Compresses ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/ into ~/Desktop/<skill-name>.skill — a zip archive with a .skill extension, ready for sharing or installation via Claude Desktop.
Steps
Step 1 — Identify the target skill
Determine which skill to package from the user's request.
- If the skill name is explicit, use it directly.
- If the user was editing or testing a skill earlier in the conversation, assume that one is the target.
- If unclear, list the available skills and ask which one to package:
ls ~/.claude/skills/
Step 2 — Inspect the contents
List every file that will be included, so the user can spot anything unexpected before it ships:
cd ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name> && \
find . -type f \
-not -path '*/__pycache__/*' \
-not -name '*.pyc' \
-not -name '.DS_Store' \
| sort
Confirm that caches (__pycache__/, *.pyc) and OS metadata (.DS_Store) are excluded. Flag anything suspicious before zipping — large binaries, credentials, .env files, local-only configs, personal data — and confirm with the user if in doubt.
Step 3 — Create the .skill archive
cd ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name> && \
zip -r ~/Desktop/<skill-name>.skill . \
-x '__pycache__/*' '*/__pycache__/*' '*.pyc' '.DS_Store' '*/.DS_Store'
- Output:
~/Desktop/<skill-name>.skill - Overwrites any existing file at that path.
- ASCII-safe filenames required. Claude Desktop rejects archives containing non-ASCII filenames. If the skill directory contains Japanese or other non-ASCII filenames, rename them to ASCII equivalents before zipping — and update any references inside
SKILL.mdor supporting scripts accordingly.
Step 4 — Verify and report
Confirm the archive exists and report its path and size:
ls -lh ~/Desktop/<skill-name>.skill
Tell the user the full output path and the file size. If the archive is unexpectedly large (e.g., >5 MB for a typical skill), suggest reviewing Step 2's file list for accidentally-bundled assets.