Getting started: installing a skill

What exactly is a skill?

A skill is a simple text file (.md) containing written instructions for Claude — which Spendesk MCP tools to call, in what order, and how to present the answer. There's nothing to program: you download the file, drop it in the right place, and Claude knows how to use it the moment you ask a matching question.

Think of it as a procedure sheet you'd hand to a new colleague — except Claude reads it and applies it instantly, every time, without ever forgetting it.

Prerequisite: this skills library assumes the Spendesk MCP is already connected to your Claude Code. That connection is usually set up once by your IT team or Spendesk contact — if you're not sure it's already done, that's the first thing to check before continuing.

Step 1 — Pick a skill from the library

Head to the skills library and filter by your persona (CFO, Controller, AP Manager, Finance Analyst, Procurement) to see the most relevant skills for your role. Each skill shows:

• A quality score (0 to 100) — the higher, the more the skill has been tested and validated.
• The MCP tools it uses.
• Its typical frequency of use (daily, weekly, monthly, ad hoc).

Click a skill to open its detail page, then click ↓ Download skill (.md).

Step 2 — Place the file in your Claude Code project

The downloaded file needs to sit inside a .claude/ folder so Claude discovers it automatically:

• For a single project: create (or use) a .claude/ folder at your project root, and drop the file there.
• For all your projects: drop the file in ~/.claude/ (the .claude folder in your home directory) — the skill will then be available everywhere.

cp s63-invoice-payment-status.md .claude/s63-invoice-payment-status.md

No other configuration is needed — no restart, no install command.

Step 3 — Check that Claude sees it

Open a Claude Code conversation in the relevant project and simply ask, in natural language, the question the skill is meant to answer:

If Claude calls the right MCP tool and answers in the expected format, the skill is installed and active.

For AP Managers: start with the "Invoice payment lifecycle" skill (s63-invoice-payment-status) — it's one of the most-used skills and covers most day-to-day invoice tracking questions.

For CFOs: if you manage multiple entities, install a multi-entity treasury skill first — most other skills combine well with it once the overview is in place.

If Claude doesn't seem to use the skill

• Check the file is actually inside .claude/ (project) or ~/.claude/ (global), not in a subfolder.
• Rephrase your question closer to the skill's title or its when_to_use field (visible in the downloaded file).
• If the Spendesk MCP itself isn't connected, no skill will work at all — check this with your Spendesk administrator.

Once a skill is installed, the first friction you'll likely hit is a permission prompt on every MCP tool call: Managing MCP permissions in Claude Code.