If you are reading this guide, you are most likely a lawyer who already tried prompting ChatGPT or Claude to review a contract, such as an NDA. (If you are not a lawyer, check out this brief explainer from Anthropic instead). The results are usually fine, but generic. Plus the output is always different, which is not perfect if you need to reuse the results.
Skills change that. Instead of starting from scratch every time, a skill gives the AI a structured set of instructions, reference materials, templates, and even executable scripts — everything it needs to handle a specific legal task the way an experienced lawyer would. Think of it as onboarding a new associate, except the associate never forgets a step and works around the clock.
In October 2025, Anthropic introduced “Skills” as a new capability for Claude. In December 2025, they went further and published the Agent Skills specification as an open standard at agentskills.io, meaning skills aren’t locked to any single platform — the same skill works across any AI tool that adopts the standard. Microsoft, OpenAI, Atlassian, Figma, Cursor, and GitHub have already signed on.
At its core, a skill is just a folder. Inside that folder is a file called `SKILL.md` — a markdown document with structured instructions that tell the AI what to do and when. But skills can go far beyond a single instruction file. A well-built legal skill might include:
For example, Skala’s own SAFE Review skill contains a 340-line instruction set, four YC SAFE templates, a copy of the official Y Combinator SAFE User Guide, step-by-step conversion math, three landmark case summaries (Crashfund, Rostami, Seed River), and a detailed red flags checklist. When you ask Claude to review a SAFE agreement, it doesn’t improvise; it loads this entire knowledge base and follows a structured workflow.
The key design principle is something Anthropic calls “progressive disclosure”. The AI doesn’t dump everything into its memory at once. It reads the skill names and descriptions first, decides which skill is relevant, loads the main instructions, and only pulls in reference files when it actually needs them.
This keeps the AI fast and focused, like a well-organized manual where you start with the table of contents and drill into specific chapters as needed.
And yes, you read it right: the AI decides which skill to use. If the skill is in your library, and the user’s request matches the skill’s description, the AI will use the skill automatically.
Learn more about skills at Anthropic website. If you want to build your own legal skills, check out our guide How to Build Your Own Legal Skill for AI.
There are four ways to start using legal skills today, ranging from zero-setup to developer-friendly.
Open the Skala AI assistant, and the legal skills are already loaded. This is the simplest way to get started.
Ask it to review a SAFE, analyze a term sheet, draft a client alert, or run through a due diligence checklist. No installation, no configuration — just upload your document and go.
This is ideal if you want to try skills without touching any settings or command lines. But, of course, you may wish to use skills in your own environment. And that’s where the power of skills comes in and why we built the open-source library of such legal skills.
Go to claude.ai, navigate to Settings → Capabilities → Skills, and upload a `.skill` file or a `.zip` archive containing the skill folder. Claude will recognize the skill automatically and apply it whenever you ask a related question.
You can download `.skill` files from our library here or on GitHub. Each skill is packaged as a single file you can drag and drop into Claude.
Support for uploading skills in other AI assistants is expected to follow as more platforms adopt the Agent Skills open standard.
If you use Claude Code or Claude’s desktop app (Cowork), you can install skills as a plugin directly from a GitHub repository. This gives you the full set of skills at once and keeps them updated.
To install all skills from Skala library, run:
claude plugin install skala-io/legal-skillsOr add the repository as a marketplace first:
claude plugin marketplace add skala-io/legal-skillsYou can also use community tools like Vercel’s `npx skills` CLI to install skills across multiple AI agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and 35+ others):
npx skills add skala-labs/legal-skillsFor developers and power users, you can launch skills directly from the terminal. This requires Node.js (version 18 or higher) and npm installed on your machine.
npx skills add skala-io/legal-skillsThis command downloads the skill files and registers them with your AI coding agent. Once installed, the skills are available in any conversation.
Skills are a significant improvement over “prompts” and here is why we think they will be a super-powerful tool for all knowledge workers, including lawyers.
Prompts are ephemeral. Skills are persistent. A prompt lives and dies in a single conversation. You type it, the AI follows it (sometimes), and next time you start over. A skill is installed once and works across every conversation, automatically activating when the task matches.
Prompts are flat text. Skills are structured packages. A prompt can only contain instructions. A skill can bundle reference documents, templates, scripts, checklists, and examples — everything the AI needs to do the job right. For example, our own Startup Due Diligence skill includes eight category-specific checklists, four guidance documents, four Word templates, and Python scripts that populate those templates deterministically. No prompt can do that.
Prompts stay on one platform. Skills are portable. Agent Skills is an open standard. The same skill file works in Claude, and as adoption grows, it will work in any AI platform that supports the specification. Your investment in building or customizing skills isn’t locked to a single vendor.
Playbooks tell you what to do. Skills actually do it. A negotiation playbook might say “check the liquidation preference against market standards.” A skill can actually do the check, reference current market data from sources like Cooley, Carta, and NVCA and rate the terms as favorable, market, or aggressive. All without the user having to look anything up.
Not every legal task benefits from being packaged as a skill. The best candidates share a few characteristics: they’re repeatable, they follow a structured workflow, they benefit from reference materials, and they produce a consistent output format.
Here’s where skills shine:
Document review and analysis. Reviewing NDAs, SAFEs, term sheets, vendor contracts, and data processing agreements against a standard playbook. The AI follows the same checklist every time, flags deviations, and produces a structured issue log with risk ratings and suggested redlines. This is the sweet spot for skills.
Due diligence. Running through corporate formation documents, cap tables, IP assignments, employment agreements, and compliance checks. A skill can carry separate checklists, severity ratings, and template reports, turning what would normally take days of associate time into a structured first pass that a senior lawyer can review in hours.
Drafting structured documents. Client alerts, legal memos, compliance reports, and other documents that follow a consistent format. A skill can enforce the right structure (title, key takeaways, in-depth analysis, next steps), apply writing style guidelines, and even reference past examples from your own law firm.
Triage and classification. Screening incoming NDAs, classifying legal risks by severity and likelihood, or routing inquiries to the right template response. These binary or categorical decisions are perfect for skills because the criteria can be codified precisely.
Compliance workflows. GDPR/CCPA assessments, data subject request handling, and DPA review follow predictable patterns with clear regulatory requirements. This is exactly the kind of structured knowledge that skills are built to carry.
The common thread: if you’d write a manual for a junior lawyer to handle the task, you can probably build a skill for it. The skill is the manual — except the AI actually reads and follows it every time.
There are, of course, many areas of legal practice where skills are not suitable, such as face-to-face high-stakes negotiations and oral hearings in front of the judge. But whatever job is done via a computer can probably be streamlined via skills.
Head to Skala Legal Skills to browse the available skills and download them. If you’re new to AI tools, start with the Skala platform and see how a skill-powered review compares to a raw AI prompt.
If you’ve built your own firm playbooks or checklists, consider turning them into skills. The format is simple (a folder with a SKILL.md file), and the payoff is significant: consistent, high-quality AI output that reflects your expertise rather than generic guesswork.