Lesson 7Claude Skills

How to Edit and Update Skills

Three ways to update a skill: edit SKILL.md by hand, ask Claude in chat, or use the built-in “Edit with Claude” button in claude.ai.

Edit by handAsk Claude in chatEdit with Claude buttonReplace & Download

Three ways to edit a skill

Once a skill is installed you will need to update it as your workflow evolves. All three methods below edit the same SKILL.md file — choose whichever fits how you work.

Option 1
Edit by hand — Open SKILL.md in any text editor and save. Most precise, no round-trip needed.
Option 2
Ask Claude in chat — Paste your SKILL.md into any Claude chat, describe what to change, copy the updated version back.
Option 3
Edit with Claude button — Click the ••• menu on any skill in claude.ai/customize/skills and choose "Edit with Claude" — Claude opens the skill in a guided conversation.

Option 1: edit by hand

Open the SKILL.md file in any editor, make your changes, and save. Claude picks up the updated skill on the next invocation — no restart needed.

For example, here's a /commit skill being updated to also push to origin:

~/.claude/skills/commit/SKILL.md
---
name: commit
description: >
  Stage all changes, write a descriptive commit message, and push to origin.
  Triggers whenever a user says "commit", "push my changes", or similar.
disable-model-invocation: false
allowed-tools: Bash(git add *) Bash(git commit *) Bash(git push *)
---

Stage all changes and write a commit message that follows this format:

<type>(<scope>): <summary>

Types: feat, fix, chore, docs, refactor, test
Keep the summary under 72 characters.
Write a short body if the change needs context.

After committing, push to origin with: git push origin HEAD
💡 Tip: After editing, type /commit in Claude Code straight away — Claude loads the file fresh on each invocation, so no reload step is required.

Option 2: ask Claude in chat

Open any Claude chat, paste the current SKILL.md content, and tell Claude what to change. Copy the updated content back into the file.

claude.ai

Here's my SKILL.md for /commit:

name: commit
description: Stage and commit changes
allowed-tools: Bash(git add *) Bash(git commit *)

Can you update it to also push to origin, and make the description more specific so auto-detection works better?

C

Here's your updated SKILL.md:

---
name: commit
description: >
  Stage all changes, write a commit message, and push
  to origin. Use when asked to commit, push, or save
  changes to the repository.
allowed-tools: Bash(git add *) Bash(git commit *) Bash(git push *)
---

Replace the contents of ~/.claude/skills/commit/SKILL.md with the above and you're done.

Option 3: “Edit with Claude” in claude.ai

On claude.ai/customize/skills, open any skill and click the ••• menu in the top-right corner. The dropdown gives you five options:

claude.ai/customize/skills
Personal skills
📄pr-security-review
SKILL.md
📁 references
📄skill-creator
pr-security-review
💬Try in chat
✏️Edit with Claude
🔄Replace
⬇️Download
🗑️Uninstall
Added by
You
Last updated
May 3, 2026
Trigger
Slash command + auto
Description
Reviews pull requests and code diffs for security vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and insecure patterns.
Menu optionWhat it does
Try in chatOpens a new chat with the skill already loaded — useful for quick testing before or after an edit.
Edit with ClaudeOpens a guided Claude chat where you describe the change; Claude updates the SKILL.md content for you.
ReplaceUpload a new SKILL.md file from your computer to overwrite the current version.
DownloadDownload the current SKILL.md (and any supporting files) as a zip — good for backups or version control.
UninstallRemove the skill from your account entirely.
ℹ️ Info: Edit with Claude is the fastest option for non-trivial changes — you describe the improvement in plain English and Claude rewrites the relevant parts of SKILL.md. The result is saved back to your skill automatically.

When to use each approach

Option 1
✍️Edit by hand
  • Precise one-line tweaks
  • Working locally in a terminal
  • Skill is version-controlled in Git
  • You know exactly what to change
Option 2
💬Ask Claude in chat
  • You have browser open anyway
  • Want Claude to rewrite the description
  • Iterating on instructions quickly
  • Skill doesn't have many supporting files
Option 3
⚡Edit with Claude
  • Updating a skill installed via claude.ai
  • Complex instruction rewrite
  • Want changes saved back automatically
  • Quickest path when already in claude.ai
💡 Tip: After any edit, run /skill-name in Claude Code or click “Try in chat” in claude.ai to confirm the skill behaves as expected before relying on it in your workflow.

What's Next

Editing skills is straightforward. Next: a curated list of the most useful skills for developers, ready to adapt for your own projects.