ll see a “Skills” section appear at the bottom of Capabilities.

⚠️ Critical: If you don’t see “Desktop App” in your settings menu, you’re in the web version. Download and install Claude Desktop first.

Step 2: Activate the Skill Creator Skill

Scroll down in Capabilities to the Skills section. You’ll see “Example Skills” that Anthropic provides. Find “Skill Creator” and toggle it on (it should turn blue).

This is the meta-skill—a skill that builds other skills. It knows the proper file structure, required fields, and how to package everything correctly.

“I’m not a software engineer. I have no technical knowledge of programming. I just want to be able to have a skill that makes a skill.”

Step 3: Define What You Want to Build

Start a new chat in Claude. Begin with: “I want you to use my skill creator skill.”

This explicit instruction tells Claude which “employee” you want working on this task. When you have many skills active, Claude might not auto-select the right one unless you name it directly.

Then describe what you want: “Create an affiliate partner recruiter skill that identifies influencers in my market and drafts outreach content.”

In Your Context: Think about one repetitive task in your business that you’d love to hand off. Customer research? Content repurposing? Email responses? Start with that.

Step 4: Answer the Questions

Claude will ask questions to understand your requirements. For the affiliate recruiter, it asked:

1. Target platforms? (YouTube, podcasts, LinkedIn)
2. What templates? (Email, LinkedIn message, DM)
3. Influencer criteria? (10K+ subscribers, topic alignment, English-speaking, North America)
4. Offer details to include? (Unique angle, commission structure)

Answer naturally—Claude adapts to your responses. If you don’t know specifics yet, say “Use smart defaults” and it will build in sensible starting points you can edit later.

Step 5: Watch Claude Build

Claude will show “Reading skill creator skill” then start building. You’ll see it create:

• SKILL.md – Main instructions and capabilities
• Templates – Email outreach, LinkedIn messages, DM scripts
• Research guides – How to qualify partners
• Resources – Reference materials the skill needs

This takes 2-5 minutes depending on complexity. Sometimes you’ll see “Failed to edit” messages—that’s normal. Claude is testing different approaches to find what works.

“The biggest mistake I made at the start was trying to have one employee that did everything. We can have as many employees as we want—we’re not having to pay for them.”

Step 6: Install Your Skill

When Claude finishes, look for “Copy Skills” in the top right of the response. Click it.

Go back to Settings → Capabilities → Skills. Your new skill appears at the top of the list. Toggle it on (blue) to activate it.

✓ Check Your Work: Do you see your skill name in the list with a blue toggle? If only your new skill shows up (example skills disappeared), refresh the page and they’ll all reappear.

Step 7: Test Your Skill

Start a fresh chat. Type: “I want you to use my [skill name] skill. Can you do something amazing with it?”

Claude will read the skill to understand its capabilities, then execute. For the affiliate recruiter, it:

1. Searched the web for YouTube channels in “AI + education”
2. Found 10 channels matching the criteria (10K+ subscribers)
3. Listed channel names, subscriber counts, and relevance
4. Offered to draft outreach messages using the built-in templates

In Your Context: Your skill inherits your business context automatically. Claude knows your brand voice, your processes, your reference materials—because memory is active. Someone else creating the same skill would get a version customized to their business.

The Mental Model: Skills as Employees

Think of each skill as hiring a specialized employee who knows exactly how you want work done. Instead of one generalist doing everything, you’re building a team where each member has clear responsibilities and standard operating procedures.

Better approach: Create 10 focused skills (social media poster, competitor researcher, email drafter, content repurposer) rather than 1 skill trying to handle everything.

Three Ways to Use This Today

1. Start with your pain points: What repetitive task drives you crazy? Build a skill for that first. Research? Outreach? Content formatting? Pick one and use the skill creator.
2. Build a skill library: Create 5-10 focused skills over the next month. Each handles one specific job in your business. They work together automatically when you need them.
3. Document your processes: As you build skills, you’re creating SOPs. Each skill becomes a reusable template for how you want work done—valuable even if you hire human help later.

💡 In Plain English

Think of it this way: You’re not learning to code—you’re describing jobs and Claude builds the employee. The skill creator is like a hiring manager who takes your job description and finds the perfect person who already knows your business.

Discuss in Community

What’s the first AI employee you want to hire for your education business? Join the conversation in our free community where course creators are building their skill libraries and sharing what works.