Most sales teams that try Claude Code hit the same wall in week one. The model writes a decent cold email, then forgets your ICP, your tone and your CRM fields the next morning. Skills fix that. A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file that Claude loads when the task matches, so your research steps, scoring rules and email guardrails run the same way every time.
This guide covers the skills and MCP servers worth installing for prospect research, list building with Clay and Apollo, personalized outreach, call prep, CRM hygiene in HubSpot and Salesforce, and full GTM packs like ColdIQ’s. Every repo, install command and price below was checked against the live source on 1 November 2026. Where a price was not visible, it says “pricing not public”.
Quick answer: which Claude Code skills should a sales team install first?
Start with Anthropic’s free sales plugin from anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins. It ships 37 sales skills (call prep, call summary, CRM hygiene check, draft outreach, pipeline review and more) plus connectors for HubSpot, Salesforce, Clay, ZoomInfo and Close. Add one outbound pack (ColdIQ, Extruct or GTM Agents) and the MCP server for your own CRM. That covers most SDR and AE work.
Here is the short version by role:
| Role | Install first | Why |
|---|---|---|
| SDR / BDR | Anthropic sales plugin + ColdIQ GTM Skills | Account research, lead triage and cold email frameworks |
| AE | Anthropic sales plugin (call-prep, deal-review, close-plan) | Meeting prep and deal hygiene from CRM context |
| GTM engineer | Extruct gtm-skills or GooseWorks + Clay MCP | List building, enrichment and signal workflows |
| RevOps / sales ops | Salesforce DX MCP or HubSpot connector + crm-hygiene-check | Field cleanup and pipeline reporting |
| Sales leader | GTM Agents sales-pipeline and sales-coaching plugins | Pipeline inspection and call review |
If you are new to the format, read what Claude Code skills are first, then come back.
Takeaway: one official plugin, one outbound pack and one CRM connection is a full starter stack.
How Claude Code skills work for sales (and where MCP servers fit)
A skill is instructions. An MCP server is access. Sales work needs both, and mixing them up is the most common setup mistake.
Skills live in ~/.claude/skills/ (personal) or .claude/skills/ (shared in a project repo). Each one is a folder with a SKILL.md file that describes when to use it and what steps to follow. A call-prep skill might say: pull the account from the CRM, read the last three emails, list open opportunities, and output a one-page brief with five discovery questions.
MCP servers give Claude live tools: read a HubSpot deal, search Apollo for contacts, push rows to Clay. Without one, a skill can only work with what you paste in.
Plugins bundle skills, slash commands and MCP configs into one install. Anthropic’s sales plugin is a good example: its .mcp.json file pre-wires HTTP connectors for HubSpot (mcp.hubspot.com/anthropic), Salesforce, Close, Clay, ZoomInfo, Slack and Notion.
Three ways to install
| Method | Command pattern | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Skills CLI | npx skills add owner/repo | Single skills or packs that support it |
| Plugin marketplace | /plugin marketplace add owner/repo then /plugin install name | Bundles with commands and MCP configs |
| Manual | Copy the skill folder into ~/.claude/skills/ | Repos with no installer, or private team skills |
Full walkthrough: how to install Claude Code skills.
What a sales skill looks like
---
name: account-brief
description: Use when the user asks to research an account or prep for a first call.
---
1. Pull company, contacts and open deals from the CRM tool.
2. Search recent news and job posts for the company.
3. Output: 5-line summary, 3 likely pains, 5 discovery questions.
4. Never invent funding, headcount or revenue. Mark unknowns as "not found".That last line matters more than it looks. Sales output goes straight to a buyer. A guardrail inside the skill is cheaper than a correction after the email lands.
Takeaway: skills hold your playbook, MCP servers hold your data access, plugins ship both.
The 12 best Claude Code skills for sales teams in 2026
Star counts and last-push dates come from the GitHub API on 1 November 2026. Stars measure attention, not quality, so read the skill files before you roll anything out to a team.
