Installing a community skill from SkillsMP takes four steps: find the skill listing and click through to the source repository, download the skill folder, place it at .claude/skills/skill-name/ in your project directory, and open a fresh Claude Code session to verify it appears in /skills. The whole process takes under five minutes for a simple skill with no dependencies. AEM builds and reviews production-ready Claude Code skills daily, so this guide is drawn from real installation patterns, not theory.

TL;DR: Download the skill folder from the source repository linked on the SkillsMP listing. Place the entire folder — not just the SKILL.md — inside .claude/skills/ at your project root. Open a fresh Claude Code session and run /skills. If the skill name appears, the install worked.

How Do I Find the Right Skill on SkillsMP?

Search by specific task rather than general category, then check the listing's description field, file count, and last-updated date before downloading. A specific query like "TypeScript prop validation" returns a manageable set; "code review" returns thousands with no clear winner. Prefer skills updated within the past year. SkillsMP hosts 700,000+ community Claude Code skills (SkillsMP, 2026), drawn from a broader ecosystem of 13,501 indexed Claude Code repositories (awesome-claude-plugins, April 2026). The volume means search quality determines what you find.

Search by the specific task, not the general category. "code review" returns thousands of results. "TypeScript component review with prop type checking" returns a manageable set. The more specific your search term, the closer your results will be to what you actually need.

On each listing page, check these before clicking "download":

  • Description field preview: SkillsMP shows the first line of the SKILL.md description field. If it's blank or says "description here," the skill has no working trigger — it won't activate automatically.
  • File count: Skills with reference files are more complex to install correctly. Listings usually show how many files the skill contains.
  • Last updated date: A skill last updated in 2024 may use Claude Code commands that no longer work. Prefer skills updated within the past year.
  • Source link: Click through to the GitHub repository before downloading. Read the README if one exists.

"Developers don't adopt AI tools because they're impressive — they adopt them because they reduce friction on tasks they repeat every day." — Marc Bara, AI product consultant (2024)

A skill that looks impressive in the listing but requires complex setup doesn't reduce friction. Prioritize skills with simple installation instructions.

How Do I Download the Skill Files?

SkillsMP listings link to the source GitHub repository, where the skill files live. Two paths work: download the skill folder directly for a single install, or clone the full repository when you want multiple skills from the same author. The two paths are quick and require no special tools. Community-sourced Claude Code libraries now reach 5,200+ stars (alirezarezvani/claude-skills, GitHub 2026), all distributed the same way. The download options are:

Option A — Download the folder directly (recommended for single skills):

  1. Navigate to the skill folder in the GitHub repository
  2. Click "Code" and select "Download ZIP" if the repository contains only the skill
  3. Or use the GitHub directory download: navigate to the skill folder, then use a third-party GitHub folder downloader if the repository contains multiple skills and you only want one

Option B — Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/author/skill-repository

Then copy only the skill folder you need. Cloning is faster if you want multiple skills from the same repository or plan to update later.

Only copy the skill folder and its contents. Do not copy a bare SKILL.md file without its reference files — the skill body may reference files that don't exist in your installation, causing steps to fail silently.

Where Do I Put the Skill Files?

Place the skill folder inside .claude/skills/ at your project root. For skills you want across all projects, use ~/.claude/skills/ in your home directory instead. The folder name must match the skill's name field in its SKILL.md frontmatter. If .claude/skills/ does not exist, create it before copying the folder in.

your-project/
  .claude/
    skills/
      skill-name/         ← paste the downloaded skill folder here
        SKILL.md
        references/
          reference-file.md
  src/
  package.json

If .claude/skills/ doesn't exist yet, create it. The folder name must match the skill's name field in the SKILL.md frontmatter. If they don't match, Claude Code uses the folder name for identification purposes, but mismatches can cause confusion when skills list under unexpected names.

For skills you want available across all your projects — not just this one — place the folder at ~/.claude/skills/skill-name/ in your home directory instead.

In our experience at AEM, the most common installation error is dropping the SKILL.md file directly into .claude/skills/ rather than inside a named subfolder (AEM commission data, 2026). Claude Code requires the structure .claude/skills/skill-name/SKILL.md, not .claude/skills/SKILL.md.

How Do I Confirm the Skill Installed Correctly?

Open a fresh Claude Code session in the project directory and run /skills. A correctly installed skill appears by name in the listing, which Claude Code builds from each skill's description field. The combined description and when_to_use text is truncated at 1,536 characters in that listing (Claude Code Docs, 2026), so front-load your trigger phrase. Run:

/skills

The command lists all skills Claude Code has loaded from the description fields of your installed skills. If your new skill appears by name, the installation worked. If it doesn't appear:

  1. Check the path: Run ls .claude/skills/ to confirm the skill folder exists at the correct location.
  2. Check the description field: Open the SKILL.md and verify the description field is on a single line in the frontmatter, under 1,024 characters (Claude Code specification). A wrapped or missing description causes the skill to be skipped.
  3. Restart the session: Skills load at session start. A session already open before installation won't include the new skill until you restart.

Once the skill appears in /skills, test it by describing the task in natural language in a fresh session. If it triggers automatically, the description field is working. If it only responds to the direct slash command, the description needs improvement — though for a community skill, you'll need to edit it yourself.

For more on what to check before trusting a community skill in production work, see What Makes a Community Skill Production Ready.

For installing skills from GitHub directly rather than via SkillsMP, see How Do I Install a Skill from Someone Else's GitHub Repository.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to restart Claude Code after installing a skill from SkillsMP? Yes. Skills are loaded at the start of each session. Installing a skill mid-session requires a restart before the skill becomes active. Open a new Claude Code session after placing the skill files.

What do I do if the skill appears in /skills but doesn't trigger automatically? The description field isn't activating for your phrasing. Try running the skill manually with /skill-name to confirm it works at all. If it works manually, the description needs to be more specific to your task vocabulary. Edit the description field in your local SKILL.md to add the trigger phrases you actually use.

Can I install a SkillsMP skill without a GitHub account? Yes. Download the skill files directly from the GitHub repository page without logging in. GitHub allows anonymous file downloads for public repositories.

What happens if the SkillsMP listing links to a repository that no longer exists? The skill is unmaintained. Look for an alternative listing on SkillsMP or find a fork on GitHub. Where to find community Claude Code skills beyond SkillsMP is covered in Where Can I Find Community-Built Claude Code Skills to Install.

How do I update a skill I installed from SkillsMP when the author releases a new version? Check the source GitHub repository for new versions, download the updated skill folder, and overwrite the existing files in .claude/skills/skill-name/. Open a fresh session to pick up the changes.

Last updated: 2026-04-26