Claude Skills vs CLAUDE.md — What Is the Difference and When to Use Each

If you use Claude Code regularly you have probably heard of both Claude Skills and CLAUDE.md files. Both give Claude context about your project. Both improve the quality of Claude's output. But they work differently and serve different purposes — and using both together is where the real benefit comes from.

What Is a CLAUDE.md File?

A CLAUDE.md file is a markdown file that lives in your project root. Claude Code reads it automatically at the start of every session in that project.

It contains project-specific information:

• What the project is and what it does
• The tech stack — Next.js, Flutter, Python, etc.
• How the project is structured — folder organisation, naming conventions
• What commands to run — build, test, lint, deploy
• Architecture decisions — why certain patterns were chosen
• What to avoid — things Claude should not do in this codebase

CLAUDE.md is about this specific project. It is written once per project and lives in the repo alongside your code.

What Is a Claude Skill?

A Claude Skill is a SKILL.md file that teaches Claude how to perform a specific type of task — not about a specific project, but about a category of work.

Skills cover things like:

• How to write Flutter code correctly — Flutter Development Skill
• How to review code like a senior engineer — Code Review Skill
• How to write conventional commit messages — Git Commit Messages Skill
• How to do TDD correctly — TDD Skill

Skills are reusable across projects. You install the Flutter skill once and it works in every Flutter project. The Code Review skill works in any codebase — Flutter, Next.js, Python, anything.

The Key Difference

| | CLAUDE.md | Claude Skill | |---|---|---| | Scope | One specific project | Any project of that type | | Content | This project's stack, conventions, commands | How to perform a task or use a technology | | Portability | Stays in the project | Reusable across projects | | Updates | When your project changes | When the skill improves | | Who writes it | You (or the CLAUDE.md Generator skill) | Pre-written, ready to install |

How They Work Together

The best setup uses both — the CLAUDE.md gives Claude your project-specific context, and the skill gives Claude deep knowledge of the technology you are using.

Example for a Flutter project:

• CLAUDE.md tells Claude: "This is a Flutter e-commerce app using Riverpod for state management, GoRouter for navigation, and Neon PostgreSQL as the backend database. The folder structure is feature-first. Here are the common commands..."

• Flutter Development Skill tells Claude: "Here is how to write Flutter code correctly — widget patterns, state management approaches, null safety, testing with flutter_test..."

Together Claude has both the project context and the technical depth. The output quality is significantly better than either alone.

How to Get Both

Claude Skills — available free at rohansurve.in/rohankit. Install with npx skills add [skill-name].

Available skills:

• Flutter Development
• Next.js Full Stack
• Code Review
• Git Commit Messages
• React Native
• API Documentation
• TDD

CLAUDE.md Generator — the CLAUDE.md Generator Skill scans your project and generates the CLAUDE.md automatically. Install the skill, run the generator, and your project context file is ready.

Start With Both on Every New Project

The recommended setup for any new project:

1. Install the relevant skill — npx skills add flutter-development or npx skills add nextjs-fullstack
2. Install the CLAUDE.md Generator — npx skills add claude-md-generator
3. Ask Claude to generate your CLAUDE.md — "Scan this project and generate a CLAUDE.md"
4. Review and customise both files
5. Commit them to your repo

From that point forward every Claude Code session in that project has full context and maximum effectiveness.

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