Most skill folders get opened once and never again. Here is what survived a year of real proposals, calls, and invoices, plus the two files that make all ten of them work.
I have deleted more Claude skills than I have kept.
That is not a brag, it is the most useful thing I learned about them. A Claude skill is just a folder with a file inside called SKILL.md. Claude reads the folder name and a one line description at the start of every chat, then opens the file when your request matches.
The problem is not the format. It is that most of us build skills for work we do twice a year, then wonder why the folder sits there untouched.
If you do client work, freelancing, consulting, or run a small agency, this is the filter that fixed it for me: if I have not done the task at least twice this week, it does not become a skill. It stays a prompt.
Below are the ten that survived that filter, the two files they all depend on, and one complete SKILL.md you can copy and change.
If you would rather have the files than build them, I keep mine here: https://livefree1.gumroad.com/l/chpvtb
Why most Claude skills get used once
Three reasons, and I have made all three mistakes.
The description is too wide. Write "use this for business writing" and it fires on every message, which means it helps with none of them. A good description sounds like something you would say out loud to a colleague.
There is no context. A skill that does not know who you are, what you sell, or who you sell to will produce confident generic work. That is the actual reason output sounds like it came from a machine.
It was built for an imaginary task. You built it because it sounded useful, not because you were tired of repeating yourself.
Fix those three and the format starts working.
The two files that make the other ten work
Build these before any of the skills below. Everything else inherits from them.
Your context file
Six short sections. Who you are and what you do. Who you serve and what hurts them. What you sell and what it costs. What proof you actually have. Your current 90 day goal. How you want Claude to talk to you.
Fill it in once. It takes about four minutes, and you can have Claude interview you to do it. Paste the whole file into Claude and say "interview me five questions at a time to fill this out cleanly."
Your writing rules file
Mine is a list of words and sentence patterns I refuse to publish. It started with eight words. It has about sixty now, because every time I caught Claude writing something I would never say, I added it.
Put this file in your project instructions and every skill below obeys it automatically. You stop fixing tone in nine different places.
Here is a version you can copy and adapt.
Write the way an experienced professional talks to another person.
Use plain words and short sentences. Mix a six word sentence with a longer one when it helps the rhythm.
Say the point in the first sentence. Do not warm up for three lines before saying something real.
Use real numbers instead of vague claims. "Cuts a 45 minute draft to 6 minutes" beats "saves a lot of time."
Never use these words: delve, embark, unleash, unlock, elevate, skyrocket, supercharge, harness, foster, spearhead, showcase, navigate, streamline, tapestry, landscape, testament, cutting-edge, seamless, robust, vibrant, pivotal, crucial, realm, beacon, synergy, paradigm, holistic, myriad, plethora.
Never use these openers: "In today's fast-paced world", "Let's dive in", "Here's the kicker", "Moreover", "Furthermore", "At the end of the day", "Whether you're a X or a Y".
Never write "Not just X, it's Y."
Never open with "Great question!" or close with "You've got this!"
Before you finish, read it back. If a real person would not say it across a coffee table, rewrite it.
The ten Claude skills for client work
Here they are at a glance.
| Skill | What you paste in | What you get back |
|---|---|---|
| Client brief builder | Messy client messages | What they want, what is missing, what to charge |
| Proposal with three prices | Call notes, target price | Three options plus a short cover email |
| Scope creep check | A request from a client | Inside or outside scope, plus the reply |
| Meeting recap | Transcript or rough notes | Three bullets, action table, recap email |
| Pricing check | Your price, monthly target | The arithmetic after fees, and a verdict |
| Difficult email | The situation | Two tones, plus what to leave out |
| Sales page copy | Offer, price, buyer, proof | Every section from headline to FAQ |
| Pre-mortem | Your plan | Ranked failure list and a 48 hour test |
| Notes into a procedure | You explaining a task | A checklist someone else could follow |
| Weekly review | Five rough bullets | What shipped, the bottleneck, next week's three |
Now the detail on each.
Client brief builder
A client sends three paragraphs of half formed thoughts. This returns what they actually want, what is missing, what it should cost, and what you need before you start.
The part I underestimated: it writes the questions you should ask back. Half of scope creep is a brief nobody pushed back on.
Proposal with three prices
One option and people negotiate. Three and they choose. Give it your call notes and a target middle price.
Ask for a Basic, a Recommended, and a Premium. Put the one you want in the middle. Price it so the middle one looks like the obvious decision, because that is what it is.
Scope creep check
Someone asks for "one small addition." This checks the request against what was agreed and tells you plainly whether it is inside or outside scope. Then it drafts the reply in a tone that keeps the relationship.
It also tells you what not to add to that email. That line has saved me more money than the email has.
Meeting recap
Three bullets at the top, because that is all anyone reads. Then a table of actions, owners and deadlines. Then the things nobody said out loud but everybody noticed. Then the recap email.
