How do I install the Surf Plan Skill Claude Code skill?

Install via the ClaudSkills desktop app (one click) or copy SKILL.md from the source repository to ~/.claude/skills/surf-plan-skill/SKILL.md and restart Claude Code. Both flows are detailed at https://claudskills.com/install/.

Is this skill free to install?

Yes. ClaudSkills is an open registry — every skill keeps its source repository's license, and manual install via copy is free. ClaudSkills Pro ($9/mo, $79/yr, or $149 one-time) adds one-click install via the desktop app and a multi-signal Quality Score.

ClaudSkills / Science & Research / research-methods

Surf Plan Skill

Category: Science & Research · Sub-category: research-methods · Last updated: 2026-05-24

Generate a research-grounded execution plan for any coding task. ALWAYS reads the project, then searches the web via `surf-search-skill` (the skill must be installed), interviews the user with options informed by current best practices, and writes a Markdown plan file with cited sources. Triggers on phrases like "make a plan", "plan this", "design...", "architect...", "what's the best way to...", "I want to build X — how?", "spec this out", "investigate and plan". Do NOT use for trivial one-line edits — use only when the task warrants a written plan (≥30 min implementation, ≥3 files, or any architectural decision).

From the source SKILL.md

You are the agent the user is talking to. When the user asks for a plan (see triggers in the frontmatter), follow this 6-phase workflow. Skipping phases is forbidden. This skill exists because plans that skip web research go stale fast and plans that skip project discovery recommend things the codebase already has.

What this skill does

Surf Plan Skill is a community-contributed Claude Code skill in the research-methods sub-category. It ships as a SKILL.md file that Claude Code auto-discovers under ~/.claude/skills/surf-plan-skill/ and loads when your prompt matches the skill's trigger.

Who uses this skill

The Surf Plan Skill Claude Code skill is built for researchers, data scientists, academics, and analysts working with complex data and scientific literature. It's part of ClaudSkills (also referred to as Claude Skills or Claude Code Skills) — the open community-curated registry of 70,000+ SKILL.md files for Anthropic's Claude Code agent and the wider Claude ecosystem (Claude API, Claude Agent SDK).

How to install

Free

Manual install (2 steps)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/surf-plan-skill
curl -L https://claudskills.com/skills/surf-plan-skill/SKILL.md \
  -o ~/.claude/skills/surf-plan-skill/SKILL.md

Or just download SKILL.md directly and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/surf-plan-skill/. Claude Code auto-discovers it on next session.

Skills live at ~/.claude/skills/surf-plan-skill/SKILL.md on macOS/Linux, or %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\surf-plan-skill\SKILL.md on Windows. See the full install guide for step-by-step instructions.

Pro

One-click install via the desktop app

The ClaudSkills desktop app installs any skill directly into ~/.claude/skills/ with one click — no terminal required. Pro starts at $9/mo or $149 lifetime.

Pro

For the full experience including quality scoring and one-click install features for each skill — upgrade to Pro.

See pricing → Download desktop app

Attribution & license

Source: https://github.com/frederico-kluser/surf-skill/blob/HEAD/skills/surf-plan-skill/SKILL.md
License: MIT
Author: frederico-kluser
Website: https://www.npmjs.com/package/surf-skill

Cite this skill

If you reference this skill in a blog post, paper, or documentation, you can cite it as:

APA

frederico-kluser. (2026). Surf Plan Skill [Claude Code skill]. ClaudSkills. https://claudskills.com/skills/surf-plan-skill/

BibTeX

@misc{surf-plan-skill-2026,
  author    = {frederico-kluser},
  title     = {Surf Plan Skill [Claude Code skill]},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {ClaudSkills},
  url       = {https://claudskills.com/skills/surf-plan-skill/}
}

Embed this skill

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Badge

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