Skills in ChatGPT and Claude can turn recurring tasks into reusable workflows, adding a layer of automation to ordinary prompting. The topic is covered in an episode of t3n’s MeisterPrompter podcast, which explains when Skills may be worthwhile and how to set them up.
A Skill describes the steps for a task, the expected result and the conditions for using it. According to prompt engineer Susanne Renate Schneider, they are most useful for work that is done often and according to consistent criteria. They can be created using natural language, without programming knowledge.
Skills may also run automatically. Schneider recommends that beginners first check when an automation is triggered and configure Skills to act only when explicitly requested. They can be revised later to enable more automation.
As a way to identify possible use cases, Schneider suggests asking an AI tool: “Which of the tasks I do here in [AI tool] would make sense to turn into a Skill?” The tool’s memory feature must be enabled for the prompt to work.
The article also notes that ChatGPT Custom GPTs have offered a more limited way to create similar workflows. OpenAI is scheduled to discontinue them on December 11; they will no longer be usable, though users can move them to plugins. The t3n MeisterPrompter newsletter edition dated November 5 explains how to do this.
Sources: t3n.