Builds the Data Pack. Doesn't Calculate the Numbers.
A short explainer on the datapack-builder skill for financial services. A skill is a folder Claude reads, its steps run in order, and its job is to extract and standardize data into one workbook, not to run the analysis.
Ask Claude to build a financial services data pack and it is tempting to picture it crunching the numbers the way an analyst would. The video explains that this is not what happens. Anthropic's datapack-builder skill extracts and standardizes data from your sources into one workbook, and the skill's own instructions define exactly where its job ends.
The naive framing
The video starts with a common assumption: that the skill will calculate your financials. It does not. The skill extracts and standardizes data from your sources into one workbook, the same way every time.
A skill is a folder
A skill is a folder that Claude reads before it works. In this case it is datapack-builder, and the SKILL.md file inside holds the full instruction set in plain language, with no hidden logic. Claude reads the file and then acts on it. In the video's phrase, the file is the program.
One step at a time
The instructions live in a Steps section. Claude reads each step in order and runs it. The process is linear, one step after another, unless a step itself says to branch.
What the skill is for
The job is specific. The skill pulls financial data from CIMs, offering memorandums, SEC filings, web search, or MCP servers. It standardizes that data into one investment-committee-ready Excel workbook with consistent structure, proper formatting, and documented assumptions.
It is built for M&A due diligence and portfolio reporting. It is not built for running the calculations itself, or for reworking a data pack that is already finished. Anything that is not in the steps of SKILL.md is not part of the job.
The carry-out
The video's closing line is that datapack-builder doesn't calculate your numbers. It extracts and standardizes them into one workbook, and it does so the same way every time.
Key takeaways
- A skill is a folder Claude reads before it works.
- The
SKILL.mdfile holds the full instruction set in plain language, with no hidden logic. - Claude reads the steps in order and runs them one after another, unless a step says to branch.
datapack-builderpulls data from CIMs, offering memorandums, SEC filings, web search, or MCP servers.- The output is one investment-committee-ready Excel workbook with consistent structure, proper formatting, and documented assumptions.
- It is meant for M&A due diligence and portfolio reporting.
- It does not run the calculations or rework a finished data pack, and anything outside the steps is not part of its job.
Try it yourself
Paste this into Claude: "I want to build a financial services data pack from a CIM, an offering memorandum, and SEC filings for an investment committee review. Read the datapack-builder skill and walk me through what you will do before you do it." The last clause is the important part. Asking Claude to explain first surfaces the actual steps it is about to run, before it runs them.
Chapters
Full transcript(auto-generated, with timestamps)
The naive framing: "does it calculate my financials?"
[0:00]Someone assumed DataPack Builder would calculate their financials the way an analyst would. It doesn't. It extracts and standardizes data from your sources into one workbook. Does DataPack Builder extract my financials for me? A skill is
A skill is a folder
[0:13]A folder Claude reads before it works. This one is DataPack Builder, its skill. MD holds the full instruction set in plain language, no hidden logic. Claude reads the file then acts on it. The file is the program.
One step at a time
[0:26]The instructions live in a step section. Claude reads each step in order and runs it linear, one after another, unless a step itself says to branch. DataPack Builder's job is specific. Pull
Standardizes, every time
[0:36]Financial data from CIMs, offering memos, SEC filings, web search, or MCP servers, and standardize it into one investment committee-ready Excel workbook, consistent structure, proper formatting, assumptions documented. It's built for M&A due diligence and portfolio reporting, not for running the calculations itself or reworking a data pack that's already finished. What isn't in the skill? MD's steps isn't part of the job. DataPack Builder doesn't
Carry-out
[1:01]Calculate your numbers. It extracts and standardizes them into one workbook the same way every time. Your turn. Here's the prompt, read it
Your turn
[1:09]With me. Paste this into Claude. I want to build a financial services data pack from a CIM, an offering memorandum, and SEC filings for an investment committee review. Read the DataPack Builder skill and walk me through what you will do before you do it. That last clause matters. Asking Claude to explain first surfaces the actual steps it's about to run. Builds the data pack, doesn't calculate
Outro
[1:29]The numbers. Lay 'em in for bear.