That third section is the one clients reply to. It shows you were listening.
Pricing check
You name a price and a monthly target. It does the arithmetic after fees and shows whether your pricing can reach that number at all.
I have killed two offers with this. Both would have taken months and could never have worked at the price I had in my head.
Difficult email
Asking for money. Saying no. Holding a boundary on a client who keeps pushing.
Ask for two versions, one warm and firm and one direct, plus a note on what to leave out. What you leave out is usually what starts the argument.
Sales page copy
Section by section, from the headline down to the FAQ. Give it your offer, your price, your buyer, and the real proof you have.
It will not invent proof. That is deliberate. If the proof section comes back thin, that is information about your offer, not about the skill.
Pre-mortem
Before you commit weeks to something, ask it to be ruthless. You get a ranked list of how this fails, what you have assumed without evidence, and one cheap test you can run in 48 hours.
Run it on launches, hires, and pricing changes. It costs ten minutes and it is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.
Notes into a procedure
Talk through how you do something. It comes back as a checklist someone else could follow without asking you questions.
This is how you stop being the bottleneck. It is also how you find out your own process has a hole in it, which is uncomfortable and useful.
Weekly review
Five rough bullets on what you shipped, your numbers, and what felt slow. It separates real output from motion, names your single bottleneck, and sets three priorities for next week.
Fifteen minutes on a Friday. The bottleneck it names is almost never the one you would have guessed.
What a real SKILL.md file looks like
Here is the proposal skill, complete. Copy it, change the parts in brackets, save it as SKILL.md in a folder named client-proposal-builder.
---
name: client-proposal-builder
description: Turns rough call notes into a client proposal with three priced options and a short cover email. Use when someone asks for a proposal, a quote, a scope, or pricing for client work.
---
CLIENT PROPOSAL BUILDER
BEFORE YOU START
Read 00_MY_CONTEXT_MEMORY.md if it exists in this project. It has who I am, what I sell, and who I sell to. Never ask for anything already written there.
ASK FOR THESE IF THEY ARE MISSING
a. What the client actually wants, in their own words
b. The budget range they mentioned, or your target middle price
c. Any deadline
d. What "done" looks like
DO THIS IN ORDER
1. Summarise their problem in two sentences.
2. List what is included and what is explicitly not included.
3. Build three options.
- Basic: the smallest version that still solves the problem
- Recommended: what you would actually sell them
- Premium: the same work plus the thing they will wish they had asked for
4. Price each one. Put the recommended option in the middle.
5. Write the cover email. Four sentences. No greeting padding.
OUTPUT FORMAT
The proposal in plain text with clear section labels, then a divider, then the cover email.
RULES
Obey the banned words in 01_HUMAN_VOICE_RULES.md.
Never invent proof, testimonials, or results I have not given you.
If the notes are too thin to price honestly, say so and ask the two questions that would unblock you.
That is the whole format. Name, description, instructions, output shape, rules. The description is what makes it fire, so spend your time there.
Why your skill never fires, and how to fix it
The description is a summary, not a trigger. "Helps with proposals" is a summary. "Use when someone asks for a proposal, a quote, a scope, or pricing" is a trigger.
It fires on everything. Write it as if you are describing the exact moment, not the general topic.
The file is too long. If your SKILL.md is longer than about 300 lines, move the detail into a second file and tell Claude when to open it. Long files get half followed.
You never tested it against things it should ignore. Give it five requests it should stay silent on. If it wakes up for those, the description is too wide.
How to set this up in one afternoon
Make the context file first. Make the writing rules second. Then build one skill and use it on real work the same day.
If you have not used it again by Friday, delete it.
A folder of ten skills you use beats a library of a hundred you do not. I learned that by building the hundred first.
Frequently asked questions
Do Claude skills work on the free plan?
Skills live in Claude Projects, Cowork, and Claude Code. You need a paid plan for Projects. The files themselves are plain text, so you can paste them into any chat and they still work, you just lose the automatic trigger.
What is the difference between a skill and a prompt?
A prompt you retype. A skill sits in a folder and Claude opens it when your request matches, without you asking. That automatic part is the whole point.
How many skills should I have?
Fewer than you think. Ten good ones beat fifty you forget. If you have not used one in a month, it is clutter.
Can I use the same skills in ChatGPT or Gemini?
The file is plain text, so yes, you can paste it in. What does not carry over is the automatic loading, because that is specific to how Claude handles the folder format.
Should I download skills from other people?
Read the SKILL.md before you install anything. It is a plain text file, so check whether it tells Claude to call a URL or write files outside its own folder. Most are fine. Not all.
Want the files instead of building them?
I keep the skill files I actually use, plus the context file and the writing rules file, in one pack here:
https://livefree1.gumroad.com/l/chpvtb
The launch checklist is free if you just want somewhere to start:
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