1. Anthropic sales plugin (free, official)
- Source: github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins (34,325 stars, pushed 1 Nov 2026)
- What it does: 37 skills including
account-research,call-prep,call-summary,crm-hygiene-check,draft-outreach,handle-objection,lead-triage,pipeline-review,stakeholder-map,forecastandwin-loss-review. Slash commands look like/sales:call-prep. - Install:
claude plugin marketplace add anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins claude plugin install sales@knowledge-work-plugins - Watch out: connectors need your own accounts and OAuth. The skills fall back to pasted context if a tool is not connected.
2. Partner plugins in the same marketplace (free plugins, paid data)
The same marketplace lists vendor-built sales plugins, including apollo, hubspot-sales, zoominfo, lusha, vibe-prospecting, leadfeeder, common-room and monday-crm. Install them the same way, for example claude plugin install apollo@knowledge-work-plugins. The plugins are free; the data behind them follows each vendor’s plan.
3. ColdIQ GTM Skills (free, outbound-heavy)
- Source: github.com/Cold-IQ/ColdIQ-s-GTM-Skills (312 stars, pushed 2 Sep 2026). The old
sachacoldiqURL redirects here. - What it does: 6 master skills with 43 sub-skills, plus 31 standalone skills, per the README. Masters cover cold email, LinkedIn ads, LinkedIn content and list building. ColdIQ also runs a skills directory and a skill finder tool.
- Install: the README does not list a skills CLI command. Clone the repo and copy the skill folders you want into
~/.claude/skills/. The optional ColdIQ MCP runs withCOLDIQ_API_KEY=<key> npx -y @coldiq/mcp@latest. - Watch out: the README states every skill is built to “execute on ColdIQ first”, with Apollo, Prospeo and others as labelled fallbacks. Fine if you use ColdIQ; edit the routing if you do not.
4. Extruct GTM Skills (free)
- Source: github.com/extruct-ai/gtm-skills (111 stars, pushed 28 Sep 2026)
- What it does: the outbound skill set Extruct says it uses itself, covering ICP definition, list building, research and sequencing.
- Install:
npx skills add extruct-ai/gtm-skills, or/plugin marketplace add extruct-ai/gtm-skillsthen/plugin install gtm-skills.
5. GooseWorks goose-skills (free catalog, credit-based data)
- Source: github.com/gooseworks-ai/goose-skills (1,276 stars, pushed 27 Oct 2026, MIT license). Formerly
athina-ai/goose-skills. - What it does: a large GTM skill catalog plus a
gooseworksMCP server, usable across Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. - Install:
npx gooseworks@latest install --claude --mcp. Check credits withnpx gooseworks credits. - Watch out: the install signs you in with Google and data actions use credits. Credit pricing was not checked for this guide.
6. GTM Agents (free, Apache 2.0)
- Source: github.com/gtmagents/gtm-agents (431 stars, last push 3 Apr 2026, so check for staleness)
- What it does: a plugin marketplace split by job:
sales-prospecting,sales-pipeline,sales-enablement,sales-operations,sales-coaching. - Install:
/plugin marketplace add gtmagents/gtm-agents, then for example/plugin install sales-prospecting.
7. GTM Engine (free, MIT)
- Source: github.com/himanshusaleria/gtm-engine (21 stars, pushed 14 Jul 2026)
- What it does: eight opinionated slash-command skills for pipeline tracking, call analysis, lead scoring and cold outreach. Small and readable, which makes it a good template for your own.
- Install:
/plugin marketplace add himanshusaleria/gtm-enginethen/plugin install gtm-engine@gtm-engine-marketplace.
8. Octave lfgtm (free plugin, paid platform)
- Source: github.com/octavehq/lfgtm (11 stars, pushed 30 Oct 2026)
- What it does: skills and agents that read Octave’s positioning and messaging library, so outreach pulls from approved personas and value props.
- Price: the plugin is free; Octave itself is a paid product, and pricing not public on the page we fetched.
9. Salesforce DX MCP server (free)
- Source: github.com/salesforcecli/mcp (487 stars, pushed 5 Oct 2026)
- What it does: official Salesforce MCP. Toolsets such as
orgs,metadata,dataanduserslet Claude query records and inspect org metadata. - Install: add an MCP entry that runs
npx -y @salesforce/mcpwith flags like--orgsand--toolsets(the README documents each flag). Start with read-heavy toolsets.
