Support local filesystem skills in Claude Desktop (alongside local MCP servers)

Feature Request

Problem: Claude Desktop can load MCP servers from local filesystem (claude_desktop_config.json), but skills can only be added via cloud upload (Customize > Skills > Upload ZIP). There's no way to have a local-only skill that lives alongside its MCP server on a specific machine.

Use case: I run knowledge graph MCP servers that require large local datasets (legal corpus, petroleum data). These servers only exist on specific machines. I've built skills (SKILL.md) that teach Claude the graph schema, Cypher query patterns, and research methodology for these MCP tools — eliminating 2-3 warmup graph_overview() calls per conversation.

These skills are tightly coupled to their MCP servers. Uploading them to the cloud means they appear on every device, including ones where the MCP server doesn't exist. This creates confusing context pollution.

Current behavior:

• MCP servers: local config in claude_desktop_config.json ✓ (machine-specific)
• Skills: cloud upload only ✗ (syncs to all devices)

Desired behavior:

• A local skills path in Claude Desktop — either:
• A skills field in claude_desktop_config.json pointing to local SKILL.md directories
• Desktop reading from ~/.claude/skills/ (same as Claude Code CLI)
• Or both

Why this matters:

• Skills that document MCP tools should travel with those tools, not be uploaded separately to a global cloud
• Machine-specific setups (large datasets, local servers) need machine-specific skills
• The current split forces users to choose between Desktop's chat UX and Code's local skill system
• This would also address the portability gap from the opposite direction vs #37487 — rather than syncing local skills to cloud, let Desktop read what's already local

Workaround today: Use Claude Code (CLI/VS Code) instead of Desktop for MCP-heavy workflows. Or pack schema into the MCP server's instructions field, which loads for every conversation regardless of topic.

Related issues

• #37487 — Skill portability between Claude Code and claude.ai (same gap, opposite direction — proposes syncing local to cloud; this issue proposes letting Desktop read local)
• #36031 — Desktop Code tab sees ~/.claude/skills/ in autocomplete but fails to load SKILL.md content (related bug)
• #22648 — Account-level settings sync across devices (broader discussion on cross-device consistency)