Skills vs. prompts
A prompt is advice you paste. A skill is a procedure with triggers, structure, and a license, installed once and applied every time it fits.
Persistence
Prompts
Gone when the conversation ends; re-pasted from a doc every time.
Skills
Installed once, loads in every future conversation automatically.
Selection
Prompts
You remember which prompt fits, find it, and paste it.
Skills
The model reads the task and installs the matching skill itself.
Portability
Prompts
Lives in your clipboard and personal notes.
Skills
One library runs in claude.ai, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, and Antigravity.
Trust
Prompts
Copied from a thread; nobody reviewed it.
Skills
Reviewed for prompt injection before listing; plain text you can read first.
The honest verdict
Keep writing prompts for one-off asks. For anything you do twice, install the skill instead.