10. HubSpot MCP connector (free with a HubSpot account)
- Source: the remote endpoint
https://mcp.hubspot.com/anthropic, pre-configured in Anthropic’ssalesplugin, plus thehubspot-salespartner plugin. - What it does: read and update contacts, companies and deals from Claude Code. Pair it with
crm-hygiene-checkandlog-activity. - Install: install the
salesplugin and complete OAuth, orclaude plugin install hubspot-sales@knowledge-work-plugins.
11. Clay MCP (paid platform)
- Source:
https://api.clay.com/v3/mcp, wired into the Anthropicsalesplugin. - Price: Clay’s pricing page lists Launch “starting at $185/mo” and Growth “starting at $495/mo” (checked 1 Nov 2026).
- Use it for: enrichment waterfalls and table builds driven from a skill, such as ColdIQ’s Clay and list-building masters.
12. Vibe Prospecting (free plan, paid credits)
- Source: vibeprospecting.ai, shipped as the
vibe-prospectingpartner plugin. - Price: free plan at $0; paid tiers shown at $29.90, $89.99, $199.99 and $649.99 for 900 to 30,000 credits (checked 1 Nov 2026).
- Use it for: B2B contact and company data inside Claude Code without a browser tab.
Takeaway: the official plugin plus one outbound pack beats installing all twelve.
Free vs paid: comparison table
| Skill or pack | Free or paid | Price (checked 1 Nov 2026) | Best for | Install |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Anthropic sales plugin | Free | $0 | SDR, AE, ops | claude plugin install sales@knowledge-work-plugins |
| ColdIQ GTM Skills | Free | $0 (ColdIQ services paid) | Cold email, lists | Clone, copy to ~/.claude/skills/ |
| Extruct gtm-skills | Free | $0 | Outbound | npx skills add extruct-ai/gtm-skills |
| GooseWorks | Free catalog | Credits, pricing not checked | GTM engineers | npx gooseworks@latest install --claude --mcp |
| GTM Agents | Free | $0 | Pipeline, coaching | /plugin marketplace add gtmagents/gtm-agents |
| GTM Engine | Free | $0 | Templates | /plugin install gtm-engine@gtm-engine-marketplace |
| Salesforce DX MCP | Free | $0 (Salesforce licence needed) | Salesforce orgs | npx -y @salesforce/mcp |
| HubSpot connector | Free | $0 (HubSpot account needed) | HubSpot CRMs | Via sales or hubspot-sales plugin |
| Clay | Paid | From $185/mo | Enrichment | MCP via sales plugin |
| Vibe Prospecting | Freemium | $0 to $649.99 | Contact data | vibe-prospecting plugin |
| Octave | Paid | Pricing not public | Messaging library | octavehq/lfgtm |
| Inflectual Master Marketing Skills Bundle | Paid | $167 one-time | Marketing teams with a sales enablement group | Gumroad download |
A note on the paid marketing packs. Inflectual’s Master Marketing Skills Bundle ($167 one-time) includes a “Sales Enablement” group of 8 skills for pitch decks, scripts and objection handling. The Contra “Ultimate Claude SEO & AEO Skills Pack” ($39, shown against $79) and SuperSkills ($50) are marketing and SEO packs, not sales packs, so they are only worth it if the same person also owns content. One pack that kept appearing in searches was left out on purpose because its sales page uses countdown-style urgency.
For marketing-side skills, see Claude Code skills for marketers and skills for email marketing.
Workflows by job: research, lists, outreach, calls and CRM
Here is how the skills above map to a normal sales week.
Prospect research
Run account-research or account-context from the sales plugin. Feed it a domain; it pulls CRM history through the connector and public context through web search. Add a rule to your own copy: output must cite where each fact came from. Account research is where invented funding rounds sneak in.
List building and enrichment with Clay and Apollo
- Write your ICP once as a skill (industry, headcount band, tech, trigger).
- Use ColdIQ’s list-building master or Extruct’s skills to turn the ICP into filters.
- Pull contacts through the Apollo plugin or the Clay MCP.
- Use
account-tieringorlead-triageto score rows. - Push back to the CRM only after a human spot-checks a sample.
GTM engineers who live in tables should also read Claude Code skills for growth marketers.
