PlugWiki

Write a cover letter with ChatGPT or Claude

Give the assistant your resume and the job posting, and it drafts a cover letter. Rewrite it in your own voice.

Picks
4
ranked

Yes, an assistant can write a good first draft of a cover letter from your resume and the job posting. A free Claude skill, cover-letter-generator, drafts a 250 to 400 word letter with an opening hook and a closing call to action. It also gives two alternative openings and interview talking points. The one thing to know: it only rewords what you give it, so every claim must be true for you.

Good for

  • Job seekers applying to many roles who want a solid first draft
  • Graduates writing their first cover letter
  • Career changers explaining a move to a new field
  • Claude users who want the same letter format every time

The short answer

Our advice: use the Claude skill if you apply to many jobs and want the same format each time. In ChatGPT or any chat, paste your resume, the posting and the prompts below. Edit the draft in your own words.

Our pick: cover-letter-generator

Our advice: Claude with the skill for repeat use, any chat for one letter. Always edit the result.

Best for

  • Claude with the cover-letter-generator skill for a repeatable format
  • Any chat for a one-off letter from pasted text
  • Pairing with a resume tailored to the same job

Skip it if

  • You plan to send the draft unedited
  • You want it to add experience you do not have
  • The posting asks for something the letter must prove with details only you know

Write a cover letter for one job

  1. 1

    Gather your material

    Have your resume and the full job posting ready. Remove your home address and phone number before you paste them into any AI tool, then add them to the final file. If your resume needs work first, see how to write a resume with ChatGPT or Claude.

  2. 2

    Check how well you match

    The job-description-analyzer skill does this: it pulls requirements, scores the match and lists gaps. Its SKILL.md says to run it before tailoring.

    Prompt
    Here is the job posting and my resume. List the 5 most important requirements. For each, tell me which lines in my resume prove it and which requirements I cannot prove.

    Uses job-description-analyzer

  3. 3

    Draft the letter

    The cover-letter-generator skill builds this structure for you. Paste your resume and the posting into the chat.

    Prompt
    Write a cover letter of 250 to 400 words for this job. Open with a specific hook about the company, match my two strongest experiences to the top needs, and end with a clear next step. Use only facts from my resume. Give two alternative openings.

    Uses cover-letter-generator

  4. 4

    Tailor the resume to match

    The resume-tailor skill allows reordering and emphasizing true experience. Its SKILL.md says not to invent experience, titles or certifications.

    Prompt
    Reorder and reword my resume for this job without adding any skill or number that is not true for me.

    Uses resume-tailor

  5. 5

    Get the file

    In Claude, turn on file creation under Settings > Capabilities and ask for a .docx.

    Prompt
    Create the cover letter as a Word document (.docx) in a simple one-column layout.
  6. 6

    Read it out loud

    Our advice: keep one specific detail only you could write, such as a result or a reason you want this company.

    Tip: Our advice: change phrases you would never say, check the company name and role title, and remove anything that is not true.

Best plugs for this

Skills come from one repo, so stars are shared. Skills are available on every Claude plan.

  1. 1
    cover-letter-generatorSkill

    Writes a 250 to 400 word letter from your resume and the posting, with two alternative openings and interview talking points.

    Free and upPlan
  2. 2
    job-description-analyzerSkill

    Checks your match against the posting and lists gaps before you write. Meant to run before tailoring.

    2,985 GitHub stars
  3. 3
    resume-tailorSkill

    Tailors the resume to the job without inventing experience, so letter and resume agree.

    2,985 GitHub stars
  4. 4JobSpy logo
    JobSpyLocalNo sign-in

    Searches job sites from Claude or Cursor so you can pull the posting to write against.

    4,602 GitHub stars

ChatGPT

Our advice: in ChatGPT, paste the resume, the posting and the prompts above. For ChatGPT's resume editor, see the resume guide.

Plan: Any plan. OpenAI lists document uploads on Free and paid plans, and ChatGPT for Word on all plans including Free.

What it can do

  • Draft a letter from a resume and posting you paste in or upload as DOCX or PDF
  • Work inside Microsoft Word with ChatGPT for Word, which OpenAI says drafts, revises and reformats documents
  • Run the same steps and prompts as the workflow above

Limits

  • Free users are limited to 3 file uploads per day, and uploads are capped at 80 files every 3 hours (as of November 2026)
  • The Claude skills on this page do not run in ChatGPT; the prompts here work as plain text
  • You must check every claim yourself

Claude

Claude can load the cover-letter skill and hand you a Word file on any plan.

Plan: Any plan. Skills work on Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise. Turn on file creation under Settings > Capabilities for .docx files.

What it can do

  • Draft a 250 to 400 word letter with the cover-letter-generator skill
  • Check your match to a posting with job-description-analyzer
  • Create the letter as a Word file

Limits

  • Files are capped at 30MB each
  • File creation uses more of your plan's usage than normal chats
  • You must check every claim yourself

Plugs to turn on

Questions

Is ChatGPT good for writing cover letters?

It can draft one from your resume and the job posting. OpenAI says you can upload DOCX and PDF files, and ChatGPT for Word works inside Word on every plan including Free. Our advice: give it the posting and your real facts, and edit the draft in your own words.

What is the best AI for a cover letter?

For a repeatable format, Claude with the cover-letter-generator skill. For one letter, any chat works with the prompts above.

Is there a Claude skill for cover letters?

Yes. cover-letter-generator writes a 250 to 400 word letter from your resume and the job description, with two alternative openings and interview talking points. It comes from the ResumeSkills repo.

Is the skill free?

The skill is free on GitHub. Claude says skills are available on Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise plans.

How do I add it to Claude?

Use the install box on the cover-letter-generator page. It has a tab for the Claude app, because the skill is one text file.

Can Claude give me a Word file?

Yes. Turn on file creation under Settings > Capabilities and ask for a .docx. Files are capped at 30MB each.

Will it make up experience?

It should not, but check. The resume-tailor skill says reordering true experience is fine and inventing experience, titles or certifications is not. You still verify every claim.

Is it safe to paste my resume into an AI?

Your resume and the posting go into the chat, so they go to the provider behind your assistant. The skill bundles no scripts and names no other service. Remove your address and phone number first.

Should the cover letter match my resume?

Yes, they should tell the same story. The resume-tailor skill tailors the resume to the same posting, and our resume guide covers that.

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 10
  1. cover-letter-generator SKILL.md · github.com
  2. job-description-analyzer SKILL.md · github.com
  3. resume-tailor SKILL.md · github.com
  4. Using Skills in Claude · support.claude.com
  5. Create and edit files with Claude · support.claude.com
  6. Paramchoudhary/ResumeSkills · github.com
  7. speedyapply/JobSpy · github.com
  8. Uploading files and audio to ChatGPT · help.openai.com
  9. ChatGPT for Word · help.openai.com
  10. ChatGPT capabilities overview · help.openai.com

Updated Nov 3, 2026.