Step 1. Installation

Install the Claude Code Desktop app and copy all 20 MedSci Skills.
No terminal or command line required.

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
└── ... (20 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 20 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.