Personalized outreach
draft-outreach handles first drafts. Pair it with a brand voice skill (brand voice skills) so SDR emails do not all sound the same. Keep personalization factual: a job post, a product launch, a podcast quote. If the skill cannot find a real hook, the email should say less, not make one up. LinkedIn messages work the same way; see skills for LinkedIn.
Call prep and call summaries
call-prep builds the brief before the meeting. call-summary turns a transcript (from the Zoom plugin, Fireflies or a pasted file) into notes, next steps and CRM updates. handle-objection and stakeholder-map help AEs on multi-thread deals.
CRM hygiene in HubSpot and Salesforce
crm-hygiene-check flags missing close dates, stale stages and empty next steps. With the HubSpot connector or Salesforce DX MCP connected, update-opportunity and log-activity can write the fixes. Start read-only, review a diff of proposed changes, then allow writes.
| Job | Skill | Tool needed |
|---|---|---|
| Account research | account-research | CRM connector, web search |
| List build | ColdIQ list building / Extruct | Apollo, Clay or Vibe Prospecting |
| Outreach draft | draft-outreach | Optional CRM |
| Call prep | call-prep | CRM, email |
| Call notes | call-summary | Transcript source |
| CRM cleanup | crm-hygiene-check | HubSpot or Salesforce MCP |
| Pipeline review | pipeline-review, forecast | CRM |
Takeaway: map each skill to one weekly job, then measure time saved on that job alone.
Compliance: outreach rules your skills must follow
Claude Code will happily write 500 emails. Sending them is where the law and the inbox providers come in. Build the rules into the skill so no rep has to remember them.
CAN-SPAM (US). Commercial email needs an honest subject line, accurate sender details, a physical postal address and a working opt-out honoured within 10 business days, per the FTC’s compliance guide.
GDPR and UK GDPR / PECR. B2B cold email to individuals in the EU or UK needs a lawful basis (usually legitimate interest with a documented assessment) and a clear opt-out. Rules for sole traders differ from corporate addresses in the UK. Check with counsel; this guide is not legal advice.
CASL (Canada). Stricter: you generally need consent, with narrow exceptions such as conspicuously published business addresses relevant to the person’s role.
Gmail and Yahoo bulk sender rules. Since February 2024, senders of large volumes to Gmail must authenticate with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, support one-click unsubscribe and keep spam rates low, per Google’s sender guidelines.
LinkedIn. The User Agreement bans scraping and automated activity. Skills that browse LinkedIn on your behalf put the account at risk.
Put this in every outreach skill:
## Compliance rules
- Include sender name, company and postal address in every email.
- Include a plain-text opt-out line.
- Skip contacts flagged do-not-contact or unsubscribed in the CRM.
- For EU, UK or Canadian contacts, stop and ask for the lawful basis.
- Never claim results, clients or numbers not in the approved claims file.Takeaway: compliance in the skill file scales; compliance in a training deck does not.
How to build your own sales skill in 30 minutes
Packs get you started. Your best skill will encode your own process. The steps:
- Pick one repeated task. Call prep is a good first one.
- Write the trigger. The
descriptionline decides when Claude loads the skill, so name the exact phrases reps use. - List the steps as numbered instructions, including which MCP tools to call.
- Define the output with a template: headings, length, fields.
- Add guardrails: no invented facts, compliance rules, approved claims only.
- Store it in
.claude/skills/in a shared repo so the team gets updates through git. - Test on five real accounts and tighten the instructions where the output drifts.
Step-by-step guide: how to build a Claude Code skill. Non-technical reps can start with Claude Code skills for non-developers.
Common mistakes sales teams make with Claude Code skills
- Installing five overlapping packs. Three
cold-emailskills with different rules confuse routing. Pick one per job. - Giving write access on day one. Let the CRM MCP read first. Review proposed changes before allowing updates.
- Trusting stars. GTM Agents has 431 stars but had not been pushed since April 2026 at the time of checking. Check activity.
- Ignoring vendor routing. ColdIQ’s skills default to ColdIQ tools. Read
COLDIQ-FIRST.mdand edit if needed. - No claims file. Without an approved list of results and customers, drafts drift into made-up social proof.
- Skipping the sample check. Enriched lists carry wrong titles and bounced emails. Check 20 rows before sending.
- Sharing API keys in skill files. Keep keys in environment variables, never in a committed
SKILL.md.
