Reminder from last time: we're in Claude Cowork, the version that doesn't just answer in a chat window, it actually does the work, reaching into your files and tools to carry out tasks.

Two weeks ago, we pointed Claude at a folder of messy files and it classified, renamed, and sorted them. That worked, but we did it as a one-off conversation. Every time you'd want to repeat it, you'd re-explain the rules.

Today's question: what if you only had to explain it once?

A Skill is a task you've taught Claude to do your way, a written recipe it loads automatically whenever that task comes up. Think "organize a Drive folder using my naming convention." You write it once; it runs the same every time. That's the whole focus today.

• It's plain-language instructions, not code
• Claude pulls it up on its own when the task matches, you don't paste it each time
• Edit it anytime; it's just a file

Where do Projects fit? A Project is just a workspace that holds context for a recurring area of work, and a handy place to keep a Skill. We're not setting one up today; we're focused on the Skill itself.

Why connect Drive? Once Claude can see your Drive, you stop copying and pasting files into the chat. You can point Claude at a folder and say "summarize these contracts," "find the invoice from Acme," or "tell me what's in here," and it reads the real files, native Google Docs and Sheets included. It's the difference between Claude knowing only what you paste and Claude working from your actual documents.

It's the one step we all do together, and it's just a few clicks, no app to install.

1. In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors
2. Find Google Drive and click Connect
3. Sign in and approve the Google permission screen
4. You're done, Claude can now see your Drive

We'll wait for everyone to get a green checkmark before moving on.

The reusable value is the Skill's judgment, how to name and sort. The moving is just the last click, which you'll wire up next.

Now you build one. You don't write code, you ask Claude to write the Skill itself and answer its questions. We're keeping it to the part that works today: scan a folder and recommend clean names and structure. (Actually moving the files is your homework, once Drive for Desktop is installed.)

Help me create a reusable Skill called "drive-namer." Its job: read the files directly from a Google Drive folder I name (read them from Google Drive, not from my computer), figure out what each file actually is, and recommend a clean name and a folder to sort it into, as a before/after table. It should NOT rename or move anything yet, just recommend. Before you write it, interview me about my rules: how I want files named (date format, what comes first), how I'd group them into folders, and which files to leave alone.

• Claude interviews you, naming convention, folder structure, exceptions
• Your answers become the Skill's instructions (the part worth saving)
• Save it when done, it's now yours to reuse and edit

Trigger your new Skill on one of your own Drive folders (or the shared demo folder if you'd rather not use your own). You don't need to remember the Skill's name, there are two easy ways to call it:

Look in my Google Drive folder "[your folder name]" and recommend clean names and a folder structure for everything in it.

/drive-namer  on the folder "[your folder name]"

Type / and Claude lists your Skills to pick from, so the name is never something you have to memorize. And even with plain language (Way 1), Claude recognizes the task and reaches for the right Skill on its own.

• Reads with the connector, opens every file, classifies by what's inside, not the filename
• Hands back a before→after table: current name → recommended name → suggested folder
• Nothing changes, it's a recommendation you review
• Watch it catch misleading names: a "Quote" that's really an estimate, a "document(7)" that's a contract

You just built a Skill that recommends. Here's what it becomes once you add Drive for Desktop, Kevin runs the full version live, and you watch the files actually rename and reorganize themselves.

• Same Skill, one extra step: after you approve, it renames and moves the files for real
• Watch the messy folder reshape into clean, dated names sorted into Invoices / Contracts / Estimates
• The moves sync straight back to Google Drive, no manual dragging

• Skills hold procedures. Each one captures how you do a specific task, saved once and reused.
• Let Claude write the Skill. You describe the rules; it encodes them.
• Read with the connector, act with care. Connector for analysis; approve before changes.
• Approve before action. Propose-then-confirm keeps you in control.
• Reuse compounds. Every Skill you write is time you never spend re-explaining.

You built a Skill that recommends. Two short steps turn it into one that actually does the work:

1. Install Google Drive for Desktop, the piece that lets Claude rename and move files. Full step-by-step is in the Setup Guide at the bottom of this page; budget ~10 minutes.
2. Extend your Skill, open your drive-namer Skill and ask Claude to add the move step, telling it to write into the Skill that it reads from Google Drive but does the renaming and moving through your local Drive folder (full prompt is in the Setup Guide below). Same Skill, one new capability.

📖 Full step-by-step instructions for both are in the Setup Guide at the very bottom of this page, just expand it.

Today is about seeing what's possible. Here's where you actually build something for your team, with help in the room:

Think about the tasks you repeat with the same rules every time. Any of these is a Skill waiting to be written:

• Open floor: what other task would you turn into a Skill?
• This week: install Drive for Desktop (full guide at the bottom of this page), then extend your drive-namer Skill to actually move the files
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