catalog / skill-structure

New skill directories hot-load on Claude Code (positive finding)

Positive finding: dropping a new skill directory into the skills folder on Claude Code is picked up on the next turn without restarting the session.

• Category: skill-structure
• Applies to: Claude Code ✅
• Verified on: Claude Code, 2026-05-17; re-confirmed Claude Code (Opus 4.8), 2026-06-14
• Verification tier: verified
• Severity: Informational — not a pitfall, a positive finding worth documenting

Symptom

Earlier testing suggested that skills added mid-session weren't picked up. They are.

Cause

Subsequent testing (2026-05-17) confirmed Claude Code's harness does hot-load new ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ directories on the next turn. No session restart required.

Notes

Included to correct earlier hearsay. If a new skill doesn't appear in the inventory, suspect the auto-mode classifier blocked the write of SKILL.md, not the loader.

Note the contrast with *edits to an already-loaded SKILL.md*, which are not hot-reloaded mid-session — that body is cached at first load. See skill-md-edit-no-hot-reload.md.