simonw/claude-skills (Claude Skills Unveiled)
Exploring Claude's Skills System
One of the tips from Jesse Vincent’s Claude Code Superpowers post (previously mentioned here) stood out:
> Skills are what give your agents superpowers.
> The first time they caught my attention was when Anthropic rolled out improved Office document creation. I asked Claude to explain its new skills — and it happily obliged.
Example Skills in `/mnt/skills/public/`
From Jesse’s transcript:
Current Skills:
- docx – Word document handling
- pdf – PDF processing and form filling
- pptx – PowerPoint presentations
- xlsx – Excel spreadsheets
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Connection to Claude’s Code Interpreter
This skill architecture appears to be part of Claude’s brand-new Code Interpreter feature (deep dive here). Inside `/mnt/skills/public/`, each skill is defined as a self-contained module for handling a particular format or task.
Because skills are modular, they can be upgraded or expanded without changing the core AI — a valuable design approach for AI-powered workflows.
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My Exploration Process
- Start a fresh Claude instance (Code Interpreter now works in the Claude iOS app).
- Use the prompt:
- > Create a zip file of everything in your `/mnt/skills` folder
- Download and inspect the `.zip` contents.
You can run the prompt yourself: Try it here
(Requires enabling Code Interpreter — instructions here)
I uploaded my results to: simonw/claude-skills repo
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Available Document Skills
Each skill contains Python-based instructions for manipulating files using Claude’s built-in libraries:
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Example Script Highlight
pdf/scripts/fill_fillable_fields.py
- A custom CLI tool using pypdf
- Finds and fills PDF form fields (input via JSON)
- Merges filled fields into a single PDF output
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Why This Matters for Creators
Skills demonstrate how modular AI capabilities can support workflows for:
- Content generation
- Document processing
- Multi-platform publishing
Pairing such tools with an AI content monetization platform like AiToEarn enables:
- Automated publishing to Douyin, Kwai, WeChat, Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, YouTube, Pinterest, and X (Twitter)
- Analytics tracking and AI model ranking
- Global earning potential from creative output
Explore AiToEarn:
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Final Thoughts
Claude’s skills system is a highly capable toolkit for automating technical tasks like document manipulation. Anthropic’s decision to make these visible — likely by design — invites power users to incorporate them into richer workflows.
When integrated into a broader ecosystem like AiToEarn, such AI capabilities can:
- Save time
- Enhance flexibility
- Maximize monetization opportunities
The synergy between powerful AI skills and multi-platform publishing tools is a game-changer for creators and professionals alike.
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Do you want me to follow up by creating a step-by-step tutorial on downloading and exploring Claude’s skills folder, with annotated screenshots for GitHub integration? That would make this even more actionable for readers.
