What Record a Skill does
Record a Skill is a feature in Claude Cowork, launched on 21 July 2026. While you record, Claude captures your screen, clicks, typing and voice. When you finish, it reviews the recording and proposes a skill: a set of written instructions it can follow next time.
The voice part is what makes it work. A silent screen recording shows Claude which buttons you clicked. Your narration tells it why, and the why is where your real rules live.
Your new skill works like any other Claude skill. You can edit it, share it or delete it under Customize > Skills.
Before you start
You’ll need all of these:
- Claude for Mac, updated to the latest version. Download it at claude.com/download.
- A Pro, Max or Team plan.
- Cowork open in the desktop app.
Record a Skill isn’t available in regular chat, on Windows, or on the Free and Enterprise plans. If that’s you, you can still build a skill by describing it instead. Our Claude Skills starter kit shows you how, no code needed.
One recording can run for about 10 minutes. That’s plenty for one task, and one task is exactly what you want.
Step 1: Open Record a Skill
- Open the Claude app on your Mac and go to Cowork.
- Click the + button in the message box.
- Select Record a skill.
You can also get there from Customize > Skills. Click Add, then select Record your screen.
The first time you record, macOS asks for two permissions: Screen recording, so Claude can see your screen, and Accessibility, so it can follow your mouse and keyboard. Allow both. macOS may ask you to restart Claude. You won’t be asked again.
Step 2: Set up and start recording
Before you click anything, tidy your screen. Claude takes in everything it can see, and stray tabs or apps can muddy the skill it writes.
- Close files, apps and chats that have nothing to do with the task.
- Have your sample files or data open and ready.
- Check the right microphone is selected. You can change it, or mute it, from the microphone control.
Then click Start recording and do the task the way you normally would. The capture bar shows you’re recording and counts the steps it has captured. With about a minute left, a countdown appears. If the timer runs out, Claude keeps everything captured so far, as if you’d clicked Done.
Don’t type passwords, show private conversations or open real customer data while recording. Everything on screen and everything you say is captured. Use sample data instead.
Step 3: Talk through your decisions
This is the step that decides whether you get a useful skill or a vague one. Say what you’re doing and, more importantly, why.
| Instead of saying | Say this |
|---|---|
| “Now I’m highlighting this one.” | “I’m highlighting this customer because they’ve bought three times in the past month.” |
| “This goes in urgent.” | “This email goes in urgent because the deadline is within 48 hours.” |
| “Skipping that.” | “I’m skipping this one because it’s a reshare with no comment. I never include those.” |
| “Then I write the summary.” | “The summary always starts with the biggest change from last week, in one sentence.” |
Three things worth saying out loud:
- Your thresholds. “Anything over $1,000 gets flagged.” Claude can’t see a number in your head.
- What you leave out, and why. What you skip shapes the result as much as what you keep.
- Where the result goes. “This gets saved to the Reports folder with the date in the file name.”
When the task is done, click Done. If it went wrong, click Discard and nothing is created.
Step 4: Review and save your skill
After you click Done, Claude starts a Cowork task, reviews the recording and may ask you a few questions about anything your narration didn’t cover. Answer them properly. They fill the gaps.
Then Claude shows you a proposal card.
- A brand new skill is marked NEW. Click Save to keep it or Dismiss to throw it away.
- If your recording overlaps a skill you already have, Claude proposes changes to that skill instead, and the card shows which one. Click Update to apply the changes or Dismiss to throw them away.
Before you decide, expand Content and read the skill. Check that it picked up your rules, your exclusions and the format of the result. If something’s wrong or vague, tell Claude what to change in the same task before you save.
Your saved skill lives under Customize > Skills, where you can edit, share or delete it later.
Note: the description at the top of a skill decides when Claude reaches for it. If it reads too broadly or too narrowly, fix it. Our guide to building a Claude skill that works explains what makes a description fire.
Step 5: Test it, then run it
Open a new Cowork task and give Claude a fresh example of the same job, using prompt 1. Test it on something a little different from your recording, so you know it learned the rule and not just your example.
