Anthropic announced on July 21, U.S. time, through its official X account @ClaudeAI that Claude Cowork has added a new feature called "Record a Skill." Users can record their screen, explain the process out loud, and Claude will turn the full demonstration into a reusable skill.
Where the feature sits and how it works
The feature is located in the "+" menu inside the Claude desktop app, where it appears as "Record a skill." It is available on Claude Pro, Max, and Team plans.
In its post, Anthropic framed the launch as a way to "Teach Claude a skill," describing it as a demonstration-based workflow rather than a manually written setup.
User flow
- Open the Claude Cowork desktop app
- Select "Record a skill" from the "+" menu
- Claude records the user's on-screen actions and spoken explanation at the same time
- The user finishes a task and stops the recording
- Claude converts the video and voice transcript into a skill that it can execute later
From manual files to a recording workflow
Before this release, Claude skills had to be created by users through a SKILL.md file and YAML frontmatter. Record a Skill moves that process into the desktop app and builds it from a recording flow instead.
Background on Claude Skills
The article says Claude Skills first launched in October 2025 and was introduced by Anthropic as a set of professional capability modules for Claude. The underlying structure is a file-system resource: a folder containing a SKILL.md file, YAML frontmatter, and related assets.
Users can create skills for specific tasks such as applying company brand guidelines, running data analysis workflows, or following document generation rules, then let Claude load them when needed.
How skills differ from prompts
The source draws a distinction between prompts and skills. A prompt is a one-off instruction at the conversation level, while a skill is a reusable resource loaded on demand. A skill does not occupy the context window. Claude loads the full content only when it is actually needed, which the article says helps save tokens and speed up responses.
Claude Cowork's broader rollout
Anthropic describes Claude Cowork as an agentic work tool that lets Claude carry out tasks across connected files, calendars, email, messaging software, and webpages.
On July 7, Anthropic expanded Cowork from its initial desktop release to the web and mobile. Conversation state and files sync through the user's Claude account in the cloud, allowing work to continue across devices, and tasks keep running after a laptop is closed. Record a Skill is the latest feature in that broader Claude Cowork product expansion.
Current availability
Record a Skill is currently open to paying users on Claude Pro, Max, and Team. It does not include free Claude users at this stage, and Anthropic has not announced whether the feature will be extended to the free tier or the Enterprise plan.