Using built-in skills
Anthropic ships pre-built Skills for common document tasks. The headline ones let Claude create real, polished office files:
- PowerPoint (
pptx: presentations - Excel (
xlsx: spreadsheets with real formulas - Word (
docx: formatted documents - PDF (
pdf: PDF documents
You don't install these the way you would a custom Skill, Claude uses them automatically when your request calls for it (with code execution available).
How to trigger them
Just ask for the output in that format. Claude recognizes the need and uses the right Skill.
Create a 6-slide PowerPoint pitching our new onboarding feature.
Slide 1 title, then problem, solution, how it works, results, and a CTA.
Keep text minimal and punchy.Build an Excel sheet that tracks a 12-week project: tasks, owners,
start/end dates, % complete, and a summary with overall progress.
Use formulas for the summary.Turn this report draft into a clean, formatted Word document with
headings, a title page, and a table of contents.Generate a one-page PDF invoice from these details: [paste].Why this is powerful
- You get finished, downloadable files, not just text to copy and reformat.
- Excel files come with working formulas, not static numbers.
- It removes the tedious "now make it look right" step.
Tips
- Be specific about structure. Number of slides, columns, sections, tone.
- Provide the content or source. Paste the material or attach a file so the document is grounded in your real data.
- Iterate. Ask for changes, "make slide 3 a comparison table," "add a totals row"; just like any Artifact.
Availability
Built-in Skills are available on paid plans with code execution enabled, and via the API by referencing the Skill (e.g. pptx, xlsx) with the code execution tool. Exact availability varies by plan and surface; check your settings and the official docs.
Try it
Take a report you'd normally build by hand and ask Claude to produce it as a .pptx or .xlsx. Then refine it in a couple of follow-ups.
Next: capture your own know-how by creating a skill.