How to Use Claude as a Packing List Builder: The Nina Skill Guide

Updated
Skill · .md

The skill behind this guide: Nina - Packing List AI Skill. Keeps your base list, your recurring forgets and what you did not touch last trip, so each list gets shorter instead of longer - $19, one payment, yours permanently.

View the Nina skill →

A packing list is not an inventory. It is a risk register. Almost everything on a normal list is replaceable at the destination in twenty minutes, which means it does not need to be on a list at all - and the six or seven things that are genuinely not replaceable get buried among the socks. Ask a model for a packing list and it gives you the socks. This guide is about asking it the question that produces the other six.

0:15 · loop Same AI, same question. One file makes it a specialist.

The question that does the work

Take any item you are considering and ask one thing: if I left this at home, could I replace it at the destination within an hour, for the price of a lunch?

For most of what appears on a generic list, the answer is yes. T-shirts, socks, toothpaste, a phone cable, an umbrella, sunscreen. Forgetting them costs you a mild annoyance and some money. They do not need managing.

The answer is no for a much smaller set, and that set is the entire point of packing carefully: your passport and whatever entry document goes with it, prescription medication, the charger that fits only your particular camera or hearing aid or insulin pump, the orthotic, the glasses prescription, the thing that is sold under a different name or behind a pharmacy counter where you are going, and anything you need on the day you land rather than the day after.

There is a middle tier too, and it is the one people misjudge: replaceable, but at a penalty. Airport retail prices. A Sunday in a country where almost nothing opens. A city where the pharmacy exists but closes at six and you land at eight. A brand you specifically need because the alternative gives you a rash.

So the useful instruction to a model is not "make me a packing list for Lisbon". It is "sort everything I might bring into these three tiers, for this destination, on these dates, and tell me what is in the top tier". The output is short. Short is the point.

Why the model makes your bag bigger

This is the failure mode specific to doing it with an AI chat, and it is worth understanding before you write a single prompt.

A model is additive by construction. Ask "what am I forgetting?" and it will always find something, because returning nothing reads as unhelpful and it is built to be helpful. Ask the same question five times and you will get five more items, each individually defensible, none of them things you would have missed. Every round of "anything else?" grows the bag.

The correction is to ask the subtractive question separately and explicitly, and to ask it in a conversation that has no stake in the list it is looking at. Not what am I missing, but what on this list will I not touch, and what is here only because a generic list has it. Both questions are useful. Only one of them gets asked by default.

Volume is arithmetic, not judgement

Nobody overpacks because they lack information. You already know you do not need five shirts for four days. A list does not fix that, because the list is a consequence of the decision, not the cause.

What does fix it is making the model derive the list from a constraint rather than from a category. Give it the days, the activities per day and whether you have laundry access and when, and ask for a day-by-day wear plan first. Then the garment list is whatever that plan requires and nothing else. Seven days with a washing machine on day four is a different arithmetic problem from seven days without one, and the difference is roughly half a bag.

The rule that makes it stick: once the wear plan exists, nothing goes in the bag that does not appear on it. Adding an item means changing the plan, out loud, with a reason.

Every number on the list is wrong until you check it

Liquid limits, cabin bag dimensions, weight allowances, battery capacity, how many blank passport pages a border wants, how many days of validity your passport needs after your return date. A model will state all of these fluently and some of them will be wrong, because they are carrier-specific, airport-specific and they change.

The clearest illustration is the UK. The government's own guidance says that at most airports you cannot take liquids in containers larger than 100ml, that some airports allow containers up to 2 litres, and that you should check the rules at the airport you are flying from and at any airport you travel through on the return journey. One country, no single correct answer, and it depends on which terminal you happen to be standing in. No model can give you that number. It can only tell you which number to go and look up.

In the United States the current rule is stable and worth knowing: containers of 3.4 ounces (100 millilitres) or less, in one quart-sized bag.

So the instruction that belongs in every packing prompt is the same one that belongs in every research prompt: do not state a limit, output it as a line to verify, and name the source I should check it against. A list that says "liquids: 100ml, confirmed" is more dangerous than one that says "liquids: check [airport] before you go".

The one rule worth memorising

Spare lithium batteries and power banks must travel in carry-on baggage only, never in checked luggage - and if your cabin bag gets taken at the gate, the spare batteries have to come out and stay with you. The FAA limit is 100 watt-hours per lithium-ion battery; between 101 and 160 watt-hours you need airline approval and may carry at most two. Many airlines are stricter than this, and several have tightened power-bank rules recently, so the carrier's own page is the one that counts.

This is the item people most reliably pack backwards, and unlike a liquids limit it does not vary by airport. Source: FAA PackSafe.

Prompt 1 - the trip profile, before any list exists

A list is only as good as what the model knows about the trip. Most bad lists come from a model that was given a city and a number of days and filled in the rest with the average of the internet.

Do not write a packing list yet. Interview me first, one question at a time, until you can build a trip profile. You need: 1. Destination, and dates. Not the season - the dates. 2. How long, and whether I have laundry access. If yes, which day. 3. What I am actually doing, day by day. A day at a wedding and a day walking the same city need different bags. 4. Where I am staying, and what it provides. A hotel and a friend's sofa differ by a whole washbag. 5. What I am flying with: airline, cabin bag only or hold bag, and whether there is a connection. 6. Anything medical, mobility or dietary that has to come with me rather than be bought there. 7. What I forgot last time. Ask for the actual incident, not a category. Then write the profile back to me in under 120 words and tell me which answer would change the list most if it were wrong.