Takeaway: fewer skills, read-only first, and a claims file prevent most problems.
FAQ
What are Claude Code skills for sales teams?
They are SKILL.md folders that teach Claude Code a repeatable sales task, such as account research, call prep or CRM cleanup. Claude loads them automatically when a request matches.
Can Claude Code connect to HubSpot?
Yes. Anthropic’s sales plugin pre-configures HubSpot’s remote MCP at mcp.hubspot.com/anthropic, and there is a hubspot-sales partner plugin. You authorise with your own HubSpot account.
Is there a Salesforce MCP server for Claude Code?
Yes. Salesforce publishes the DX MCP server at salesforcecli/mcp, run with npx -y @salesforce/mcp and configurable toolsets.
Are ColdIQ’s GTM skills free?
The GitHub repo is free to use. The skills default to ColdIQ’s own products for data work, which are paid services.
Do I need to code to use Claude Code sales skills?
No coding is needed to install or run them. You do need to be comfortable with a terminal for setup.
What is the difference between a skill and an MCP server?
A skill is instructions; an MCP server gives Claude live access to a tool like Apollo or Salesforce. Most sales workflows need both.
Can Claude Code send cold emails for me?
It can draft them and, with the right integrations, push them to a sequencer. Sending stays subject to CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CASL and Gmail’s sender rules.
Is using AI for cold outreach legal?
AI drafting is not banned by these laws. The same rules apply as for any commercial email: honest headers, opt-out and lawful basis where required.
Which skill is best for call prep?
The call-prep skill in Anthropic’s sales plugin, paired with your CRM connector so it reads real deal history.
Can Claude Code use Clay?
Yes, through Clay’s MCP endpoint, which the sales plugin pre-wires. Clay’s paid plans start at $185/mo per its pricing page.
Can Claude Code use Apollo?
Yes. Install the apollo partner plugin from anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins and connect your Apollo account.
How do I share skills across my sales team?
Commit them to .claude/skills/ in a shared repository, or publish a private plugin marketplace your team adds with /plugin marketplace add.
Do Claude Code skills work in Claude.ai or Cowork?
The knowledge-work-plugins README says the plugins are built for Claude Cowork and also work in Claude Code. Behaviour can differ by surface, so test there.
Will Claude make up facts about prospects?
It can. Add a rule in every research skill to cite sources and mark unknown facts as “not found”.
How many skills should an SDR install?
Start with one plugin and one outbound pack. Add more only when a specific job is not covered.
Sources and methodology
All GitHub data was pulled with gh api repos/OWNER/REPO on 1 November 2026. Install commands were copied from each repo’s README. Prices were read from live pricing pages the same day. No tool here was run against a live sales pipeline for this article, and no performance results are claimed.
- Anthropic knowledge-work-plugins: https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
- ColdIQ GTM Skills: https://github.com/Cold-IQ/ColdIQ-s-GTM-Skills
- Extruct gtm-skills: https://github.com/extruct-ai/gtm-skills
- GooseWorks goose-skills: https://github.com/gooseworks-ai/goose-skills
- GTM Agents: https://github.com/gtmagents/gtm-agents
- GTM Engine: https://github.com/himanshusaleria/gtm-engine
- Octave lfgtm: https://github.com/octavehq/lfgtm
- Salesforce DX MCP: https://github.com/salesforcecli/mcp
- Clay pricing: https://www.clay.com/pricing
- Vibe Prospecting pricing: https://www.vibeprospecting.ai/pricing
- Inflectual bundle: https://inflectual.gumroad.com/l/master-marketing-claude-skills-bundle
- FTC CAN-SPAM guide: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business
- Google sender guidelines: https://support.google.com/a/answer/81126
Your first-week plan
Day one, install the Anthropic sales plugin and connect your CRM read-only. Day two, run call-prep on tomorrow’s meetings and compare it with your usual notes. Day three, add one outbound pack and write a compliance section into its email skill. Day four, run crm-hygiene-check and review the flagged records by hand. Day five, write one custom skill for the task your team repeats most.
Then measure one number, such as minutes spent on call prep, before adding anything else. Founders running sales themselves can also see Claude Code skills for founders, and agencies doing outbound for clients should read skills for marketing agencies.
