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Workflows and Patterns ​
~8 minutes. How skills work, which ones to use when, and prompt templates that save hours.
Skills are pre-built workflows that Claude matches to your intent. But not everything needs a skill — sometimes a well-crafted prompt is enough. This page covers both.
How Skills Work ​
When you type something in Claude Code, the system checks whether any installed skill matches your intent. If it does, the skill takes over with structured instructions.
The key insight: you don't need to remember slash commands. Just describe what you want. If a skill matches, it runs. If not, Claude handles it conversationally using whatever context it has.
Available Skills ​
Daily Rhythm ​
These form your day-to-day workflow:
| Skill | What it does | When to use |
|---|---|---|
/start-day | Morning briefing — open actions, today's meetings, stale items | Start of day |
/process-meeting | Transcript → structured notes, decisions, action items, people updates | After any meeting |
/end-day | Review what got done, capture loose ends, update work board | End of day |
/week-review | Weekly synthesis — themes, patterns, stale actions, wins | Friday afternoon |
Capture ​
Quick capture for things that come up during the day:
| Skill | What it does | When to use |
|---|---|---|
/note | Quick capture to Inbox with auto-tagging | Any time — fleeting thoughts, links, ideas |
/pkb-file | File a document with extracted insights and cross-references | Strategy decks, reports, proposals |
Weekly and Expansion ​
Skills that build on your accumulated context:
| Skill | What it does | When to use |
|---|---|---|
meeting-prep | Briefing before a meeting — attendee profiles, open items, context | 10 min before a meeting |
email-draft | Draft emails using project and stakeholder context | Composing important emails |
stakeholder-update | Project update from accumulated notes and decisions | Weekly or milestone updates |
data-check | Query data warehouse to verify assumptions or pull metrics | Before making claims in a doc |
Common Patterns (Prompt Templates) ​
Not everything needs a skill. These patterns work as direct prompts and save significant time.
Brain Dump to Brief ​
Saves: 2-4 hours
When you have scattered thoughts about a project and need to turn them into a structured document.
"I'm going to dump everything I know about [project name]. Don't organize yet, just capture. Then turn it into a brief with: problem statement, current state, proposed approach, open questions, and stakeholders."
Paste your notes, ramble into it, add links. Claude captures everything, then structures it. Review and edit the output — it gets to 80%, your expertise fills the rest.
Meeting Prep ​
Saves: 15-20 minutes
Before an important meeting, especially recurring ones where history matters.
"Prep me for my meeting with [person/group]. Check their people file, our last 3 meetings together, any open action items between us, and their current positions on active projects."
Works best after you've processed 5+ meetings. The more context in your KB, the better the prep.
1:1 Prep ​
Saves: 20 minutes
Specifically for recurring 1:1s where continuity matters.
"Prep me for my 1:1 with [name]. What did we discuss last time? What actions are open? What's changed in their projects since then? Any topics I should bring up?"
This is where accumulated people profiles and meeting notes really shine. Claude tracks what the other person cares about, what they've committed to, and where their positions have shifted.
Stakeholder Update ​
Saves: 20 minutes
When you need to write a project update for leadership or cross-functional partners.
"Draft a status update on [project] for [audience]. Use the last 2 weeks of meeting notes, recent decisions, and current blockers. Keep it to 5 paragraphs max. Tone: confident but honest about risks."
Claude pulls from your accumulated context — no need to re-explain the project from scratch.
Research Brief ​
Saves: 1-3 hours
When you need to understand a topic by pulling from multiple sources.
"I need a research brief on [topic]. Search for relevant docs and recent discussions. Summarize what our team has written about this, what decisions have been made, and what's still open. Include links to source documents."
This leverages your connected search tools. Claude finds the sources, synthesizes them, and gives you a structured brief with citations.
When to Create a Skill vs. Keep as a Pattern ​
The graduation path: Start with a pattern. If you find yourself pasting the same prompt repeatedly, ask Claude: "Turn what we just did into a reusable skill." See Power Tips for how to create custom skills.
Tips for Better Results ​
1
Be specific about audience and format.
"Draft a stakeholder update" is okay. "Draft a 5-paragraph update on Project X for the VP of Engineering, focusing on timeline risk" is much better.
2
Point Claude to specific files when you can.
"Read People/George.md and our last meeting notes" gives Claude a head start instead of searching from scratch.
3
Correct and iterate.
The first output is a draft. "Make the tone more direct" or "You missed the budget discussion" is how you get to the final version.
4
Process meetings the same day.
Fresh context helps you catch things the AI misses. After a week, you won't remember what was said between the lines.
5
Use wiki-links for people names.
When you type [[George]] in any note, Claude can resolve it to the full people profile. Consistent naming is how the KB cross-references itself.
Next: Real Examples — Actual output from processing meetings, filing docs, and running these workflows.