internal-comms

Overview of internal-comms skill

The internal-comms skill helps an AI write internal company communications in a format that feels closer to how teams actually share updates, not just polished generic prose. It is best for people who need fast drafts for recurring internal writing such as weekly 3P updates, company newsletters, FAQ summaries, status reports, leadership updates, project updates, and incident-style summaries.

What the internal-comms skill is for

The real job-to-be-done is simple: turn scattered organizational information into a communication artifact that matches a known internal format. Instead of asking the model to “write an update,” the internal-comms skill routes the task into a narrower pattern with format-specific guidance.

Who should install it

This skill is a good fit for:

• operators, chiefs of staff, and internal comms owners
• team leads writing weekly or monthly updates
• executive assistants or program managers collecting cross-functional updates
• anyone using AI for recurring internal writing, especially internal-comms for Email Writing or Slack-ready summaries

What makes it different from a normal prompt

The main value is not hidden automation; it is format selection plus examples. The repository gives separate guidance for:

• 3P updates
• company newsletters
• FAQ answers
• general internal communications

That structure is useful when the bottleneck is consistency: concise updates, correct audience level, and the right amount of context.

What it does well

The internal-comms skill is strongest when:

• the communication type is already known
• the organization has a repeatable update style
• source material exists in Slack, email, docs, calendars, or notes
• you want a first draft that is concise and audience-aware

What it does not do by itself

This is not a data-collection pipeline or a fully opinionated editorial system. It does not ship scripts, rules engines, or retrieval tooling in this folder. You still need to provide source facts or give the model access to the systems where updates live. If your company has a rigid template, approval policy, or legal review process, you will need to layer that on top.

How to Use internal-comms skill

internal-comms install options

For a typical skills setup, install the internal-comms skill from the Anthropic skills repository:

npx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/skills --skill internal-comms

Then confirm the files under:

skills/internal-comms

If you are evaluating before install, review the source here:
https://github.com/anthropics/skills/tree/main/skills/internal-comms

Read these files first

For the fastest adoption path, read in this order:

1. SKILL.md
2. examples/3p-updates.md
3. examples/company-newsletter.md
4. examples/faq-answers.md
5. examples/general-comms.md

This repository is small, so the examples are the product. Most of the practical behavior lives there.

Choose the right communication type first

The biggest quality gain comes from selecting the right example file before drafting.

• Use examples/3p-updates.md for short leadership or team updates in Progress / Plans / Problems format.
• Use examples/company-newsletter.md for company-wide recap bullets.
• Use examples/faq-answers.md when many employees are asking similar questions and you need a synthesized answer set.
• Use examples/general-comms.md for everything else.

If you skip this step, the draft often becomes too generic.

What input the skill needs

The internal-comms usage pattern works best when you provide:

• communication type
• audience
• time window
• source material
• desired tone
• required links or citations
• constraints such as length, approval sensitivity, or things to avoid

Weak input:

• “Write a company update.”

Stronger input:

• “Write a weekly 3P update for the Infrastructure team for leadership. Use the notes below, keep it readable in under 45 seconds, mention one blocker, and avoid low-level task detail.”

How to prompt internal-comms well

A good invocation prompt usually includes four parts:

1. Format
   “Use the internal-comms skill and write this as a 3P update.”

2. Audience and context level
   “Audience is exec staff with partial context.”

3. Source facts
   “Use these launch notes, incident notes, and hiring updates.”

4. Output constraints
   “Keep it under 150 words, use bullets, and call out one key risk.”

That is much better than asking for “something polished” and hoping the model chooses the right structure.

Best workflow for internal-comms usage

A practical workflow:

1. identify the format
2. gather raw inputs
3. ask the model to draft in that exact format
4. review for omissions, overclaiming, and audience mismatch
5. ask for a second pass with tighter constraints

This skill is especially useful in the first-draft stage. Human review still matters because internal updates often contain sensitive framing, uncertain facts, or political nuance.

How the examples shape output

The example files contain the most decision-relevant guidance:

• 3p-updates.md stresses brevity and audience context
• company-newsletter.md pushes short bullets, “we” voice, and many links
• faq-answers.md focuses on recurring employee confusion and summarized answers
• general-comms.md forces clarification on audience, purpose, tone, and format

That means the skill is less about “creative writing” and more about choosing the right information shape.

Using internal-comms for Email Writing

For internal-comms for Email Writing, give the model email-specific constraints that the base examples only imply:

• whether the message also needs to work in Slack
• subject line requirements
• whether links should be inline or grouped
• how formal the greeting and sign-off should be
• whether the email is informative, persuasive, or corrective

Example prompt:
“Use the internal-comms skill. Draft a company-wide email newsletter from the past two weeks. Make it scannable, 20 bullets max, include links where mentioned, use ‘we’ voice, and add a short subject line plus preview text.”

