---
title: Skills
category: concept
slug: skills
summary: "Reusable Claude Code recipes hosted on Drop."
---
# Skills

Reusable Claude Code recipes hosted on Drop.

Skills are reusable Claude Code recipes hosted in Drop. Install a skill once, then invoke it with `/skill-name` in any Claude Code session to produce branded artifacts — presentations, meeting summaries, recommendation docs, droplets, and more.

A skill is a `SKILL.md` file with YAML frontmatter that tells Claude what to do when invoked. Skills are hosted and versioned in Drop like any other content — under the hood they're Droplets with `appType: SKILL`. Featured skills surface at the top of the catalog; the `skills` index page lets you browse the catalog by category.

## How install works

`drop skills install <slug>` downloads the file to `~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md` where Claude Code picks it up automatically. Install pins to a version by default; `drop skills update` upgrades to latest across all your unpinned skills.

```bash
drop skills                            # list available skills
drop skills install pres               # install the presentations skill
/pres Q2 results overview              # use it in Claude Code
```

## Pinning and updates

Pinning a skill (`drop skills pin <slug>`) locks it to the currently-installed version. Subsequent `drop skills update` runs skip pinned skills. Use this when a workflow depends on stable output and you want to opt in to new versions explicitly. `drop skills outdated` shows which installed skills have newer versions upstream.

## Authoring a skill

To create a skill, write a `SKILL.md` file (frontmatter + prose) and push it with `drop create --type skill`. Subsequent versions follow the same publish lifecycle as any [Droplet](/docs/droplets). Add the skill to the catalog via the `/skills` page in the dashboard.


## Operations

### Install a skill

Install latest, or pin to a specific version with `@vN`. The file lands at `~/.claude/skills/<slug>/SKILL.md` and is auto-discovered by Claude Code on next launch.

**CLI**

```bash
# Install latest
drop skills install pres

# Install and pin to v3
drop skills install pres@v3

# Update all non-pinned skills
drop skills update
```

### List skills

Show the available skills with install state. The MCP server doesn't surface skills directly today — use the CLI or the `/skills` page in the dashboard.

**CLI**

```bash
drop skills                  # all available skills
drop skills outdated         # which installed skills have updates
drop skills info pres        # detail on one skill
```

**HTTP**

```bash
curl -G https://drop.himarley.ai/api/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DROP_TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode 'q=type:skill'
```

### Create a skill

Write a `SKILL.md` file and push it with the `skill` type. The slug becomes the `/slash-command` users invoke in Claude Code.

**CLI**

```bash
drop create SKILL.md \
  --slug retro \
  --name "Retro generator" \
  --type skill \
  --description "Generate a retrospective board from notes"
```