MATLAB Skills for Coding Agents

Name: skills
Author: matlab

A collection of Agent Skills for MATLAB development using coding agents. Skills are specialized instruction sets that extend the capabilities of coding agents for specific tasks, automatically activating when needed.

What are Skills?

Skills are modular, portable capabilities that work across coding agents:

Composable: Skills stack together automatically when needed
Efficient: Only load when relevant to your current task
Powerful: Combine instructions with executable code for reliable results

Available Skills

MATLAB Live Script Generator

Skill ID: matlab-live-script

Creates properly formatted MATLAB plain text Live Scripts (.m files) with rich text documentation, equations, and visualizations. Automatically handles:

Section formatting with %[text] markers
LaTeX equation rendering with double backslashes
Bulleted lists with proper termination
Required appendix formatting
Plot and figure management
Code and documentation integration

When it activates: Creating MATLAB scripts, educational content, Live Scripts, or .m files with documentation.

MATLAB Test Creator

Skill ID: matlab-test-creator

Creates unit tests using the MATLAB Testing Framework. Generates test classes, test methods, and test suites following best practices:

Class-based test structure with matlab.unittest.TestCase
Proper test method naming and organization
Comprehensive assertion methods (verifyEqual, verifyError, etc.)
Parameterized tests for data-driven testing
Setup and teardown methods for test fixtures
Test tagging and selective execution
Mock objects and stubs for dependency isolation

When it activates: Generating test files, test cases, unit tests, test suites, or when testing MATLAB code is requested.

MATLAB Test Execution

Skill ID: matlab-test-execution

Runs MATLAB tests, analyzes results, collects code coverage, and configures CI/CD pipelines:

Running and filtering test suites with runtests
Analyzing test results and diagnosing failures
Code coverage collection and gap identification
CI/CD integration with buildtool and buildfile.m
GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, and GitLab CI configurations

When it activates: Executing tests, filtering test suites, debugging test failures, generating coverage reports, or configuring CI/CD for MATLAB projects.

MATLAB Performance Optimizer

Skill ID: matlab-performance-optimizer

Optimizes MATLAB code for better performance through vectorization, memory management, and profiling guidance:

Vectorization of loops and operations
Array preallocation strategies
Memory optimization techniques (data types, sparse matrices)
Profiling and benchmarking workflows
Built-in function usage over manual implementations
Parallel computing with parfor and GPU arrays
Algorithm-specific optimizations
Performance pitfall identification

When it activates: User requests optimization, mentions slow code, performance issues, speed improvements, or asks to make code faster or more efficient.

MATLAB uihtml App Builder

Skill ID: matlab-uihtml-app-builder

Builds interactive web applications using HTML/JavaScript interfaces with MATLAB computational backends via the uihtml component:

Bidirectional HTML-MATLAB communication patterns
Event handling and data transfer strategies
Security and input validation best practices
Complete working examples (calculator, visualizer, forms)
Modern UI design with CSS styling
Error handling and debugging techniques
Performance optimization for web apps
Testing strategies for HTML/MATLAB integration

When it activates: Creating HTML-based MATLAB apps, JavaScript MATLAB interfaces, web UIs, interactive GUIs, or when user mentions uihtml, HTML, JavaScript, web apps, or web interfaces.

MATLAB Digital Filter Design

Skill ID: matlab-digital-filter-design

Designs and validates digital filters in MATLAB using Signal Processing Toolbox and DSP System Toolbox:

FIR and IIR filter design (lowpass, highpass, bandpass, bandstop, notch)
Architecture selection guidance (single-stage vs efficient alternatives)
designfilt() workflow with proper sample rate handling
Filter Analyzer for visual comparison of designs
Multirate and multistage filter optimization for narrow transitions
Streaming (causal) vs offline (batch) mode support
Zero-phase filtering with filtfilt() for offline processing
Numerical verification of passband ripple and stopband attenuation

When it activates: Cleaning up noisy signals, removing interference, filtering signals, designing FIR/IIR filters, or comparing filters in Filter Analyzer.

