Installing a Claude Skill

A Skill is a single .zip you upload to Claude once. After that it rides along automatically — it carries its own rules, reference kit, and output format, so you never paste instructions or re-attach files. This is the one-time install. It’s the same three minutes for any of our kit Skills, including the FNMA AI Lender Letter Skill.

What you need: Claude Pro / Max / Team / Enterprise (Skills run on Code execution, which those plans include), and the skill .zip you downloaded.

  1. 1 Turn on Code execution

    Open Settings → Capabilities and turn on Code execution. Skills need it to run — if it’s off, the skill installs but won’t do its work.

  2. 2 Open the Skills panel & click +

    Go to Settings → Customize → Skills. At the top of the Skills list, click the +.

    The Skills panel under Settings → Customize, with the + button at the top of the Skills list.
    Settings → Customize → Skills — the + sits at the top of the list.

  3. 3 Choose Create skill → Upload a skill

    In the menu, hover Create skill and pick Upload a skill. Select the skill .zip you downloaded (for the FNMA kit that’s fnma-ai-lender-letter-skill.zip).

    The + menu open, showing Create skill expanded to Create with Claude, skill instructions, and Upload a skill.
    Create skill → Upload a skill, then pick the .zip.

  4. 4 Toggle the skill ON

    Once it’s uploaded, the skill appears in your Skills list with a switch on the right. Flip it ON. That’s the install — you won’t do this again.

  5. 5 Use it — just talk to Claude

    Start a chat (or open a Project and work inside it) and say what you want — the skill triggers itself. You only ever upload your own documents; the skill carries everything else.

    Don’t put the skill .zip in a Project. A Skill is installed in Settings (above), not added as a Project file. Projects hold your documents; the Skill lives alongside them.

On claude.ai (web) vs. the desktop app. The screenshots above are the desktop app. On the web the path is the same idea — Settings → Capabilities for Code execution, then the Skills section with the same + → Upload a skill. Wording moves around occasionally as Claude updates; look for “Skills” and “Upload.”

← Back to the FNMA AI Lender Letter kit