Step 1. Installation

Install the Claude Code Desktop app and copy all 51 MedSci Skills.
No terminal or command line required.

Quick Start (recommended)

The recommended setup also turns on update reminders, so Claude Code tells you when a new version ships — without it you stay on the version you installed and are never told. Pick whichever is easier; both do the same thing.

Option A — Already using Claude Code? Paste this in:

"Install MedSci Skills by running npx medsci-skills install --enable-update-notify in the terminal, then tell me when it's done and remind me to restart Claude Code."

Claude runs the installer for you and confirms when it's finished.

Option B — One terminal command (Node 18+)

1. Open the Terminal app — macOS: press Cmd + Space, type "Terminal", Enter. Windows: Start menu → "Terminal" (or "Command Prompt").

2. Paste this one line and press Enter:

npx medsci-skills install --enable-update-notify --desktop-launcher

3. When it finishes, fully quit and reopen Claude Code. Done.

--enable-update-notifyshows a one-line "update available" notice in Claude Code; --desktop-launcheradds an "Update MedSci Skills" icon to your Desktop for one-click updates. Installs from npm (needs Node 18+; check with npx medsci-skills doctor).

Then try a skill in plain English

"Search PubMed for recent studies on AI-assisted lung nodule detection and give me the top 10 results"

"Check my manuscript against STARD 2015 guidelines"

"Analyze this CSV and generate a demographics table with appropriate statistics"

No slash commands required — just describe what you need; Claude picks the right skill.

No terminal at all? Follow the manual download-and-copy steps below. Note the manual copy does not set up automatic update reminders, so re-run Option A or B (or re-download) when a new version is announced.

OR INSTALL MANUALLY

Download Claude Code Desktop

Claude Code Desktop is the official desktop app by Anthropic. It works just like any regular application — no terminal needed.

Download link

Go to claude.ai/download and download the version for your operating system.

1. Double-click the downloaded .dmg file.

2. Drag the Claude Code icon into the Applications folder.

3. Launch Claude Code from Applications.

4. Sign in with your Anthropic account.

Download MedSci Skills

Download the skills as a ZIP file from GitHub. You do not need to use git clone.

1. Visit github.com/Aperivue/medsci-skills

2. Click the green <> Code button.

3. Click Download ZIP.

4. Extract the downloaded ZIP file.

Copy the skills folder

Copy the skillsfolder from the extracted archive into Claude Code's skills directory.

1. Open Finder.

2. From the menu bar, select Go > Go to Folder (shortcut: Cmd + Shift + G).

3. Enter the following path:

~/.claude/

4. If there is no skills folder inside .claude, create one.

5. Copy all folders from medsci-skills-main/skills/ into ~/.claude/skills/.

Expected structure

~/.claude/skills/
├── analyze-stats/
│   └── SKILL.md
├── check-reporting/
│   └── SKILL.md
├── orchestrate/
│   └── SKILL.md
├── write-paper/
│   └── SKILL.md
└── ... (51 folders total)

Verify the installation

Restart Claude Code Desktop and check that the skills are loaded.

1. Quit Claude Code Desktop completely, then reopen it.

2. Type the following in the chat:

/orchestrate List all available skills

3. If you see a list of 51 skills, the installation is complete.

/orchestrate output in Claude Code Desktop

Install Python (optional)

Python is required for statistical analysis (analyze-stats) and figure generation (make-figures).

Only if needed

Text-based skills like literature search, reporting guideline checks, and manuscript drafting work without Python. You can skip this step for now and install later.

1. Download Python 3.11 or later from python.org/downloads

2. Run the installer with the default settings.

3. Claude Code will install the required libraries automatically — nothing else to do.

Trouble installing?

Nothing happens when I type "/orchestrate": Double-check the skills folder path. Each skill folder must contain a SKILL.md file. Verify that ~/.claude/skills/orchestrate/SKILL.md exists.
Claude Code Desktop won't launch: Make sure your Anthropic account has an active subscription (Pro or Max). Claude Code is not available on free accounts.
I can't see the .claude folder on macOS: Press Cmd + Shift + . in Finder to show hidden files. Alternatively, use Go > Go to Folder and type the path directly.