Anthropic Knowledge Hub

SOP: Create and Deploy Agent Skills ​

Updated: 2026-05-26

Create reusable skills that agents can invoke for domain-specific tasks.

Prerequisites ​

  • Access to the Skills API
  • Understanding of skill lifecycle (create, version, invoke)

Steps ​

Step 1: Create a Skill ​

bash
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/beta/skills \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "code_reviewer",
    "description": "Reviews code for correctness, security, and performance",
    "instruction": "You are an expert code reviewer. Review the provided code for correctness, potential security vulnerabilities, performance issues, and adherence to best practices. Provide specific, actionable feedback."
  }'

Step 2: Create a Skill Version ​

Skills are versioned for reproducibility:

bash
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/beta/skills/versions \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "skill_id": "skill_xxx",
    "description": "Initial version"
  }'

Step 3: Invoke the Skill in a Request ​

python
response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-6",
    max_tokens=1024,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Review: def foo(x): return x/0"}],
    skills=[{"id": "skill_xxx", "version": 1}]
)

Verification Checklist ​

  • [ ] Skill created with name and description
  • [ ] Skill version created and active
  • [ ] Skill appears in response when invoked
  • [ ] Output reflects skill instructions

See Also ​