Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Matter Intake agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The matter-intake skill is an agent skill for Claude that walks you through a standard set of questions whenever a new legal matter comes into your portfolio. It is aimed at in-house and litigation legal teams, and legal ops staff, who want every matter recorded the same way. After this guide you will know what the skill does, how to install it, how to trigger it, and what it needs before it will run.
Matter Intakeanthropics/claude-for-legal · Apache-2.0 Download the skill Quick start
- 1Check the requirements. Confirm you have Claude Code or a compatible agent with file read and write access, and that you can write to the matters folder under your Claude for Legal config path.
- 2Set up the practice profile. Create or confirm the CLAUDE.md file at the litigation-legal config path, including risk calibration, stakeholders, and conflicts method.
- 3Download and unzip the skill. Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ or a project's .claude/skills/ folder.
- 4Or upload it in the Claude apps. Alternatively, go to Settings → Capabilities → Skills in the Claude apps and upload the skill.
- 5Start an intake. Say something like "new matter" or "intake this matter", optionally with a matter name.
- 6Resolve the conflicts step. Choose a conflicts path before the agent will write any records: run the check now, mark it pending, or record a documented bypass.
- 7Confirm the log row. Review the row the agent proposes and request any edits before the records are written.
What the matter-intake skill makes the agent do
When you say you want to bring a new matter into the portfolio, the agent works through a uniform intake covering identification, conflicts, source, risk triage, materiality, outside counsel, internal owners, legal hold, and key dates. It is designed so that every matter is recorded in the same shape, which keeps the portfolio comparable.
The agent then writes three things: a narrative intake file called matter.md, a history file called history.md seeded with the intake as its first entry, and a structured row appended to _log.yaml. The skill is designed to stop and require a conflicts decision before writing any records.
Install the skill from the ZIP
Download the ZIP for the matter-intake skill from this page and unzip it. The skill is a folder whose main file is SKILL.md. Place it in one of these locations:
- For all your projects: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
- For one project only: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/ folder
- Alternatively, upload the skill in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills
Set up your practice profile first
The skill depends on a configured Claude for Legal practice profile. It expects to find a CLAUDE.md file at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md. That file should set out risk calibration, stakeholders, and your conflicts method. The skill also needs write access to the matters folder under the same config path, because that is where it creates records.
Without this profile, the skill has no house thresholds to triage against and no stakeholders to pull from, so it is not suited to individuals who have not set one up.
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.mdTrigger the skill with a natural request
The skill is meant to be triggered by plain requests. The description says to use it when you say "new matter", "intake this matter", or want to bring a new matter into the portfolio. You can also add an optional matter name after the command, since the skill accepts an argument-hint of [optional matter name].
- "New matter: we've received a demand letter from a supplier over late delivery."
- "Intake this matter: a regulator has opened an inquiry into our data retention."
- "I want to bring a new employment dispute into the portfolio."
/matter-intake [optional matter name]Work through the intake questions
The agent will ask about each area in turn. Expect questions on the matter name and counterparty, the matter type (contract, employment, ip, regulatory, investigation, product, or other), and your role. If your practice profile sets a side, the agent pre-fills your role from it and asks you to confirm. If it is set to vary by matter, the agent asks cold.
The conflicts step comes early. The conflicts status can be cleared, pending, not-run, or waired. If it is not-run, the agent stops. You then choose one of three paths: run conflicts now, mark it pending with an owner and due date (only if your profile allows parallel intake), or bypass with a documented rationale that you explicitly acknowledge.
After that the agent covers source, risk triage (severity, likelihood, resulting rating, damages range, and non-monetary exposure), materiality, outside counsel, internal owners, and legal hold.
- Matter type options: contract, employment, ip, regulatory, investigation, product, other
- Our role options: plaintiff, defendant, claimant, respondent, investigated
- Conflicts status options: cleared, pending, not-run, waived
Review the output before records are final
Before the agent finalises records, it generates a slug from the matter name in lowercase with hyphens and the year, and checks _log.yaml for uniqueness. It then asks you to confirm the row it will write, so you can make edits.
The skill writes to these paths, all under the matters folder in your config directory: matters/[slug]/matter.md, matters/[slug]/history.md, and a row appended to matters/_log.yaml.
- matter.md holds the full narrative intake
- history.md is seeded with the intake as the first entry
- _log.yaml receives a structured row for tracking alongside other matters
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/matters/[slug]/matter.mdWhat people use it for
- Recording a demand letter from a supplier so it sits in the same log format as other contract disputes.
- Logging a regulator inquiry with its jurisdiction, risk rating, and legal hold status in one structured row.
- Bringing a new employment dispute into the portfolio with an HR partner listed as an internal owner.
- Tracking a matter with conflicts still pending so that the status flag appears until the check is resolved.
Frequently asked questions
Is the matter-intake skill free to use?
The source does not state pricing or licence terms beyond the licence listed for this item, which is Apache-2.0. Check the licence file in the repository for the terms that apply.
What do I need to run the matter-intake skill?
You need Claude Code or a compatible agent with file read and write access, a configured Claude for Legal practice profile at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md, and write access to the matters folder under the same config path.
How do I install the matter-intake skill?
Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder for one project. You can also upload it in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
Does the skill check conflicts automatically?
No. The skill records the conflicts decision but leaves the actual check to you or your firm. It will stop and require a conflicts status before writing any records.
Does the skill give legal advice on a case?
No. The skill only organises intake information and does not assess the merits of the case. Use it for recording and tracking, not for legal judgement.
Why does the skill stop during intake and what should I do?
It stops when conflicts are marked not-run, because conflicts must be resolved before matter.md, history.md, or a _log.yaml entry is created. Choose one of the three paths offered: run conflicts now, mark pending with an owner and due date, or record a documented bypass.
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Our verdict
Matter-intake suits in-house or litigation legal teams and legal ops staff who already use the Claude for Legal practice profile and want every new matter recorded the same way. It is a poor fit for individuals without that profile, for anyone wanting merits advice, or for teams that need conflicts checks run automatically.
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