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Your First Skill

Run an AI skill hands-on in 10 minutes.

1. What is a Skill?

A skill is a guided workflow for Claude.

Instead of giving Claude vague instructions, skills provide: - Step-by-step procedures - Output templates - File format knowledge - Best practices

Result: Consistent, high-quality outputs every time.

2. How to Activate a Skill

You don't need to know skill names. Just describe what you want.

You Say Claude Activates
"Create a mind map of..." excalidraw-easy
"Help me define my ideal customer" icp-discovery
"Map out my business operations" business-baseline
"Generate a Word document for..." docx

Claude matches your intent to the right skill automatically.

3. Let's Try It - Mind Map

Step 1: Open your terminal where Claude Code runs

Step 2: Navigate to your vault folder: 

cd /path/to/your/vault

Step 3: Start Claude Code: 

claude

Step 4: Type this prompt: 

Create a mind map of the benefits of AI for small business

4. Watch Claude Work

Claude will:

  1. Recognize you want a diagram → activates excalidraw-easy
  2. Ask permission to use the skill (say yes)
  3. Plan the mind map structure
  4. Generate the .excalidraw file
  5. Save it to your vault

You'll see the thinking process in real-time.

5. Find Your Output

After Claude finishes:

  1. Check the terminal - it shows the path where the file was saved
  2. Open Obsidian - some skills auto-open the file; the Excalidraw skill usually does
  3. If it didn't open: Use Ctrl+O and search for "mind map", or paste the path from the run output

The diagram opens in Obsidian's Excalidraw plugin.

6. Try Another - Capture a Note

Skills aren't just for diagrams. Try capturing an idea:

Create a new note: I had an idea for a referral program
where existing clients get 10% off their next project
for every new client they bring in

Claude uses the new skill to: - Classify this as an "idea" - Create a properly formatted note - Save it to {me.ideas} - Open it in Obsidian

7. The Pattern

Most skills follow this pattern:

1. You describe what you want (natural language)
2. Claude picks the skill (automatic)
3. Claude may ask clarifying questions
4. Claude generates the output
5. Some skills save a file to the vault; the run output shows the path

You focus on WHAT. Claude handles HOW.

8. What If It Doesn't Work?

Problem Solution
"Skill not found" Rephrase your request more specifically
Wrong output location Tell Claude where to save: "Save it to {company.clients}/acme/"
Skill asks too many questions Answer them, or say "Use defaults"
Output isn't right Say "Revise this to..." and explain

Claude learns from your feedback within the conversation.

You Did It!

You've run your first skill. Here's what to explore next:

Quick Reference

Start Claude Code: 

cd /path/to/vault && claude

Best starter prompts: - "Create a mind map of [topic]" - "Help me define my ideal customer" - "Generate a proposal for [client]" - "Map out my [process] as a flowchart"

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