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Get started with Agent Skills in the API

Learn how to use Agent Skills to create documents with the Claude API in under 10 minutes.

This tutorial shows you how to use Agent Skills to create a PowerPoint presentation. You'll learn how to enable Skills, make a request, and access the generated file.

Prerequisites

Agent Skills overview

Pre-built Agent Skills extend Claude's capabilities with specialized expertise for tasks such as creating documents, analyzing data, and processing files. Anthropic provides the following pre-built Agent Skills in the API:

  • PowerPoint (pptx): Create and edit presentations
  • Excel (xlsx): Create and analyze spreadsheets
  • Word (docx): Create and edit documents
  • PDF (pdf): Generate PDF documents

Step 1: List available Skills

First, check what Skills are available. Use the Skills API to list all Anthropic-managed Skills. Each language tab is an excerpt from one continuous script, with any imports and client setup at the top:

# List Anthropic-managed Skills
skills = client.skills.list(source="anthropic")

for skill in skills.data:
    print(f"{skill.id}: {skill.display_name}")

You see the following Skills: pptx, xlsx, docx, and pdf.

This API returns each Skill's metadata: its name and description. Claude loads this metadata at startup to determine which Skills are available. This is the first level of progressive disclosure, where Claude discovers Skills without loading their full instructions yet.

Step 2: Create a presentation

Use the PowerPoint Skill to create a presentation about renewable energy. Specify Skills using the container parameter in the Messages API:

# Create a message with the PowerPoint Skill
response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-opus-5",
    max_tokens=16000,
    container={
        "skills": [{"type": "anthropic", "skill_id": "pptx", "version": "latest"}]
    },
    messages=[
        {
            "role": "user",
            "content": "Create a presentation about renewable energy with 5 slides",
        }
    ],
    tools=[{"type": "code_execution_20260521", "name": "code_execution"}],
)

print(f"stop_reason={response.stop_reason}, blocks={len(response.content)}")

The request includes the following parts:

  • model: A model that supports the code execution tool
  • container.skills: Specifies which Skills Claude can use
  • type: "anthropic": Indicates this is an Anthropic-managed Skill
  • skill_id: "pptx": The PowerPoint Skill identifier
  • version: "latest": The Skill version set to the most recently published
  • tools: Enables code execution (required for Skills)

When you make this request, Claude automatically matches your task to the relevant Skill. Because you asked for a presentation, Claude determines the PowerPoint Skill is relevant and loads its full instructions: the second level of progressive disclosure. Then Claude runs the Skill's code to create your presentation.

Step 3: Download the created file

The presentation was created in the code execution container and saved as a file. The Step 2 response includes a file reference with a file ID. Extract the file ID and download the file with the Files API. The example saves it to your system temp directory:

# Extract the file ID. The code execution tool runs the Skill's code through
# its Bash sub-tool, and generated files appear as bash_code_execution_output
# items inside the bash_code_execution_tool_result block.
file_id = None
for block in response.content:
    if block.type == "bash_code_execution_tool_result":
        if block.content.type == "bash_code_execution_result":
            for output in block.content.content:
                file_id = output.file_id

if file_id:
    # Download the file and save it
    output_path = Path(tempfile.gettempdir()) / "renewable_energy.pptx"
    file_content = client.files.download(file_id=file_id)
    file_content.write_to_file(output_path)
    print(f"Presentation saved to {output_path}")

Try more examples

Try these variations:

Create a spreadsheet

response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-opus-5",
    max_tokens=16000,
    container={
        "skills": [{"type": "anthropic", "skill_id": "xlsx", "version": "latest"}]
    },
    messages=[
        {
            "role": "user",
            "content": "Create a quarterly sales tracking spreadsheet with sample data",
        }
    ],
    tools=[{"type": "code_execution_20260521", "name": "code_execution"}],
)

Create a Word document

response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-opus-5",
    max_tokens=16000,
    container={
        "skills": [{"type": "anthropic", "skill_id": "docx", "version": "latest"}]
    },
    messages=[
        {
            "role": "user",
            "content": "Write a 2-page report on the benefits of renewable energy",
        }
    ],
    tools=[{"type": "code_execution_20260521", "name": "code_execution"}],
)

Generate a PDF

response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-opus-5",
    max_tokens=16000,
    container={
        "skills": [{"type": "anthropic", "skill_id": "pdf", "version": "latest"}]
    },
    messages=[
        {
            "role": "user",
            "content": "Generate a PDF invoice template",
        }
    ],
    tools=[{"type": "code_execution_20260521", "name": "code_execution"}],
)

Next steps

Skill authoring best practices

Learn how to write effective Skills that Claude can discover and use successfully.

Using Agent Skills with the API

Learn how to use Agent Skills to extend Claude's capabilities through the API.

Create custom Skills

Upload your own Skills for specialized tasks.

Use Skills in Claude Code

Learn about Skills in Claude Code.

Agent Skills Cookbook

Explore example Skills and implementation patterns.

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