AOL 4 - Skills
Automated workflows for your project. You define the process once. The agent runs it every time.
The short version
A skill is an automated workflow. You define a process once - what steps to follow, what tools to use, what the output should look like. The agent runs it on command. Every time. The same way. Repeatable work stops being manual work.
What a skill is
In Claude Code, a skill is a Markdown file inside your project's .claude/skills/ folder. Each skill lives in its own subfolder - .claude/skills/skill-name/SKILL.md - and defines one automated process: the steps, the tools, and the expected output. When you invoke it, the agent executes the workflow exactly as written - not its own interpretation of what you might want.
At AOL 4 you are no longer writing prompts for individual tasks. You are building automated workflows that live in your project permanently. Other AI coding tools use the same concept under different names and file structures.
What automation gives you
Skills build up into a library
The first skill you write is useful. Ten skills is a project automation library. Each new skill removes another recurring manual task from your workflow. Over time the agent handles more of the routine work and you handle more of the high-level decisions. Skills compound.
When to create a skill
The signal is regularity, not complexity. A simple task you run every day is a better candidate than a complex task you run once a year.
- Any process you run daily or weekly
- Any check you do before every commit or deploy
- Any workflow that takes more than one step and repeats regularly
- Any task where inconsistency has cost you time
- Tasks you do a few times a year
- One-off requests with no clear pattern
- Exploratory work where the steps change every time
Skill scope
Skills exist at three levels. Most live at the project level - specific to your stack and workflows. The scope controls where the skill is available.
~/.claude/skills/.claude/skills/.claude/skills/*.local/.gitignore.Skills and /docs work together
A skill defines the process. A doc holds the standard. The skill tells the agent to check border colors. The design system doc tells it what the correct border colors are. They are separate for good reason: standards change independently from processes.
Where skills live
Skills belong in the execution layer, separate from your code and your knowledge. The three layers stay clean by design.
/docs/src/.claude/skills/Review before you run
A skill is not just instructions - it is permission for the agent to act. Running a skill can mean shell access, file system writes, environment variable reads, network calls, or deploy triggers. That is real authority inside your project.
Copying a public skill without reviewing it imports that authority blind. Before running any skill you did not write yourself, read every step. Check for shell commands, network calls, and anything that touches outside your project boundary. Study public skills for patterns - then rewrite them for your system.
The skill is the workflow. The hook is the trigger.
At AOL 4 you still invoke skills manually. You type /check-design and the workflow runs. That is already a real shift - you are executing an automation, not writing a prompt.
AOL 5 removes the manual step. Hooks fire skills automatically at the right moment - after a file changes, before a commit, when a build fails. You do not ask the agent to check its work. It checks automatically, every time the trigger fires.
What AOL 4 gives you
You enter the Integration Zone at its peak. The agent has context and a library of automated workflows - it can handle complex, multi-step tasks on its own. You spend less time directing and more time reviewing. The human in the loop shifts from giving instructions to approving results.
How to set it up
One folder. One file. That is the entire installation. The skill system in Claude Code does not require configuration - it requires content.
.claude/skills/.claude/skills/your-skill-name/SKILL.md/your-skill-nameThe starter file below includes a working example skill - a code review workflow - with annotations explaining each section. Download it, read it, then adapt the workflow sections for your own process.