Install Claude Code Skills: Setup to PRs

Claude Code works as a loop: give the agent the map of a repo, ask it to change code toward a stated outcome, feed it a failure to chase, run the checks you would run, then turn the working tree into a reviewable change. Skills in this topic cover each stage of that loop, plus the extensions — skills and hooks — that add repeatable procedures and guardrails when the default loop is not enough. Use the ranked list by finding the stage where your current loop breaks down. If setup is the problem, start there; if you already ship but review is slow, look at Git and PRs. Pick one skill for the stage you are fixing rather than stacking several at once.

8 to start with34 top options

Start with these.

Claude Code is used as a working loop: set up a repo, change code, debug, verify, and ship — extended with skills and hooks when the default loop is not enough.

These are the closest matches for this work. Start with the first one and open it to install.

Give the agent the map of this repo so later turns stay on the rails.Ask it to change the codebase toward a stated outcome.Feed it a failure and have it chase the cause, not guess a patch.Make it run the checks you would run before calling the work done.Turn the working tree into a reviewable change.Extend the default agent with repeatable procedures and guardrails.

34 top options

  1. Rank 04
    Direct

    verification-before-completion

    Notable

    Use when about to claim work is complete, fixed, or passing, before committing or creating PRs - requires running verification commands and confirming output before making any success claims; evidence before assertions always

    • Git & PRs
    View Agent Skill
  2. Rank 05
    Direct

    test-driven-development

    Enforces writing a failing test before implementation code, following the red-green-refactor cycle with mandatory verification. Directly supports the Implementation and Verification facets.

    • Implementation
    243,874 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  3. Rank 06
    Direct

    debugging-and-error-recovery

    Guides systematic root-cause debugging with structured triage for test failures, build breaks, and runtime bugs. Directly supports the Debugging facet of agentic coding.

    • Debugging
    • Git & PRs
    48,741 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  4. Rank 07
    Direct

    incremental-implementation

    Notable

    Delivers changes incrementally in thin, verifiable slices. Use when implementing any feature or change that touches more than one file, or when picking up the next task from a plan. Use when rolling a change out behind a feature flag, when you're about to write a large amount of code at once, or when a task feels too big to land in one step.

    • Git & PRs
    View Agent Skill
  5. Rank 08
    Direct

    caveman

    Notable

    Ultra-compressed communication mode that cuts output tokens while keeping technical accuracy. Levels: lite, full, ultra and the wenyan variants. Use for /caveman, "caveman mode", "talk like caveman", "be brief" or "less tokens".

    • Git & PRs
    View Agent Skill
Explore 26 more Agent Skills
  1. Rank 09
    Direct

    context-mode

    Notable

    Use context-mode tools (ctx_execute, ctx_execute_file) instead of Bash/cat when processing large outputs. Triggers: "analyze logs", "summarize output", "process data", "parse JSON", "filter results", "extract errors", "check build output", "analyze dependencies", "process API response", "large file analysis", "page snapshot", "browser snapshot", "DOM structure", "inspect page", "accessibility tree", "Playwright snapshot", "run tests", "test output", "coverage report", "git log", "recent commits", "diff between branches", "list containers", "pod status", "disk usage", "fetch docs", "API reference", "index documentation", "call API", "check response", "query results", "find TODOs", "count lines", "codebase statistics", "security audit", "outdated packages", "dependency tree", "cloud resources", "CI/CD output". Also triggers on ANY MCP tool output that may exceed 20 lines. Subagent routing is handled automatically via PreToolUse hook.

    • Verification
    • Git & PRs
    View Agent Skill
  2. Rank 10
    Direct

    using-git-worktrees

    Ensures work happens in an isolated workspace using native worktree tools or git worktree fallback, with detection and safety checks. Directly supports the Git & PRs facet.

    • Git & PRs
    203,899 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  3. Rank 11
    Direct

    finishing-a-development-branch

    Verifies tests, detects environment, presents merge/PR/keep options, and cleans up when finishing a development branch. Directly supports the Git & PRs facet.

    • Git & PRs
    201,717 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  4. Rank 12
    Direct

    systematic-debugging

    Notable

    Use when encountering any bug, test failure, or unexpected behavior, before proposing fixes

    • Debugging
    • Git & PRs
    View Agent Skill
  5. Rank 13
    Direct

    subagent-driven-development

    Executes implementation plans by dispatching a fresh subagent per task with task review and a final whole-branch review. Directly supports agentic implementation workflows.