Installation & Usage

Claude Code (CLI)

Recommended: Install all MATLAB agent skills using the plugin marketplace:

# (Step 1) Add the marketplace to Claude Code
/plugin marketplace add matlab/skills

# (Step 2) Install all the MATLAB Agent Skills
/plugin install matlab-skills@matlab-skills

This installs all MATLAB skills (matlab-live-script, matlab-test-creator, matlab-test-execution, matlab-performance-optimizer, matlab-uihtml-app-builder, matlab-digital-filter-design) in one command. Skills automatically activate when Claude detects relevant tasks.

Alternative: Manually install to your personal skills directory:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/matlab/skills.git

# Copy all skills to your Claude skills directory
cp -r skills/skills/* ~/.claude/skills/

Once installed, just ask Claude to "create a MATLAB Live Script" or "optimize this code" and the appropriate skill will load automatically.

Claude.ai (Web) and Claude Desktop

Skills are available to Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise users. Each skill must be uploaded separately as a ZIP file.

Uploading Skills:

Open Settings → Capabilities
Enable Skills (Team/Enterprise admins must enable organization-wide first)
Click Upload Skill for each skill you want to add

Creating ZIP Files:

Each skill requires a ZIP file with SKILL.md at the root level. Some skills include additional resource folders (like knowledge/) that must be included.

Single skill (macOS/Linux):

cd skills/<skill-name>
zip -r ../<skill-name>.zip .

Single skill (Windows PowerShell):

cd skills
Compress-Archive -Path "<skill-name>\*" -DestinationPath "<skill-name>.zip"

All skills at once (macOS/Linux):

cd skills
for d in */; do (cd "$d" && zip -r "../${d%/}.zip" .); done

All skills at once (Windows PowerShell):

cd skills
Get-ChildItem -Directory | ForEach-Object {
    Compress-Archive -Path "$($_.Name)\*" -DestinationPath "$($_.Name).zip" -Force
}

Upload the ZIP files to get the MATLAB skills collection. Skills activate automatically when Claude detects relevant tasks.

Claude API

Use the Skills API for programmatic control:

import anthropic

client = anthropic.Anthropic(api_key="your-api-key")

response = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929",
    max_tokens=4096,
    skills=["matlab-live-script"],
    messages=[
        {"role": "user", "content": "Create a Live Script showing Fourier transforms"}
    ]
)

Requirements:

Skills API access (see API documentation)
Code Execution Tool beta enabled

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Whether you want to:

Add new MATLAB skills (code generation, debugging, testing, etc.)
Improve existing skills
Fix bugs or typos
Suggest enhancements

Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed guidelines.

Quick Start for Contributors

Fork this repository
Create a new skill directory: skills/your-skill-name/
Add a SKILL.md file with proper frontmatter
Test thoroughly with a coding agent
Submit a pull request

Skill Development Resources

Official Skills Documentation - Claude Code documentation for using and creating skills
Agent Skills Specification - Complete format specification for SKILL.md files
Agent Skills Repository - Specification and documentation for Agent Skills
Anthropic Skills Repository - Example skills demonstrating Agent Skills capabilities
Claude Code Plugin Guide - Guide for installing and managing skill plugins

Related Projects

matlab/matlab-agentic-toolkit - Connects AI coding agents to a live MATLAB session. Agents evaluate code, run tests, perform static analysis, and detect installed toolboxes directly in MATLAB
matlab/simulink-agentic-toolkit - Gives your AI agent both the tools and the expertise to work effectively with Simulink and Model-Based Design
matlab/matlab-mcp-core-server - Official MATLAB MCP Server for running MATLAB using AI applications like Claude Code and VS Code
matlab/rules - MATLAB coding rules and guidelines optimized for AI coding assistants
matlab/prompts - Curated collection of AI prompts for MATLAB development
matlab/slash-commands - Slash commands for streamlining MATLAB development workflows in Claude Code

License

This project is licensed under the MathWorks BSD-3-Clause License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Community

Issues: Report bugs or request features via GitHub Issues
Discussions: Share ideas and ask questions in MATLAB Central GenAI Discussions Channel

Supported Coding Agents: Agent Skills are supported by Claude Code, Claude.ai, Cursor, VS Code, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenAI Codex, Amp, Goose, Roo Code, and many more. Feature availability may vary by plan and platform.