Claude Skills Toolkit

Build, manage, validate, and package Claude-compatible skills directly from VS Code.

Claude Skills Toolkit gives Claude skill builders a small VS Code-native control panel for working with SKILL.md folders, generated skill structure, validation, and upload-ready ZIP packages.

Install from the VS Code Marketplace

Screenshots

What It Does

• Creates Claude-compatible skill folders with SKILL.md, references/, scripts/, assets/, and evals/.
• Opens and edits skill metadata, workflow modules, files, evals, and package actions from a VS Code webview.
• Packages skills into upload-ready ZIP files for Claude.ai.
• Runs bundled validation from the VS Code terminal.
• Syncs local skills into Claude Code's personal skill folder.
• Imports and publishes skill folders through configurable Git workflows.
• Helps turn rough skill ideas into structured drafts without forcing a rigid form.

Quick Start

1. Install Claude Skills Toolkit.
2. Open a workspace in VS Code.
3. Open the Explorer sidebar.
4. Find the Claude Skills view.
5. Run Skill Builder: Interactive Builder.
6. Describe the skill workflow you want.
7. Click Create Skill Draft.

The toolkit creates a starter SKILL.md, starter evals, and an optional workbench brief from one form.

Expected Folder Structure

Claude skill deliverables live under skills/:

skills/
  my-skill/
    SKILL.md
    references/
    scripts/
    assets/
    evals/evals.json

Authoring notes live outside the packaged skill:

workbench/
  my-skill/
    brief.md
    creation-plan.md
    authoring-prompt.md

Packaged ZIP files are written to:

dist/
  my-skill.zip

Commands

• Skill Builder: Interactive Builder opens the free-form skill intake UI.
• Skill Builder: Open Skill Editor opens the tabbed metadata, modules, files, evals, and package editor.
• Skill Builder: Create Skill creates a minimal starter skill through prompts.
• Skill Builder: Open Skill opens the selected SKILL.md.
• Skill Builder: Add Supporting Files copies docs, scripts, or assets into a skill.
• Skill Builder: Package Skill creates a Claude.ai upload ZIP.
• Skill Builder: Sync to Claude Code copies a skill to the Claude Code skills folder.
• Skill Builder: Import/Update Skill from Git pulls one skill folder from a Git repository into the local skills/ directory.
• Skill Builder: Publish Skill to Git commits and pushes a configured skill path through the manual publish script.
• Skill Builder: Validate Skill runs the bundled skills-ref validator.
• Skill Builder: Health Check opens a local structure and quality report.
• Skill Builder: Copy Free-Form Chat Prompt copies a prompt for deeper skill authoring work with an AI assistant.

Create Skills From Rough Ideas

Use Skill Builder: Interactive Builder when you are still thinking out loud.

Example:

I need a skill that turns messy Jira security architecture updates into a weekly executive-ready status report. It should use our preferred sections, flag blockers, and create copy I can paste into Confluence.

The builder can capture:

• target surface: portable, Claude.ai, Claude Code, or Claude API
• trigger description
• should-trigger and should-not-trigger examples
• inputs Claude should gather
• workflow steps and edge cases
• references, scripts, and assets
• eval prompts
• security and external-system assumptions

Package For Claude.ai

Right-click a skill in the Claude Skills tree and choose:

Skill Builder: Package Skill

The toolkit writes:

dist/<skill-name>.zip

The ZIP preserves the skill folder inside the archive, which is the structure Claude.ai expects for custom skill upload.

Validate A Skill

Right-click a skill and choose:

Skill Builder: Validate Skill

The command opens an integrated terminal and runs the bundled validator:

node "<extension-folder>/node_modules/skills-ref/dist/cli.js" validate "<skill-path>"

A global skills-ref install is not required.

Sync To Claude Code

Right-click a skill and choose:

Skill Builder: Sync to Claude Code

By default, the toolkit copies the skill to:

~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/

You can override the destination with skillBuilder.claudeCodeSkillsDirectory.

Git Workflows

Claude Skills Toolkit includes manual Git import and publish helpers.

For publishing, copy the example config first:

cp skill-builder.config.example.json skill-builder.config.json

Then set git.enabled to true and review the remote, branch prefix, validation, and include rules.

The publisher can handle:

• a workspace skill
• a selected SKILL.md
• an Anthropic .skill package file
• an extracted skill folder

External selections are copied into the workspace before Git staging so the publish command can commit them cleanly.

Settings

• skillBuilder.skillsDirectory: workspace-relative skill source directory. Default: skills.
• skillBuilder.distDirectory: ZIP output directory. Default: dist.
• skillBuilder.claudeCodeSkillsDirectory: sync destination for Claude Code. Default: ~/.claude/skills.
• skillBuilder.projectRoot: optional project root override.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.90.0 or newer.
• Node.js only for local development or direct script use.
• Git only for import or publish workflows.
• No global skills-ref install is required; the extension bundles its validator dependency.

What This Extension Does Not Do

Claude Skills Toolkit does not upload skills into Claude.ai or the Claude API for you. It prepares the local folder or ZIP artifact.

It also does not run Claude inside VS Code. The interactive builder creates a strong local draft and optional authoring prompt, but deeper refinement still happens by editing the generated files or using your preferred AI assistant.

Official References

• How to create a skill with Claude through conversation
• How to create custom Skills
• Use Skills in Claude
• Using Agent Skills with the API
• Extend Claude with skills in Claude Code
• Anthropic skills repository

Development

Install dependencies:

npm install

Compile:

npm run compile

Package:

npm run package

Publish a configured skill:

npm run publish-skill -- my-skill

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.