When to ask clarifying questions

The repository explicitly supports asking for clarification when the format is unclear. You should do that if any of these are missing:

• team name for a 3P
• audience for general comms
• source timeframe
• expected tone
• whether the output is for Slack, email, docs, or all three

If those are absent, the model may write something plausible but unusable.

Practical quality tips before sending

Before publishing an internal-comms draft, check:

• does it say too much for the audience?
• does it bury the main update?
• are “plans” actually plans, not progress repeated?
• are blockers concrete enough to be actionable?
• are links present where the newsletter expects them?
• does the FAQ answer summarize rather than speculate?

These are the common places where a decent first draft still fails in real workplace use.

internal-comms skill FAQ

Is internal-comms worth installing if I can already write prompts?

Yes, if you repeatedly write internal updates in a few standard formats. The value of the internal-comms skill is not magic capability; it reduces prompt drift and gives the model a better default structure than a fresh prompt every time.

Is this beginner-friendly?

Yes. The repository is small and easy to inspect. A beginner can get value quickly by picking the matching file in examples/ and supplying better source material. There is little setup complexity.

What kinds of communications fit best?

Best-fit use cases:

• weekly team updates
• leadership summaries
• company newsletters
• internal FAQ digests
• project and status updates
• lightweight incident summaries

If your company already uses 3Ps or similar update rituals, fit is especially strong.

When is internal-comms a poor fit?

It is a weaker fit when:

• you need strict compliance or legal review language
• the format is highly customized and unlike the included examples
• no source facts exist yet
• the task is external PR, marketing copy, or customer messaging

This is an internal writing aid, not a universal communications framework.

Does it integrate with Slack, email, or docs automatically?

Not from this folder alone. The examples mention tools like Slack, Email, Calendar, and Documents as ideal information sources, but this skill does not include bundled connectors here. In practice, either your agent environment must already expose those tools, or you must paste the relevant material in.

How is it better than a generic “write me an update” request?

Generic prompts often miss audience calibration and structure. The internal-comms guide improves outcomes by narrowing the task: for example, a 3P should be brief, leadership-readable, and split into Progress, Plans, and Problems. That constraint usually produces a more usable first draft.

How to Improve internal-comms skill

Give stronger source material, not just a broader request

The best upgrade is better inputs:

• bullet notes from team leads
• links to source docs
• Slack messages with reactions or visibility
• a list of shipped items, decisions, blockers, and upcoming work
• rough employee questions for FAQ synthesis

The skill improves dramatically when it has evidence to compress.

State the audience with precision

“Leadership,” “whole company,” and “teammates” are not interchangeable. Stronger prompt:

• “Write for executives who know the project name but not sprint-level details.”
• “Write for the full company, including non-technical teams.”
• “Write for employees already discussing this topic in Slack.”

Audience precision changes terminology, detail level, and what counts as important.

Separate facts, interpretations, and risks

A common failure mode in internal-comms usage is blending confirmed facts with optimistic narrative. To avoid that, provide inputs in three buckets:

• confirmed facts
• proposed framing
• unresolved questions or risks

That makes it easier for the model to avoid accidental overstatement.

Add explicit format constraints

If you want output that survives review, specify:

• max length
• bullet count
• required sections
• must-include links
• prohibited phrases
• level of confidence around uncertain items

For example, the newsletter example clearly benefits from bullet count and link expectations. The 3P example clearly benefits from strict brevity.

Improve the first draft with targeted revision asks

Do not just say “make it better.” Use revision prompts like:

• “Make the Problems section more concrete.”
• “Cut jargon for a company-wide audience.”
• “Add links where a reader would want to click through.”
• “Reduce this from 220 words to 120 without losing the main blocker.”
• “Turn repeated project details into one executive summary line.”

These instructions align with the skill’s real strengths.

Watch for the main failure modes

The most common issues are:

• choosing the wrong example file
• writing at the wrong context level
• repeating raw notes instead of synthesizing them
• vague blockers
• missing links in newsletter-style outputs
• FAQs that answer what leadership wants to say rather than what employees are actually asking

Checking for these failure modes is the fastest way to improve internal-comms output quality.

Extend the skill for your company

If the stock internal-comms skill is close but not enough, the cleanest improvement is to add your own example files for:

• meeting recap format
• incident review summary
• launch announcement
• org change memo
• monthly business review digest

This skill’s design is example-driven, so adding company-native templates is usually more valuable than writing longer generic instructions.