Locus product guide · Updated November 10, 2026

Best Claude Code skills: the most-installed in 2026

The most-installed coding skills that work in Claude Code, by skills.sh's all-time count on November 10, 2026, are Vercel Labs' find-skills (4.3M installs), Matt Pocock's grill-me (1.5M), Vercel's agent-browser (1.5M), Pocock's improve-codebase-architecture and tdd (1.2M each) and Anthropic's frontend-design (1.1M). For a starter set, install Matt Pocock's skills or obra's superpowers as a plugin. A skill loads its full text only when Claude uses it.

Which Claude Code skills are most popular?

skills.sh counts installs made with its npx skills tool across many agents, so these are cross-agent numbers. Video and design skills that do not help with code are left out. Counts checked November 10, 2026.

Which Claude Code skills are most popular?
Skill	Repo	Installs	What it does
find-skills	vercel-labs/skills	4.3M	Finds and installs other skills when you ask for a new ability
grill-me	mattpocock/skills	1.5M	Interviews you about a plan until every branch of the design is settled
agent-browser	vercel-labs/agent-browser	1.5M	A fast browser automation CLI that keeps one session across commands
grill-with-docs	mattpocock/skills	1.3M	A grilling session that also updates a glossary and decision records
improve-codebase-architecture	mattpocock/skills	1.2M	Scans a codebase for deeper module designs and shows them in an HTML report
tdd	mattpocock/skills	1.2M	Red-green-refactor, one vertical slice at a time
frontend-design	anthropics/skills	1.1M	Distinctive, production-grade front-end interfaces
supabase-postgres-best-practices	supabase/agent-skills	479.9K	Postgres guidance from Supabase
skill-creator	anthropics/skills	428.3K	Helps you write and test new skills
brainstorming	obra/superpowers	423.4K	Structured ideation that breaks a problem down before coding
systematic-debugging	obra/superpowers	326.8K	A step-by-step root-cause debugging process

How do you install skills in Claude Code?

There are three ways. A plugin installs a set of skills and keeps them updated. The skills.sh tool copies editable skill files into your project, and you update them by hand. Or you drop a folder with a SKILL.md file into a skills directory yourself.

Claude Code reads personal skills from ~/.claude/skills and project skills from .claude/skills. Skills from a plugin show up as /plugin-name:skill-name. Pick one install route per skill set. Matt Pocock warns that installing his skills both ways gives you every skill twice.

Matt Pocock's skills: claude plugin install mattpocock-skills@claude-plugins-official
Superpowers: /plugin install superpowers@claude-plugins-official
Anthropic's document skills (Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel): /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills, then /plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills
Any repo on skills.sh: npx skills add owner/repo

Which skills come built into Claude Code?

Claude Code ships bundled skills, including /code-review, /debug, /batch, /loop and /claude-api. Try those before you add a third-party skill that does the same job.

Skills follow the open Agent Skills format, so most skills built for other agents work in Claude Code too. Only each skill's name and description stay in context. The body loads when Claude uses it, and a description can be at most 1,536 characters.

Skills vs MCP

How do you avoid fake or look-alike skills?

Check the owner, not only the name. On skills.sh, repos named superpowers from accounts such as 101-skills, magentosh and skills-shell each show about 790,000 to 1 million installs for single AI image and video skills. None of them is obra/superpowers, the coding skills set that Anthropic lists in its official marketplace.

A skill can tell Claude to run scripts on your machine. Read the SKILL.md and any bundled scripts before you install, and prefer skills from the official plugin marketplace or from the vendor that owns the tool.

What do the Locus skills do in Claude Code?

The Locus plugin adds three skills: locus, locus-setup and locus-workflows. They teach Claude when to reach for a paid API, how to find the right one in the catalog, and how to save repeatable workflows. The plugin also adds the hosted Locus Pro MCP server, so Claude can call those APIs from one credit balance with no key per vendor.

Install it with /plugin marketplace add locus-technologies/locus-pro-plugin and /plugin install locus@locus. For other agents, npx skills add locus-technologies/locus-pro-plugin installs the skills alone. Search, describe and balance checks are free. 1,000 credits equal $1. Prices checked November 10, 2026.

What do the Locus skills do in Claude Code?
Job	Locus endpoint	Credits per call	Price
Cited web answer	perplexity/search	5.8	$0.0058
Read a page as text	firecrawl/scrape	1 to 38.6, usually 1	Usually $0.001
Verify an email address	hunter/email-verifier	5.1 fixed	$0.0051
Company financial facts	edgar/company-facts	Fixed 5.1	About $0.0051

How do you choose Claude Code skills?

Pick one working method, then add skills for the tools and file types you use. Install counts show popularity, not fit.

Want Claude to ask before it builds: grill-me or brainstorming.
Want tests first: tdd from Matt Pocock or the TDD flow in superpowers, not both.
Office files: Anthropic document skills.
A framework or database you use daily: the vendor skill, such as Supabase or Vercel.
Paid APIs inside your workflows: the Locus skills.
A repeated task of your own: write a skill with skill-creator.

Frequently asked questions

Where does Claude Code look for skills?

In the skills folder inside .claude in your home directory for personal skills, in .claude/skills inside a project for that project, and in any installed plugin. Plugin skills are named with the plugin name in front.

Do skills from skills.sh work in Claude Code?

Yes. skills.sh uses the open Agent Skills format that Claude Code reads. Run npx skills add with the owner and repo, and pick Claude Code when the installer asks which agent to install for.

Should I install skills as a plugin or with npx skills?

Use a plugin when one exists and you want updates without effort. Use npx skills when you want to edit the files in your repo. Do not do both for the same set, or you get duplicate skills.

Do skills slow Claude Code down?

Barely, until used. Claude keeps only each skill name and description in context. The full instructions load when a task needs them. Many installed skills still add up, so remove ones you never use.

Implementation references

Use these first-party references for current request contracts and account requirements. Tool availability, prices, and negotiated terms can change.

Sources

Third-party details were checked on November 10, 2026. Vendors change pricing and features often, so confirm on their site before you decide.