If "Prompts" were the primitive of 2023, Skills are the primitive of 2026.
Skills (also known as Tools or MCP Servers capabilities) allow AI agents to interact with the real world—execution commands, reading files, searching databases, and more.
Whether you are building with Claude Code or OpenAI's O-series, understanding the "Skills Ecosystem" is now mandatory. We've curated the essential resources to get you started.
📘 Official Standards & Documentation
Before diving into community hacks, you need to understand the official mechanisms.
Anthropic (Claude)
The gold standard for "Agentic" documentation right now.
- Anthropic Skills Repository: The official source of truth. Contains reference implementations and the
skill-creatortool. - What are Skills?: A high-level overview for product managers and developers.
- Building Skills Guide: The technical documentation for the Claude API.
- Engineering Deep Dive: Equipping Agents for the Real World - A must-read article on the philosophy behind Agent Skills.
OpenAI (Codex/ChatGPT)
- Codex Skills Overview: The official directory structure and rules for OpenAI's environment.
- Create Custom Skills: Step-by-step guide to extending the Codex capabilities.
⚡ Community Powerhouses (GitHub)
The real innovation is happening in open source. These repositories are dense with "superpowers" you can install immediately.
🏆 The "Superpowers" Repo
obra/superpowers This is widely considered the "High Density" collection. If you only look at one community repo, make it this one.
- Check the skills directory to see how experts structure their tools.
🌟 "Awesome" Lists
Curated lists are the best way to keep up with the explosion of new skills.
- ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills: A clean, categorized checklist of skills.
- VoltAgent/awesome-claude-skills: Known for being actively updated with the latest tools.
- BehiSecc/awesome-claude-skills: Focuses on "Production-Ready" templates rather than experimental toys.
- travisvn/awesome-claude-skills: A great navigation hub for resources.
🏪 Marketplaces & Directories
Prefer a "Store" experience over browsing GitHub?
SkillsMP
A searchable directory for Skills. Great for discovery by category (e.g., "Database", "Search", "Coding").
Claude Code Templates (AITMPL)
Focuses on engineering configuration.
- Skills List: Browse specific configurations.
- GitHub Repo: The source code for their templates.
ClaudeMarketplaces
A plugin directory for finding installable collections of skills, acting almost like a package manager for your agent.
🚀 How to Start?
- Clone the Official Repo: Start with
anthropics/skillsto learn the structure. - Explore
obra/superpowers: See what advanced users are building (shortcuts, complex chains). - Build Your Own: Use the
skill-creatortool to wrap your internal CLI tools into an agent-ready Skill.
The future of development isn't just writing code—it's writing the tools that write the code.