Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Demand Letter Drafter agent skill (demand-draft)
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
Demand Letter Drafter is an agent skill that helps a lawyer or in-house counsel turn a finished demand intake into a sendable first draft. It is designed for payment, cure and cease-and-desist demands, and it is built to slow down before drafting so privilege, admissions, settlement protection and waiver are checked first. After following this guide you will be able to install the skill, trigger it with a natural request, and know what files it reads and writes.
Demand Letter Drafteranthropics/claude-for-legal · Apache-2.0 Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download and unzip. Download the skill ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ or a project's .claude/skills/ folder.
- 2Or upload in the Claude apps. In the Claude apps, go to Settings → Capabilities → Skills and upload the ZIP.
- 3Prepare the plugin files. Make sure CLAUDE.md and the matter's intake.md exist under ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/.
- 4Make the request. Ask in natural language, for example "draft the demand", or invoke /demand-draft with the matter slug.
- 5Answer the posture questions. Tell the agent the tone, response window, marking, and signer it asks about.
- 6Review the chat draft. Iterate in chat until the text is approved.
- 7Check the outputs. Review draft-v[N].docx and checklist.md, resolve placeholders, and have a qualified lawyer review before sending.
What an agent skill is and what this one makes the agent do
An agent skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file with instructions that an AI agent loads when a request matches the skill's description. This skill is named demand-draft and is part of the claude-for-legal plugin's litigation-legal set.
Once installed, the agent will not write a demand letter straight away. It first loads the saved intake file for the matter and the practice settings in CLAUDE.md, then works through a pre-draft gate covering privilege, admission risk, accord-and-satisfaction, Federal Rule of Evidence 408 settlement posture, waiver, tone and factual accuracy. It drafts in chat for your review, writes a .docx file, creates a post-send checklist, and offers to open a matter record if the claim is material.
Install the demand-draft skill
You can install the skill in either of two ways. Download the ZIP from the skill's page on this directory and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder to limit it to one project.
If you use the Claude apps, you can instead upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
- Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
- Project install: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/ folder
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP
Set up the files the skill needs
The skill reads configuration from the claude-for-legal plugin. Before first use, the plugin folder ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/ should contain a CLAUDE.md file with your practice settings, and a completed intake.md for each matter. The skill also relies on the docx skill to produce the Word output.
The skill refuses to proceed without a completed intake for material demands, so the intake is not optional in that case.
- CLAUDE.md in the litigation-legal folder: demand-letter practice settings, house style and seed-document paths
- demand-letters/[slug]/intake.md: the completed intake for the matter
- The docx skill: needed to produce the .docx output
Trigger the skill with a natural request
The skill loads when your request matches its description. The description names phrases such as "draft the demand" and "write the [type] letter", and also covers the case where you already have a finished demand intake ready to turn into a draft. You can also invoke it directly with its slug and an optional matter slug.
Expect the agent to ask about posture before drafting: tone, response window, whether the letter needs a without prejudice marking, and who signs it.
- "Draft the demand for the Acme invoice matter."
- "Write the cease-and-desist letter for the Lee lease dispute."
- "I have a finished demand intake for the supplier claim, turn it into a sendable draft."
/demand-draft [slug] [--skip-gate] [--version=N]What the output looks like
The agent first confirms posture and runs the gate, then drafts in chat. Iterate in chat until you approve the text. Only then does it write a versioned Word file named draft-v[N].docx and a checklist.md post-send checklist into the matter's folder.
The outgoing letter does not carry a privileged header. The checklist and intake are internal and do carry the work product header.
- demand-letters/[slug]/draft-v[N].docx: the sendable draft
- demand-letters/[slug]/checklist.md: the post-send checklist
- Materiality assessment and an offer to create a matter, with fields pre-filled, if the claim is material
Safety notes: scripts and network
According to the skill's listing, it runs no scripts and uses no network access. It works from local files you already have and writes its outputs into the matter folder.
The skill is a drafting aid, not legal advice. Its own instructions say the draft may not apply as written if the facts touch another forum or a choice-of-law question, so confirm the jurisdiction before sending.
- Runs scripts: no
- Uses network: no
- Review by a qualified lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction is required before sending
Tips for better drafts
The quality of the draft depends on the intake. Complete the strategic block and the posture section first, because the skill uses them to choose tone verbs, consequence language and the response deadline.
Quotes need care. The skill will not put quotation marks around words it cannot verify and will leave a [verify exact quote] placeholder instead. Check every placeholder before the letter leaves the office.
If the counterparty has sent you a demand instead, use the separate demand-received skill.
- Complete the intake, especially the strategic block, before invoking the skill
- Give prior correspondence to the agent so it can match the existing register
- Resolve every [verify exact quote] placeholder before sending
- Ask the agent to flag weak arguments; it is designed to point them out
What people use it for
- Drafting a payment demand for an unpaid invoice from a completed intake
- Preparing a cure notice that sets out the breach and a compliance deadline
- Producing a first-draft cease-and-desist letter with a consistent register from prior correspondence
- Creating a post-send checklist to track follow-up on a sent demand
- Deciding whether a claim is material enough to open a matter record
Frequently asked questions
Is the Demand Letter Drafter skill free?
The source material for this listing does not state pricing or licence terms beyond the Apache-2.0 licence noted on the item. Check the licence file in the source repository for the terms that apply to you.
What do I need before I can use demand-draft?
You need the claude-for-legal plugin configuration folder with a CLAUDE.md file and a completed intake.md for the matter, plus the docx skill for the Word output. For material demands the skill will refuse to proceed without a completed intake.
Where do I install the demand-draft skill?
Unzip the downloaded ZIP into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. In the Claude apps you can upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
Can demand-draft write a letter without an intake?
Not for material demands. The skill loads intake.md first and refuses if it is missing or the strategic block is empty. It is not intended as a general letter writer.
Should I use demand-draft if I mostly receive demands?
No. The skill itself says defence or in-house teams that mostly receive demands should use the separate demand-received skill instead.
Does the skill send the letter or check the law for me?
No. It produces a draft, a .docx file and a checklist. It flags weak arguments and posture choices, but the output must be reviewed by a qualified lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction before anything is sent.
New agent skills, repos and AI tools — every week
The best new skills and open-source projects, the fastest-growing repos, and one free prompt. Five minutes to read. Unsubscribe anytime.
Our verdict
Demand Draft suits lawyers and in-house counsel who send payment, cure or cease-and-desist demands and want a structured first draft with privilege and settlement marking checked before drafting. It is a poor fit for anyone without a completed demand intake, or for teams that mainly receive demands, who should use demand-received. Every output still needs review by a qualified lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction.
Download the skill