Once it’s reliable, you can ask Claude to turn it into a scheduled task, so it runs on its own every week.
5 prompts for your recorded skill
Prompt 1: Run your recorded skill on a new task
Use my [SKILL NAME] skill to complete this task: [DESCRIBE THE TASK OR POINT TO THE FILES]. Follow the same workflow, formatting and decision rules I showed you in the recording. If you need access to an app, folder or file you can't reach, ask me to connect it before you start. When you're done, show me the result for review and list any decisions you weren't sure about.
Prompt 2: Plan what to say before you hit record
I'm about to record a skill in Claude Cowork for this task: [DESCRIBE THE TASK]. Before I record, ask me up to 8 questions to draw out the rules I follow without thinking: what I prioritise, what I skip, my thresholds, my formatting, and where the result goes. Then turn my answers into a short narration checklist I can glance at while I record. Keep it to one screen.
Prompt 3: Find the gaps before you rely on it
Read my [SKILL NAME] skill. List 5 situations it doesn't clearly cover, such as missing data, ties, unusual inputs or anything outside the examples I showed. For each one, say what you would do right now and what rule I should add. Don't change the skill yet. Wait for my answers.
Prompt 4: Add a rule you forgot to say out loud
Update my [SKILL NAME] skill with this rule: [NEW RULE, FOR EXAMPLE "NEVER INCLUDE ENQUIRIES OLDER THAN 30 DAYS"]. Show me the exact lines you'd change before you change them. Don't touch anything else in the skill.
Prompt 5: Make it run every week
Turn my [SKILL NAME] skill into a scheduled task that runs every [DAY] at [TIME]. Each run should use the latest [FILES, FOLDER OR APP DATA], follow the skill exactly, and leave the result for me to review rather than sending anything. Before you set it up, tell me what access it will need and confirm the schedule with me.
3 workflows worth teaching first
1. Weekly performance report
Record yourself opening last week’s numbers, comparing them with the week before, picking out the changes that matter and writing the summary.
Say out loud: which numbers you always check, how big a change has to be before you mention it, and how you order the summary.
Next week: give Claude the new data with prompt 1 and get the same report.
2. Email and enquiry triage
Record yourself working through a batch of sample enquiries, sorting them by urgency and drafting replies.
Say out loud: what makes something urgent, who gets a same-day reply, and what tone you use for each type.
Next time: point Claude at a new batch and review its sorting and drafts before anything goes out.
3. Sorting files and documents
Record yourself moving files into folders, renaming them and grouping the ones that belong together.
Say out loud: your naming pattern, how you decide which folder something belongs in, and what you do with files that don’t fit.
Next time: hand Claude a new batch of files and check where everything landed.
Tips for better skills
- Keep your first recording short. One task, one skill.
- Explain the reasoning behind every judgement call, not just the clicks.
- Use sample data, never sensitive customer information.
- Test on a new example before you rely on it.
- Review every result until you trust it. A skill is a draft of how you work, and drafts improve with feedback.
Checklist
Your first recorded skill
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Get the newsletterFAQs
Does Record a Skill work on Windows?
Not yet. It’s only in Cowork in Claude for Mac. On Windows, you can still build a skill by describing it. Our Claude Skills starter kit walks you through it.
Which Claude plans include Record a Skill?
Pro, Max and Team. It isn’t available on the Free or Enterprise plans.
How long can a recording be?
About 10 minutes. A countdown appears with about a minute left, and when time runs out Claude uses everything captured so far.
Does Claude keep my screen recording?
The video and audio aren’t kept once Claude has reviewed them to build the skill. Screenshots from the session are saved in the Cowork task, and deleting the task removes them.
Can I change the skill after I save it?
Yes. Edit it under Customize > Skills, or ask Claude to update it for you. If you record a new demonstration that overlaps an existing skill, Claude proposes changes to that skill instead of making a new one.
Can a recorded skill run on a schedule?
Yes. Once you’ve tested it, ask Claude to turn it into a scheduled task. Review the schedule and the access it needs before you confirm.
Sources
Checked 11 November 2026.