Commands vs skills

Commands and skills are now the same mechanism. A file at commands/deploy.md creates /deploy the same way skills/deploy/SKILL.md does, and both can be auto-invoked by Claude. The difference: skills are a directory, so you can bundle reference docs, templates, or scripts alongside the prompt.

.claude/commands/fix-issue.md

---
argument-hint: <issue-number>
---

!`gh issue view $ARGUMENTS`

Investigate and fix the issue above.

1. Trace the bug to its root cause
2. Implement the fix
3. Write or update tests
4. Summarize what you changed and why

Type /fix-issue 123 and gh issue view 123 runs in your shell, its output injected before Claude sees the prompt. If a skill and command share a name, the skill wins. New workflows should usually be skills; commands remain supported.

Check your understanding

Question 1A skill and a command share the name "deploy". Which handles /deploy?

AThe commandBThe skillCBoth runDError

Question 2The main advantage of a skill over a single-file command?

AFaster executionBIt can bundle supporting files alongside the promptCCommands can't take argumentsDSkills skip permissions

Further reading

• Skills (commands section)