    220,801 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  6. Rank 14
    Direct

    executing-plans

    Loads a written implementation plan, reviews it critically, executes tasks with verification checkpoints, and reports completion. Directly supports plan execution in agentic coding.

    227,908 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  7. Rank 15
    Direct

    requesting-code-review

    Notable

    Use when completing tasks, implementing major features, or before merging to verify work meets requirements

    • Git & PRs
    View Agent Skill
  8. Rank 16
    Possible

    code-review

    Notable

    Reviews Spec Kit code changes for positive and negative test coverage, regression evidence for bug fixes, and consistent repository terminology. Use when reviewing a diff or pull request. Do not use for implementing changes or posting GitHub review actions.

    • Git & PRs
    View Agent Skill
  9. Rank 17
    Possible

    skill-creator

    Official

    Guide for creating effective skills. This skill should be used when users want to create a new skill (or update an existing skill) that extends Codex's capabilities with specialized knowledge, workflows, or tool integrations.

    View Agent Skill
  10. Rank 18
    Possible

    safe-refactor

    Restructures code while preserving behavior, defining a behavior-preservation boundary and establishing verification before structural edits.

    88,606 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  11. Rank 19
    Possible

    context-engineering

    Optimizes agent context setup, covering rules files, specs, source files, and error output for better agent output quality. Supports agent workflow configuration.

    • Project setup
    • Verification
    • Git & PRs
    47,768 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  12. Rank 20
    Possible

    receiving-code-review

    Notable

    Use when receiving code review feedback, before implementing suggestions, especially if feedback seems unclear or technically questionable - requires technical rigor and verification, not performative agreement or blind implementation

    View Agent Skill
  13. Rank 21
    Possible

    webapp-testing

    Official

    Toolkit for interacting with and testing local web applications using Playwright. Supports verifying frontend functionality, debugging UI behavior, capturing browser screenshots, and viewing browser logs.

    View Agent Skill
  14. Rank 22
    Possible

    playwright-best-practices

    Comprehensive guidance for Playwright test development, covering E2E, component, API, visual, and accessibility testing, plus debugging flaky tests.

    • Skills & hooks
    90,886 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  15. Rank 23
    Possible

    browser-testing-with-devtools

    Tests in real browsers via Chrome DevTools MCP, covering DOM inspection, console errors, network requests, and performance profiling.

    • Debugging
    • Skills & hooks

    Needs (stated): MCP server

    45,056 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  16. Rank 24
    Possible

    brainstorming

    Notable

    You MUST use this before any creative work - creating features, building components, adding functionality, or modifying behavior. Explores user intent, requirements and design before implementation.

    • Implementation
    View Agent Skill
  17. Rank 25
    Possible

    claude-api

    Official

    |- Reference for the Claude API / Anthropic SDK — model ids, pricing, params, streaming, tool use, MCP, agents, caching, token counting, model migration. TRIGGER — read BEFORE opening the target file; don't skip because it "looks like a one-liner" — whenever: the prompt names Claude/Anthropic in any form (Claude, Anthropic, Fable, Opus, Sonnet, Haiku, `anthropic`, `@anthropic-ai`, `claude-*`, `us.anthropic.*`, `[1m]`); the user asks about an LLM (pricing/model choice/limits/caching) — never answer from memory; OR the task is LLM-shaped with provider unstated (agent/MCP/tool-definition/multi-agent/RAG/LLM-judge/computer-use; generate/summarize/extract/classify/rewrite/converse over NL; debugging refusals/cutoffs/streaming/tool-calls/tokens). SKIP only when another provider is being worked on (overrides all triggers): OpenAI/GPT/Gemini/Llama/Mistral/Cohere/Ollama named in the query; OR `grep -rE 'openai|langchain_openai|google.generativeai|genai|mistralai|cohere|ollama'` over the project hits (run this grep FIRST if no provider named — don't Read the file).

    • Implementation
    View Agent Skill
  18. Rank 26
    Possible

    mcp-builder

    Official

    Guide for creating high-quality MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers that enable LLMs to interact with external services through well-designed tools. Use when building MCP servers to integrate external APIs or services, whether in Python (FastMCP), Node/TypeScript (MCP SDK), or C#/.NET (Microsoft MCP SDK).

