Claude Code Skills for Python Developers: 15 Must-Have (2026)

Claude Code is model-agnostic – it works with any language. But Python developers get the most value by installing skills that encode Python-specific best practices, framework conventions, and toolchain knowledge. These 15 skills cover testing, web frameworks, type checking, packaging, and data science workflows. Each includes the install command and a concrete usage example so you can evaluate whether it fits your workflow. Find more Python skills with the Skill Finder.

Testing Skills

1. Pytest Runner

Writes and runs pytest tests with proper fixtures, parametrize decorators, and mocking patterns. Understands conftest.py hierarchy and test discovery.

/install pytest-runner

Usage:

Write tests for src/auth/password.py using pytest. Include parametrize for edge cases and mock the database calls.

Output (example):

import pytest
from unittest.mock import patch, MagicMock
from src.auth.password import hash_password, verify_password, check_strength
@pytest.fixture
def mock_db():
    with patch("src.auth.password.get_db") as mock:
        mock.return_value = MagicMock()
        yield mock.return_value
@pytest.mark.parametrize("password,expected_strength", [
    ("abc", "weak"),
    ("Abc123!@#", "strong"),
    ("aaaaaaaaaaaa", "medium"),
    ("", "invalid"),
])
def test_check_strength(password, expected_strength):
    assert check_strength(password) == expected_strength
def test_hash_password_returns_bcrypt():
    hashed = hash_password("test_password")
    assert hashed.startswith("$2b$")
    assert len(hashed) == 60

2. Coverage Analyzer

Analyzes test coverage gaps and generates tests specifically for uncovered branches and functions.

/install coverage-analyzer

Usage:

Run coverage on src/payments/ and write tests for the uncovered lines.

3. Integration Test Builder

Creates integration tests that set up real databases (via Docker), seed test data, and verify end-to-end flows.

/install integration-tests

Web Framework Skills

4. Django Management

Manages Django projects: creates models, views, serializers, URLs, migrations, and management commands following Django conventions.

/install django-manager

Usage:

Create a Django model for UserProfile with fields: bio (text), avatar_url (url), created_at (auto). Include the serializer, viewset, and URL config.

5. FastAPI Scaffolding

Generates FastAPI endpoints with Pydantic models, dependency injection, middleware, and OpenAPI documentation.

/install fastapi-scaffold

Usage:

Create a FastAPI router for /api/v1/products with CRUD endpoints. Use SQLAlchemy async session and Pydantic v2 models.

Output (example):

from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, status
from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict
router = APIRouter(prefix="/api/v1/products", tags=["products"])
class ProductCreate(BaseModel):
    name: str
    price: float
    description: str | None = None
class ProductResponse(ProductCreate):
    model_config = ConfigDict(from_attributes=True)
    id: int
    created_at: datetime
@router.post("/", response_model=ProductResponse, status_code=status.HTTP_201_CREATED)
async def create_product(
    product: ProductCreate,
    db: AsyncSession = Depends(get_db),
):
    db_product = Product(**product.model_dump())
    db.add(db_product)
    await db.commit()
    await db.refresh(db_product)
    return db_product

6. Flask Blueprint Generator

Creates Flask blueprints with routes, templates, forms, and SQLAlchemy models following Flask best practices.

/install flask-blueprint

Type Checking and Code Quality Skills

7. Mypy Type Fixer

Identifies and fixes mypy type errors. Adds type annotations to untyped functions, fixes type incompatibilities, and adds proper generics.

/install mypy-fixer

Usage:

Fix all mypy errors in src/utils/ and add type annotations to untyped functions.

8. Docstring Generator

Generates Google-style or NumPy-style docstrings for all functions, classes, and modules. Reads the actual implementation to document parameters, return types, exceptions, and examples.

/install python-docstrings

Usage:

Add Google-style docstrings to all public functions in src/core/engine.py. Include Args, Returns, Raises, and Example sections.

9. Ruff Linter Integration

Applies ruff rules, fixes auto-fixable violations, and explains non-auto-fixable issues with suggested manual fixes.

/install ruff-linter

Data Science and ML Skills

10. Pandas Optimizer

Reviews pandas code for performance: vectorization opportunities, chunked reading for large CSVs, proper dtypes, and avoiding iterrows.

/install pandas-optimizer

Usage:

Optimize the data processing pipeline in notebooks/analysis.py. Focus on replacing loops with vectorized operations.

11. Jupyter Notebook Cleaner

Cleans Jupyter notebooks: removes output cells, strips metadata, standardizes cell ordering, and extracts reusable functions into .py modules.

/install notebook-cleaner

Packaging and Deployment Skills

12. Virtual Environment Manager

Sets up and manages Python virtual environments, handles dependency resolution, creates requirements.txt and pyproject.toml, and fixes version conflicts.

/install venv-manager

Usage:

Set up a new virtual environment for this project. Create pyproject.toml with the dependencies from requirements.txt. Pin all versions.

13. Package Publisher

Prepares Python packages for PyPI: builds with setuptools or hatch, creates pyproject.toml, writes classifiers, and handles versioning.

/install package-publisher

14. Docker Python Builder

Creates optimized Dockerfiles for Python applications: multi-stage builds, minimal base images, proper pip caching, and non-root user setup.

/install docker-python

Usage:

Create a Dockerfile for this FastAPI application. Use multi-stage build with python:3.12-slim. Include health check and non-root user.

Output (example):

FROM python:3.12-slim AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --prefix=/install -r requirements.txt
FROM python:3.12-slim
RUN useradd --create-home appuser
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=builder /install /usr/local
COPY . .
RUN chown -R appuser:appuser /app
USER appuser
EXPOSE 8000
HEALTHCHECK CMD curl -f http://localhost:8000/health || exit 1
CMD ["uvicorn", "main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]

15. Celery Task Writer

Creates Celery tasks with proper retry logic, error handling, rate limiting, and monitoring hooks.

/install celery-tasks

Combining Skills for Maximum Effect

The most effective setup for Python developers combines 4-5 skills from different categories:

Testing:    pytest-runner
Framework:  django-manager OR fastapi-scaffold
Quality:    mypy-fixer + python-docstrings
Deployment: docker-python

This combination covers the full development lifecycle without overloading your context window. Each skill adds approximately 500-800 tokens to your system prompt. Five skills total roughly 3,000 tokens, well within the recommended configuration limits.

Try It Yourself

Search for Python-specific skills by framework, library, or task type. The Skill Finder filters by language and shows install commands, descriptions, and compatibility information for every skill.

Try the Skill Finder –>

Common Questions

Do these skills work with Python 3.12+ features? Yes. Skills like mypy-fixer and fastapi-scaffold understand modern Python syntax including match statements, type union with |, and Self type. They generate code using the latest stable syntax appropriate for your Python version.
Can I use Django and FastAPI skills in the same project? You can install both, but it is not recommended. The skills may provide conflicting conventions (e.g., Django ORM vs SQLAlchemy). Install only the framework skill matching your active project.
Which testing skill should I use: pytest-runner or integration-tests? Use pytest-runner for unit tests (fast, isolated, no external dependencies). Use integration-tests when you need to test database queries, API calls, or multi-service interactions. Most projects benefit from both.
Do skills replace tools like Black, mypy, or ruff? No. Skills enhance Claude Code's understanding of these tools -- they do not replace the tools themselves. The ruff-linter skill helps Claude Code apply ruff fixes correctly, but you should still have ruff installed in your project's development dependencies.