What are skills in ChatGPT?
ChatGPT skills are reusable instructions, packaged as a folder with a SKILL.md file, that teach ChatGPT how to do one task the same way every time. ChatGPT can choose a skill on its own when your request matches the skill's description, or you can call one by typing @ and picking it.
OpenAI's Build skills docs say a skill "packages instructions, resources, and optional scripts" so ChatGPT or Codex "can follow a workflow reliably," and that skills "build on the open agent skills standard." That standard is the same Agent Skills format Claude, Gemini and Codex read, so a skill you write once can travel.
A ChatGPT skill folder looks like this:
my-skill/
├── SKILL.md required: name, description and instructions
├── scripts/ optional: code to run
├── references/ optional: documentation
├── assets/ optional: templates and resources
└── agents/
└── openai.yaml optional: display name, icon, invocation policy
Like other skill hosts, ChatGPT starts with only each skill's name and description and loads the full SKILL.md when it decides to use that skill. That's why the description matters most. OpenAI's advice: "Front-load the key use case and trigger words."
Which ChatGPT plans have skills?
OpenAI's help article Skills in ChatGPT says skills are available to eligible ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, Healthcare and Edu users, subject to workspace settings and product availability.
Where you find them depends on the app:
| Where | What you get |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT on web, desktop and mobile (Chat and Work) | Skills bundled in plugins; workspace skills under Plugins, on the Skills tab of the Plugin Directory |
| ChatGPT desktop app | Standalone skills too; open Skills in the sidebar to see skills across your projects |
| Codex CLI and IDE extension | Standalone skills from .agents/skills folders |
The last two rows come from OpenAI's Build skills page. The help article does not list Free, Go, Plus or Pro, so if you're on a personal plan, the quickest check is whether Plugins and a Skills tab appear in your own sidebar.
In Enterprise and Edu workspaces, admins decide who can upload skill files, share skills, publish them to the whole workspace and install them for others, through the workspace's permissions and roles.
How do you create a skill in ChatGPT?
The easiest route is to ask. Eligible accounts include one skill by default, skill-creator, and ChatGPT uses it when you ask it to create, change or fix a skill. In ChatGPT Work you can also call it directly with @skill-creator.
Per OpenAI's docs, the creator asks three things:
- What the skill does.
- When it should trigger.
- Whether it should stay instruction-only or include scripts. Instruction-only is the default.
A good way to start: do the task once in a normal chat, get the result you want, then ask ChatGPT to turn that conversation into a skill. Review what it writes, especially the description.
You can also write the file by hand. The minimum is a name, a description and instructions:
---
name: weekly-status-update
description: Writes a weekly status update from notes, grouped as Done, Next
and Blocked. Use when the user asks for a status update, weekly report or
team update. Do not use for meeting minutes.
---
1. Group items as Done, Next and Blocked.
2. One line per item, starting with a verb. Name the owner in brackets.
3. Put anything that needs a decision at the top, in bold.
4. If dates are missing, ask instead of guessing.
OpenAI's template literally says the description should "Explain exactly when this skill should and should not trigger," which is why the example names a case to skip. For more on the format, see how to write a SKILL.md.
How do you upload a SKILL.md you already have?
Per OpenAI's help article, go to Skills, select Create, then choose the option to upload from your computer. ChatGPT scans the upload before it becomes available. Most skills are ready right after the scan; some get a label instead:
| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| Needs Review | You need to review more information before using it |
| Blocked | It appears to contain risky content or behavior and can't be used |
OpenAI also advises checking that you trust the source before you upload, especially for skills from outside sources. Read every file in such a skill first, scripts included.
How are skills different from custom GPTs, projects and plugins?
These four overlap, and OpenAI is actively folding GPTs into the others:
| Feature | What it is | How it starts |
|---|---|---|
| Skill | Instructions for one task, with optional files and scripts | When your request matches, or when you call it with @ |
| Plugin | A package that can include skills, apps (connectors), or both | Installed, then used through its skills and apps |
| Custom GPT | A chatbot with instructions, knowledge files and actions | You open it by name; retiring December 11, 2026 |
| Project | A workspace with shared files and instructions for related chats | Always on inside that project |
The migration guide, Moving your custom GPT workflows to plugins, explains the switch: "Migration turns your GPT's instructions into a skill and brings over its knowledge files and connected apps." Custom actions don't transfer and need rebuilding, the selected model doesn't carry over, and conversation starters don't move one to one. After you migrate, the original GPT becomes read-only but keeps working until retirement.
OpenAI's retirement FAQ schedules custom GPTs to retire on December 11, 2026, and OpenAI's admin docs tell each workspace to follow its own retirement notice. Our custom GPTs guide covers the full timeline. Projects stay; see ChatGPT Projects.
How do you share a skill with your workspace?
Per the help article, your skills are on the Skills tab of the Plugin Directory (open Plugins in the sidebar), and you can set access so that only you or specific people in your workspace can use a skill. Publishing a skill to the whole workspace is a separate permission that admins control.
For a skill you want to distribute widely, or bundle with a connector, OpenAI recommends packaging it as a plugin. A migrated GPT plugin starts private, and sharing or publishing it follows the same workspace permissions.
One thing to know before you move skills around: OpenAI's skill controls page says workspace skills, local filesystem skills and plugins have separate controls, and "Moving a skill doesn't transfer ChatGPT workspace ownership, sharing, role assignments, plugin installation state, or connector authorization."
Can a ChatGPT skill also run in Codex or Claude?
Yes, with a few checks. The same folder works across OpenAI's products:
- Codex reads skills from
.agents/skillsin your repo,$HOME/.agents/skills,/etc/codex/skillsand its bundled set. You call one with$skill-nameor/skills, and$skill-creatorbuilds one. Details are in our Codex skills guide. - The OpenAI API accepts skills through
POST /v1/skills, with up to 50 MB per zip upload, 500 files per skill version and 25 MB per uncompressed file, per the API skills guide, which says skills "are compatible with the open Agent Skills standard." - Claude and Gemini read the same
SKILL.md. What breaks is usually the content, not the format: scripts that need network access, references to tools only one app has, and file types an app won't accept.
The optional agents/openai.yaml file is specific to OpenAI's apps; other apps don't document reading it, so don't rely on it for behavior elsewhere. Our ChatGPT skills vs Claude skills page compares the apps side by side, including Gemini skills.
Keep your skills somewhere you control
Skills uploaded to ChatGPT live in your workspace, and migrated GPTs live in plugins, so it helps to keep the original SKILL.md folders somewhere else too. Kipt stores your prompts and skills as Markdown in a private GitHub repo you own, imports skills from a GitHub link, a folder or a .zip, and installs every skill into Claude Code or Codex with npx skills add https://github.com/<you>/<repo>.git --all -g.