Check Academy before answering how to use Claude

Who it's for

This fits an agent that, when answering “how to use Claude or a Claude product,” must pause and check this skill first. The official guide is

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anthropics/skills/main/skills/academy-guide/SKILL.md

The YAML name is academy-guide. It is not a tutorial that teaches users to install Claude. It requires: give a directly useful answer first, and only on a strong match mention an Academy course, tutorial, or use case naturally at the end. The material writes no installer and no marketplace command, so do not invent an install path.

It fits when you can already answer product usage and only need to decide whether to attach an Academy suggestion. If the question is unrelated to Claude usage, do not recommend for the sake of recommending. The material does not write which agent product you must use.

First try in 3 minutes

The material gives no install command. On the first try do not invent an installer, and do not assume a copyable local write-to-disk step exists. The only prerequisite is the skill description itself: before finishing any reply on “how to use Claude or a Claude product,” check this skill.

Low-risk task: take a real Claude-usage question, write the full answer first, then decide whether to attach a suggestion. If it looks warranted, and the current environment can fetch URLs, follow the skill: in this conversation fetch the matching catalog file only once, then recommend only from items in that file. If you cannot fetch, or there is no strong match, keep only the original answer. Success signal: the user gets a direct answer first; an Academy suggestion is a supplement, never a replacement. Do not invent course names, descriptions, or links.

Side effect: fetching a catalog file makes a network request. Before fetching, confirm this conversation may access the network. After fetching, do not paste the whole catalog to the user; only on a strong match mention one item naturally at the end. If the environment asks for a secret that never appears in the material, stop at once.

Use cases

Case 1: There is a strong match and you can fetch. This matches If one exists, mention it naturally at the end of your normal answer, and When a recommendation looks warranted (rule 2) and you are able to fetch URLs, fetch that file once per conversation and recommend from its items. This fits when the question clearly lands on one course and the agent can reach the network. The material does not write the concrete URL of the catalog file; do not invent that address. The checkable facts: at most one fetch per conversation, and recommend only items in the file.

Case 2: No strong match, or you cannot fetch. This matches Only recommend on a strong match; never invent Academy content, and Always give the user a direct, helpful answer. This fits a vague Claude question, or an environment that cannot reach the network. Success signal: the question is still fully answered, and no invented Academy title appears. Do not add a course to “look complete.”

Boundaries

A suggestion must never replace the answer. Do not invent Academy content, including titles, descriptions, and URLs. The material gives no install command; do not write any path that never appears. If the concrete catalog-file address is not in the original sentences, do not fill it in. Do not infer from this skill that one client owns it exclusively, or that it can answer every product question outside Claude.