Does ChatGPT Have Skills Like Claude? A Comparison
Claude has Skills: reusable, installable prompt workflows. ChatGPT has custom instructions, project instructions and other tools for repeatable work. This guide compares them and explains what transfers between platforms.
Updated 5 min read
ChatGPT does not have a feature called "Skills" in the same sense that Claude does. Claude's Skills are discrete, installable workflow packages with their own instructions and optional tool connections, managed through a dedicated Skills interface. ChatGPT's equivalent tools — custom instructions, project instructions, and ChatGPT Work — take a different form and work in different scopes.
Neither platform's format is interchangeable with the other. A Claude skill file does not install in ChatGPT, and ChatGPT custom instructions do not become Claude skills. fenbs provides a place to keep the shared prompts and work rules that both assistants should read, in a format neither platform owns.
What Claude Skills are
A Claude skill is a named, installable package containing instructions for a specific reusable task. You create it once, install it in Claude.ai or Claude Code, and activate it from the skill picker in a chat. A skill can include supporting files, specify required inputs, and optionally connect to external tools. Organization owners can provision skills centrally for their members.
The key properties of a Claude skill are that it is discrete (one skill does one kind of task), installable (you add it to your account or a project), and activatable on demand. For details on creating one, see how to create a Claude skill, and for examples, see Claude skills examples.
What ChatGPT offers instead
ChatGPT's closest equivalents to skills are custom instructions, project instructions and ChatGPT Work. Each one works at a different scope and has different persistence behavior.
Custom instructions live in Settings and apply to all ChatGPT conversations by default. They tell ChatGPT things like your role, preferred output format, or standing context. They are always-on rather than activated for specific tasks, and they are limited in length. Check OpenAI's current help documentation for the precise character limits and where to set them.
Projects in ChatGPT can hold custom instructions and uploaded files that apply to conversations within that project. This is closer to the project-level context in Claude Projects than to a Claude skill: the instructions apply broadly within the project rather than being activated for a specific kind of task. ChatGPT Work (formerly the ChatGPT agent, updated July 2026) extends ChatGPT's ability to take longer multi-step actions — check OpenAI's documentation for what it covers in your plan.
Custom GPTs were a distinct feature that allowed reusable, shareable configurations with their own instructions, knowledge and tool connections. Custom GPTs are retiring on December 11, 2026. OpenAI's documentation describes what replaces them and how to migrate existing GPTs before that date.
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | Claude | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| Named, installable skill packages | Yes — Skills with a dedicated interface | No direct equivalent; Custom GPTs retiring December 11, 2026 |
| Always-on instructions for all chats | Custom instructions in Settings (Claude.ai) | Custom instructions in Settings |
| Project-level instructions | Claude Projects with custom instructions and knowledge files | ChatGPT Projects with instructions and uploaded files |
| Organizational distribution | Organization owners can provision skills centrally | Organization admins can set shared instructions; check OpenAI docs for current scope |
| Activation method | Select from skill picker in a chat | Custom instructions apply automatically; projects activated by opening the project |
| Skill files in coding tools | Claude Code reads .claude/skills/ and ~/.claude/skills/ | No equivalent; instructions go in project system prompts or AGENTS.md-style files |
What transfers between platforms and what does not
The underlying prompt text — the instructions themselves — can be adapted across platforms. A review checklist or a research prompt written for a Claude skill can be copied into ChatGPT custom instructions or a project prompt. The output will differ because the models behave differently, but the instructions are readable text that neither platform locks.
What does not transfer is the packaging. A Claude skill file installs in Claude's interface through Claude's skill management flow. ChatGPT has no mechanism to install a .md or .json skill file in the same way. You adapt the instructions; you do not port the skill.
Tool connections do not transfer either. A Claude skill that connects to a repository or an external service uses Claude's tool infrastructure. The same connection does not exist in ChatGPT unless you separately configure a compatible plugin or integration there.
This matters when you use both assistants. If you develop a prompt that works well in Claude and want to use the same approach in ChatGPT, expect to test and adjust the instructions rather than paste them in unchanged. For how Claude and ChatGPT compare broadly, see Claude vs. ChatGPT.
Keeping shared prompts where both assistants can read them
The problem with keeping prompts only inside one platform's interface is that they become platform-specific. A prompt saved in Claude's skill system is not visible when you switch to ChatGPT for the same task. A prompt saved in ChatGPT's custom instructions is not visible to Claude Code.
A shared record outside both platforms solves this. The approved version of the instructions, the purpose of the prompt, and any decisions about scope or format can live in a tool both Claude and ChatGPT connect to. Either assistant reads the same starting text before the session, regardless of which platform you are using today.
Keep the prompts both assistants should read
Store your approved prompts and reusable instructions in fenbs Skills and prompts. Both Claude and ChatGPT connect to fenbs over MCP, so either assistant can list a prompt, read it, and use it before starting the session. The approved version lives in one place; you do not maintain a copy per platform.
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How to do this with fenbs
- Create a free account, free for one person with no credit card.
- Add your reusable prompts in Skills and prompts with the purpose, required inputs, and any known differences between how Claude and ChatGPT handle the instructions.
- Connect Claude and ChatGPT to fenbs through Integrations. Each connected assistant can read the same Skills and prompts library.
- Record decisions about approved prompt versions in Decisions and rules so neither assistant uses an outdated version.
- When you improve a prompt after testing it in one platform, update it in fenbs so both assistants see the current version.
fenbs does not install skills in Claude or convert prompts to ChatGPT's format. Adapting the instructions to each platform's input fields is still a manual step. What fenbs provides is a single source for the approved text that both connected assistants can read.
For how Claude and ChatGPT compare on a migration, see ChatGPT to Claude. For how Claude Projects compare to ChatGPT Projects, see Claude Projects vs. ChatGPT Projects. The AI prompts hub has related instruction patterns.