The most searched “skills” questions aren’t philosophical—they’re practical: add skill to Claude, adding a skill to Alexa, and the broader curiosity around Gemini skills and ChatGPT skills. Translation: marketers want assistants that can run repeatable workflows, not generate one-off answers. This guide shows you how to add AI skills to Claude across ecosystems (they’re not just a Claude thing), and gives you clean, step-by-step instructions for adding a skill to Claude Code, installing skills using the open ecosystem at skills.sh, and building/publishing an Alexa skill via the Alexa Skills Kit.
You’ll also get a marketer-friendly checklist and a simple “build vs buy” decision framework.
Want to turn competitor research into a reusable “skill”?
Pull real creatives and landing pages in AdSpyder, then standardize your analysis into a repeatable workflow your team can run every week.
What “Skills” Mean (and why they’re not just a Claude feature)
The word “skill” is overloaded. In most modern assistant ecosystems, an AI skill means:
a packaged capability that adds new behavior—often a procedure, a tool connection, or a reusable playbook.
Agent Skills (skills.sh ecosystem)
Installable skills for AI agents using a CLI. Great for reusable internal workflows and automation.
Think: “run my campaign teardown checklist” or “generate my reporting summary format.”
Voice Skills (Alexa Skills Kit)
Published voice experiences with invocation names and interaction models. Great for consumer-facing voice utilities.
Think: “Alexa, open Brand Assistant” or “Alexa, ask Promo Finder.”
Marketing takeaway
If the goal is internal repeatability (your team running the same workflow every week), skills.sh-style agent skills are a strong fit.
If the goal is a public voice experience (customers talking to your brand), Alexa skills are the right model.
Key Statistics on How to Add AI Skills (especially for Alexa skills)
Alexa skills available worldwide
160k+
catalog size
Discovery is competitive
Skills with >100 ratings (estimate)
<1%
engagement reality
Most skills stay niche
Skill building toolchain
3
paths
Console + CLI + APIs
Marketer takeaway: If you’re building an Alexa skill, plan for distribution (invocation memorability, retention, ratings).
If you’re building internal agent skills, plan for repeatability (checklists, consistent output format, handoff).
Sources: The Verge on “160,000+ skills,” Voicebot estimate on ratings concentration, Amazon Alexa documentation on build tools.
A Simple Decision Flow: Should You Add an Agent Skill or Build an Alexa Skill?
Shortcut: If the “skill” is basically a checklist + output format, start with agent skills. If it needs voice interaction and public distribution, go Alexa.
How to Add AI Skills to Claude (Claude Code)
In Claude Code, skills extend Claude’s capabilities using a simple file-based pattern.
Claude Code can load skills automatically when relevant, and you can also invoke them directly as slash commands.
Step 1: Create a skill folder
Use the Claude Code convention (example): .claude/skills/your-skill/. You can select from the top AI skills from the list.
Step 2: Add a SKILL.md file
Put instructions in SKILL.md. This is your playbook: inputs → steps → checks → output format. You can select from the top AI skills from the list.
Step 3: Invoke it as a slash command
Claude Code skills can be invoked like /skill-name when you want to run that workflow.
Marketer tip: make your SKILL.md enforce “proof blocks”
Example rule: “Include 3 statistics with sources + 2 competitor examples + a CTA checklist.”
This is how you stop AI content from becoming generic.
How to Install Skills Using skills.sh (the open agent skills ecosystem)
If you don’t want to write your own skill from scratch, skills.sh provides a directory + CLI for installing skills into supported agents.
The CLI can run via npx (no manual install required).
Install a skill (typical pattern)
npx skills add <owner/repo>
npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills
After installation, your agent can use the skill when relevant—or you can explicitly run it depending on the agent’s interface.
Where this helps marketers most
Build a small internal “skill library” for repeatable tasks: campaign teardown, landing page audit, SEO refresh checklist, creative testing plan, weekly KPI narrative.
How to Add AI Skills in Alexa: The Practical Steps (developer console)
Alexa skills are built and published via the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK).
You typically use the Alexa developer console (GUI), or the ASK CLI / Skill Management API for automation.
Step 1: Create a new skill in the Alexa developer console
Choose the experience type, a model (interaction style), and primary locale (language/country).
Step 2: Define your interaction model
Set an invocation name and intents. Keep it simple: one clear “job” for the user, not 20 features.
Step 3: Connect logic (hosting/service)
Use the hosting option that fits your team (common paths include AWS-backed hosting or API-based approaches).
Step 4: Test, validate, and publish
Iterate with testing tools, then submit for certification and publishing.
Important reality check
With a huge catalog of Alexa skills, distribution and retention matter.
Treat the skill like a product: a single job, a memorable invocation name, and a reason to return.
A Marketer-Ready Example Skill: “Competitor Ad Teardown” (weekly)
If you want a high-ROI first skill for marketers, don’t start with “write blog posts.”
Start with a workflow that improves everything you ship: competitor teardown → angle extraction → test plan.
Inputs
3–5 competitor ads (screenshots or links)
Landing page URL(s)
Your offer + audience
Skill steps (the playbook)
Tag hooks by “angle” (pain, outcome, proof, offer)
Extract proof elements (numbers, badges, guarantees)
Generate 5 testable variants (format + CTA)
Outputs (what “good” looks like)
A 1-page teardown summary
A/B test matrix (hypothesis, KPI, duration)
Creative spec cards for designers
If you standardize this teardown as a skill, every marketer on the team can run it and produce consistent outputs—no “it depends” formatting.
FAQs: How to Add AI Skills
Is “adding a skill to Claude” the same as “adding a skill to Alexa”?
No. Claude Code skills are file-based playbooks used by an agent (often internal workflows). Alexa skills are published voice experiences with interaction models and distribution considerations.
What’s the fastest “first skill” for a marketing team?
Start with a weekly workflow: competitor teardown, landing page audit, or performance reporting narrative. These create compounding benefits across every campaign.
How does skills.sh help if I’m not a developer?
It provides installable skills via a CLI and a directory of skill packages. Your team can adopt existing skills and refine the playbooks over time.
Conclusion
“Skills” are becoming the default way to extend assistants because they solve the real problem: repeatability. If you want internal team automation, package your workflows as agent skills (and consider installing from skills.sh). If you want a public, voice-first product experience, build an Alexa skill—but treat distribution as part of the work. Either way, the win is the same: turn your best marketing procedure into a reusable capability.
