How Rules and Skills Actually Work in Claude Code

If you have spent any time configuring an AI coding agent, you have probably figured out that rules and skills are different things. Rules are always loaded. Skills are invoked on demand. Rules handle recognition; skills handle procedure. The interesting problems start after you have internalized that distinction and started building on it. I have been working with AI coding tools for over two years now, starting with Windsurf and building progressively more sophisticated systems with Claude Cod