Skills

Skills extend what Claude Code can do. They're like plugins that add specific capabilities.

A skill teaches Claude how to do a task; an MCP server gives Claude the tools to call. They work together — the image-prompting skill turns "make me a cool poster" into a text-accurate prompt, then hands it to the BlockRun MCP's blockrun_image tool.

Available Skills

Every skill ships inside the blockrun-mcp repo and is published through its Claude Code plugin marketplace. Add the marketplace once, then install whichever you need:

/plugin marketplace add BlockRunAI/blockrun-mcp
/plugin install blockrun@blockrun-mcp

Skill	Use when	Tools it drives
`blockrun`	Start here. Which tool answers a question, how the wallet works, how to make a first call for free.	all
`search`	Real-time web or news results with citations — "what just happened" questions.	`blockrun_search`
`exa-research`	Researching products, papers, competitors, reading pages, cited answers.	`blockrun_exa`
`crypto-data`	Any crypto data question — prices, FX, OHLC, DEX pairs, TVL. Says which of the four overlapping tools to use and which are free.	`blockrun_price` `blockrun_dex` `blockrun_defi` `blockrun_rpc`
`rpc`	Raw blockchain JSON-RPC — contract reads, balances, blocks, logs, gas — across 40 chains.	`blockrun_rpc`
`prediction-markets`	Event probabilities, Polymarket / Kalshi odds, finding markets on a topic.	`blockrun_markets`
`polymarket-trading`	Actually placing, managing, or redeeming real bets — setup, funding, confirm-gated orders.	`blockrun_polymarket` `blockrun_polymarket_read`
`signal-to-trade-demo`	A presentation-ready live signal (price, probability history, smart money, liquidity) ending in a safe order preview.	`blockrun_markets` `blockrun_polymarket_read`
`image-prompting`	Generating or editing images — structured, text-accurate prompts.	`blockrun_image`
`phone`	Number intelligence (carrier, SIM-swap, call-forwarding), US/CA number leases, outbound AI calls.	`blockrun_phone`
`modal`	Running code in a disposable remote container, optional GPU.	`blockrun_modal`
`gentech-blockrun`	GenTech Labs' daily-usage and multi-tool pipeline patterns from Hermes Agent.	all

Install any of them the same way: /plugin install <skill>@blockrun-mcp, e.g. /plugin install polymarket-trading@blockrun-mcp. The same commands work from the shell as claude plugin marketplace add BlockRunAI/blockrun-mcp and claude plugin install <skill>@blockrun-mcp.

Trading

Trading — signals, paper trading, Polymarket bets, and a trade-plan gate for real money — is built into the Franklin agent rather than shipped as a skill or a separate MCP server. See Trading installation.

What Are Skills?

Skills are prompt-based extensions that teach Claude new workflows. Unlike MCP servers (which provide tools), skills provide instructions and best practices.

MCP Server: Gives Claude new tools to call Skill: Teaches Claude how to use tools effectively

Installing Skills

From the BlockRun marketplace

# Once per machine
/plugin marketplace add BlockRunAI/blockrun-mcp

# Then per skill
/plugin install blockrun@blockrun-mcp
/plugin install image-prompting@blockrun-mcp

The skills only describe workflows — the tools they call come from the MCP server, so install BlockRun MCP first.

Manual Installation

A skill is a directory containing a SKILL.md. Copy one into your Claude Code skills directory:

# Find skills directory
ls ~/.claude/skills/

# Add a skill manually (directory, not a single file)
git clone https://github.com/BlockRunAI/blockrun-mcp
cp -r blockrun-mcp/skills/search ~/.claude/skills/search

Using Skills

Skills are invoked with slash commands:

/image-prompting "a minimalist logo for a crypto trading bot"

Or by natural language when Claude recognizes the task:

Generate an image of a futuristic AI agent

Claude will pick up the image-prompting skill automatically, because its description lists the phrases that should trigger it.

Creating Custom Skills

A skill is a SKILL.md with YAML frontmatter followed by instructions:

---
name: my-skill
description: |
  What this skill does, and when Claude should reach for it.
  TOOLS: blockrun_search, blockrun_chat.
  TRIGGERS: create a post, write a tweet
---

# My Skill

Instructions for Claude on how to perform this task...

## Steps

1. First, do this...
2. Then, do that...
3. Finally, check this...

## Best Practices

- Always do X
- Never do Y

Skill Metadata

Field	Required	Description
`name`	Yes	Skill identifier (matches the directory name)
`description`	Yes	What it does and when to use it. Put trigger phrases here — Claude matches on the description, and this is the only field it reads before deciding to load the skill.

Skill Content

The body of the skill file is instructions for Claude. Write it like you're teaching someone the task. Two rules the BlockRun skills follow that are worth copying:

Never put a price in a skill. Read it from blockrun_models or the 402 response — every typed price in the repo drifted the last time the transaction fee changed.
Say which tools don't exist on the other chain. blockrun_defi and blockrun_modal are Base-only; a skill that sends a Solana user there without saying so produces a confusing error.

Skills vs MCP Servers

Feature	Skills	MCP Servers
What they provide	Instructions	Tools
Written in	Markdown	Code (JS/Python)
Installation	`/plugin install`	`claude mcp add`
Example	image-prompting	blockrun-mcp

Use skills when: You want to teach Claude a workflow Use MCP when: You need Claude to call external services

Skill + MCP Combinations

Skills often work alongside MCP servers:

Skill	Uses MCP
image-prompting	blockrun-mcp (`blockrun_image`)
polymarket-trading	blockrun-mcp (`blockrun_markets` → `blockrun_polymarket`)
crypto-data	blockrun-mcp (five data tools)

Managing Skills

Open the plugin manager in Claude Code to see what's installed, update, or remove:

/plugin

Skills installed by hand live under ~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md; delete the directory to remove one.

Troubleshooting

Skill Not Triggering

Check that the marketplace and skill are installed (/plugin), then try explicit invocation:

/skill-name command

If the skill loads but the tool call fails, the problem is the MCP, not the skill — run claude mcp list and see Troubleshooting.

Skill Conflicts

If multiple skills handle similar tasks, use explicit invocation to specify which one. crypto-data exists for exactly this: it routes across the five overlapping crypto tools.

Skill Not Found

/plugin marketplace add BlockRunAI/blockrun-mcp
/plugin install skill-name@blockrun-mcp

What's next?

Image generation

Generate images via micropayments with blockrun_image and the image-prompting skill.

BlockRun MCP

The MCP server and the 19 tools skills build on.

Troubleshooting

Resolve skill and MCP issues.