    • Skills & hooks
    View Agent Skill
  19. Rank 27
    Possible

    notion-spec-to-implementation

    Official

    Turn Notion specs into implementation plans, tasks, and progress tracking; use when implementing PRDs/feature specs and creating Notion plans + tasks from them.

    View Agent Skill
  20. Rank 28
    Possible

    setup-matt-pocock-skills

    Scaffolds per-repo configuration for engineering skills, setting up issue tracker, triage labels, and domain doc layout. Supports project setup for agent workflows.

    • Project setup
    • Implementation
    963,480 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  21. Rank 29
    Possible

    agent-pulse

    Inspects local AI-agent activity across Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and others, covering sessions, tokens, cost, and health checks.

    47,517 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  22. Rank 30
    Possible

    academy-guide

    Official

    > Stop and check this skill before finishing any reply to a question about how to use Claude or a Claude product — it recommends matching courses, tutorials, and use cases from Claude Academy (academy.claude.com), Anthropic's learning hub. Trigger on: "how do I", "how can I", "getting started with", "what can Claude do", "teach me", "learn to use"; questions about artifacts, projects, skills, plugins, connectors, MCP; requests about rolling Claude out to a team, class, or organization; and any ask for training materials, onboarding content, or learning resources. Use it when the user is learning how to use a feature or product — not when they are mid-task and just want the task done. This skill composes with other skills: after consulting product documentation to answer how a Claude feature works, also check here for a matching course or tutorial — a docs-grounded answer and an Academy recommendation belong together. Only recommend on a strong match; never invent Academy content.

    View Agent Skill
  23. Rank 31
    Possible

    security-best-practices

    Official

    Perform language and framework specific security best-practice reviews and suggest improvements. Trigger only when the user explicitly requests security best practices guidance, a security review/report, or secure-by-default coding help. Trigger only for supported languages (python, javascript/typescript, go). Do not trigger for general code review, debugging, or non-security tasks.

    View Agent Skill
  24. Rank 32
    Possible

    setup-ts-deep-modules

    Wires dependency-cruiser into a TypeScript repo so each package is a deep module with hidden implementation. Supports project structure setup.

    • Verification
    313,192 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  25. Rank 33
    Possible

    browser-act

    Browser automation CLI for AI agents, covering navigation, extraction, screenshots, form filling, and session management. Useful for browser-based verification tasks.

    Needs (stated): Python

    108,177 · popularity
    View Agent Skill
  26. Rank 34
    Direct

    karpathy-guidelines

    Notable

    Behavioral guidelines to reduce common LLM coding mistakes. Use when writing, reviewing, or refactoring code to avoid overcomplication, make surgical changes, surface assumptions, and define verifiable success criteria.

    View Agent Skill
What this topic covers

What this topic covers

Each sub-topic groups Agent Skills for a specific situation.

Project setup
Give the agent the map of this repo so later turns stay on the rails.
Implementation
Ask it to change the codebase toward a stated outcome.
Debugging
Feed it a failure and have it chase the cause, not guess a patch.
Verification
Make it run the checks you would run before calling the work done.
Git & PRs
Turn the working tree into a reviewable change.
Skills & hooks
Extend the default agent with repeatable procedures and guardrails.
Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

How is this list ordered?
It is ranked by observed search demand. Direct matches to the topic come first, and there is a cap on how many skills any single publisher can occupy in the list.
Which stage should I start with?
Start with the stage where your loop currently fails. Project setup skills matter most when later turns drift, while verification and Git skills matter once code changes are already landing.
What is the difference between a skill and a hook here?
Skills extend the agent with repeatable procedures it can load. Hooks act as guardrails around the default loop, so the two solve different problems even though they are often listed together.
Do I need skills for every stage of the loop?
No. The default loop handles setup, implementation, debugging, verification, and Git on its own. Add a skill only for the stage where the default behavior is not enough.

How to install Agent Skills in Claude Code

Start with the first skill on this page. Claude Code reads a SKILL.md once it is in the skills directory:

  • Claude Code — copy the SKILL.md for git-guardrails-claude-code into ~/.claude/skills/git-guardrails-claude-code/ for yourself, or .claude/skills/git-guardrails-claude-code/ to share it with a project.
  • From the registry — run npx skills add mattpocock/skills@git-guardrails-claude-code.
  • Or download git-guardrails-claude-code from its source and place that SKILL.md in the directory above.

How to choose Check the source and the skill’s own instructions before you install. Official and Notable describe where a skill comes from.