diff --git a/claude_agent_pipe_sandboxed.py b/claude_agent_pipe_sandboxed.py
index ccb83f4..8b37575 100644
--- a/claude_agent_pipe_sandboxed.py
+++ b/claude_agent_pipe_sandboxed.py
@@ -269,6 +269,30 @@ class OpenTerminalClient:
         async for _ in self.stream_output(handle):
             pass
 
+    async def ensure_skills(
+        self, user_id: str, workdir: str, skills: List[str]
+    ) -> None:
+        """Symlink system-vendored skills from /opt/claude-skills/ into the
+        chat's CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR so Claude picks them up at startup. Uses
+        `ln -sfn` so image rebuilds that change the skill set propagate to
+        existing chats on their next turn (the old symlink is replaced, not
+        skipped). No-op if the skills list is empty."""
+        if not skills:
+            return
+        for s in skills:
+            # Skill names are baked into the image path; reject anything
+            # that could break out of the /opt/claude-skills/ prefix.
+            if not re.match(r"^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$", s):
+                raise OpenTerminalError(f"unsafe skill name: {s!r}")
+        parts = [f"mkdir -p {workdir}/.claude/skills"]
+        parts += [
+            f"ln -sfn /opt/claude-skills/{s} {workdir}/.claude/skills/{s}"
+            for s in skills
+        ]
+        handle = await self.start(user_id, " && ".join(parts))
+        async for _ in self.stream_output(handle):
+            pass
+
     async def run_capture(self, user_id: str, command: str) -> str:
         """Run a short command and return its merged stdout/stderr as a single
         string. For one-shot utility commands (ls, cat of tiny files) where
@@ -715,6 +739,16 @@ class Pipe:
                 "{chat_id} is substituted. Artifacts persist across turns."
             ),
         )
+        SKILLS: str = Field(
+            default="docx,pdf,pptx,xlsx,frontend-design",
+            description=(
+                "Comma-separated list of skill names to symlink into each "
+                "chat's .claude/skills/ from /opt/claude-skills/ in the "
+                "sandbox image. Must match directories baked into the image "
+                "at build time (see sandbox/Dockerfile CLAUDE_SKILLS arg). "
+                "Empty string disables."
+            ),
+        )
 
     def __init__(self) -> None:
         self.valves = self.Valves()
@@ -810,6 +844,13 @@ class Pipe:
             ) as client:
                 await client.ensure_dir(sandbox_user, workdir)
 
+                skills = [
+                    s.strip()
+                    for s in (self.valves.SKILLS or "").split(",")
+                    if s.strip()
+                ]
+                await client.ensure_skills(sandbox_user, workdir, skills)
+
                 # Cache miss = either a brand-new chat OR an OWUI restart
                 # dropped the in-process map (#5). Claude's own on-disk
                 # session JSONL tells us which — look there before giving
diff --git a/sandbox/Dockerfile b/sandbox/Dockerfile
index cafae20..c953d30 100644
--- a/sandbox/Dockerfile
+++ b/sandbox/Dockerfile
@@ -17,11 +17,32 @@ RUN npm install -g "@anthropic-ai/claude-code@${CLAUDE_CODE_VERSION}" \
 # bubblewrap + socat are the Linux backends for Claude Code's built-in
 # `/sandbox` feature. Without them, Claude falls back to unsandboxed bash —
 # our managed-settings.json sets failIfUnavailable=true so that silent
-# degradation becomes a hard error instead.
+# degradation becomes a hard error instead. git is needed for the skill
+# vendoring step below.
 RUN apt-get update \
-    && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends bubblewrap socat \
+    && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends bubblewrap socat git ca-certificates \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
+# Vendor a curated set of Anthropic skills into /opt/claude-skills. Each
+# chat's CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR/.claude/skills/ symlinks here at runtime, so all
+# users share a read-only copy without per-chat duplication. To update the
+# set, change the sparse-checkout list and rebuild — running chats pick up
+# the new set on their next turn (symlinks re-point).
+ARG CLAUDE_SKILLS="docx pdf pptx xlsx frontend-design"
+RUN set -eux; \
+    mkdir -p /opt/claude-skills; \
+    tmp="$(mktemp -d)"; \
+    git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse \
+        https://github.com/anthropics/skills.git "$tmp"; \
+    cd "$tmp"; \
+    paths=""; for s in $CLAUDE_SKILLS; do paths="$paths skills/$s"; done; \
+    git sparse-checkout set $paths; \
+    for s in $CLAUDE_SKILLS; do \
+        cp -r "skills/$s" "/opt/claude-skills/$s"; \
+    done; \
+    cd /; rm -rf "$tmp"; \
+    ls /opt/claude-skills/
+
 # Managed (enterprise) settings live at the system-wide path and take
 # precedence over per-user and per-project settings. This is how we pin
 # Bash egress + WebFetch allowlists: users can extend via their own