Install your first Claude Code skill in two minutes
Most people run Claude Code with no skills installed at all. Here is how to add one, check it worked, and which ten are worth your time.
If you have never installed a skill, you are using a fraction of what Claude Code can do. A skill is a packaged set of instructions Claude loads when a task matches it, so instead of re-explaining your workflow every session, Claude already knows it. Installing one takes about two minutes.
Install one
- Open Claude Code in any project.
- Paste
/plugin install superpowers@claude-plugins-officialand press return. - Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new skill.
- Type
/and look for the skill in the list. If it is there, it installed.
That is the whole process. Some skills use a marketplace instead, which is two commands rather than one — first /plugin marketplace add owner/repo, then /plugin install name@marketplace. A few ship as npm or uv packages and install from your terminal instead of inside Claude.
Which ones are worth it
I ranked ten by GitHub stars, which is a proxy for how many people stuck with them rather than how good they are. Superpowers is the one I would start with: it changes how Claude approaches a task rather than adding a single trick.
All ten, with their exact install commands, are on the links page so you do not have to copy them out of a video.
Before you install ten of them
Skills load into context, so a dozen installed at once costs you tokens on every session whether or not you use them. Add one, work with it for a few days, then add the next. A skill you forgot you installed is worse than no skill.
Install commands come from each repository’s README. If one fails, check the README rather than the video — maintainers rename things.