Prompt 2 - the triage that produces the short list

This is the one that matters. Everything else is tidying.

Using my trip profile, sort everything I could plausibly bring into three tiers. Do not produce one flat list. TIER 1 - IRREPLACEABLE. If I left it at home I could not get a working substitute at the destination at all, or not in time. Documents, prescriptions, anything device-specific, anything I need on arrival day. For each one, say in a few words why it is irreplaceable, so I can disagree. TIER 2 - REPLACEABLE AT A PENALTY. Available there, but at airport prices, or only on a weekday, or only from a pharmacy counter, or under a brand I may not recognise. Say what the penalty is. TIER 3 - TRIVIALLY REPLACEABLE. Available within an hour for the price of a lunch. List these as a single line, not as bullets. They do not need managing. Rules: - If you are unsure which tier something belongs in for THIS destination, put it in Tier 2 and say you are unsure. - Do not pad Tier 1 to make it look thorough. A short Tier 1 is a correct Tier 1. - Anything whose tier depends on a rule you cannot verify - a liquid limit, a customs restriction, a medication's legality at the destination - goes on a separate VERIFY list instead of being assigned a tier.
Skill spotlight
Nina - Packing List AI Skill
Nina - Packing List AI Skill
$19 · one payment

Runs the three-tier triage rather than a flat list, derives garments from a wear plan instead of a category, and holds the part a one-off prompt cannot: your base list, the things you personally always forget, and what you did not touch on the last three trips. That history is what makes the list get shorter over time rather than longer.

View Nina - Packing List AI Skill →

Prompt 3 - the wear plan, which decides the volume

Before listing any clothes, build a day-by-day wear plan from my trip profile. For each day: the activity, the expected conditions, and the outfit, written as specific garments. Re-wear anything that can honestly be re-worn, and say which day each item is washed if I have laundry access. Then, and only then, derive the garment list as the union of that plan. Show the count per garment type. Rules: - Nothing appears in the list that does not appear in the plan. If you want to add something, change the plan first and tell me which day needed it. - One item that works for two occasions beats two items. Say where you did this. - Give me the plan's single point of failure: the one garment that, if it got wet or ruined on day two, would break the rest of the week. - No "just in case" category. If it is just in case, it is Tier 3 and I will buy it there.

Prompt 4 - the subtraction pass, in a fresh conversation

Open a new chat. Do not tell it that it wrote the list, because a conversation defends its own output.

Here is a packing list and the trip it is for. Your job is to remove things. Do not add anything, and do not suggest alternatives. Tell me: - every item that will not be touched on this trip, and the day you expected it to be used - every item that is here because it appears on generic packing lists rather than because this trip needs it - every duplicate in function: two things doing one job - every item I could buy at the destination within an hour for under the price of a lunch - the three items whose removal saves the most space or weight Finish with one number: how many items you would cut, and what the list looks like at that size. If you would cut nothing, say so and explain why, but understand that "nothing" is usually the wrong answer. LIST AND TRIP: [PASTE]

Prompt 5 - the verify list, which asserts nothing

From my packing list and trip details, extract everything that depends on a rule, a limit or a forecast. Do not state the answer to any of them. For each, give me three columns: - the thing to check - the source that actually decides it (the specific airline, the departure airport, the destination's embassy or consulate, the official weather service - not a travel blog and not you) - what changes in my bag depending on the answer Include at minimum: cabin bag dimensions and weight for my carrier, liquid rules at every airport I pass through INCLUDING the return, spare battery and power bank rules for my carrier, passport validity and blank pages required on entry, any visa or entry authorisation, whether any medication I carry is restricted at the destination, and the forecast for my actual dates rather than the seasonal average. Say plainly which of these you cannot know and which you might know but could be out of date about.

Medication is the one place not to accept an answer

Whether a particular medicine may be brought into a particular country is a legal question with real consequences, the rules differ widely, and they are not something a chat window can settle. Some medicines that are ordinary at home are controlled or prohibited elsewhere. The answer comes from the destination country's embassy or consulate, and from your prescriber, not from a model and not from this page. What a model is useful for here is the reminder to ask, in time, and the checklist of what to carry: the medication in its original labelled packaging, in hand luggage rather than the hold, with a copy of the prescription or a letter from your doctor.

One-off alternative
AI Packing List Generator
AI Packing List Generator
$9 · one payment

One trip, leaving soon, no interest in a system. A copy-paste prompt pack that runs the triage and the wear plan in one go and outputs a list with quantities. No persistence between trips, which is the trade you are making at this price.

View AI Packing List Generator →

Prompt 6 - the debrief, which is where a base list comes from

Run this once, when you unpack. It is the only prompt here that improves the next trip rather than this one, and it is the reason a saved list eventually beats a generated one.

I am back. Update my base packing list from what actually happened. Ask me: - what I did not touch - what I bought there because I had not brought it - what I brought too much of, with the number - what broke, ran out, or was not allowed through - what I would not bring again regardless of destination Then rewrite my base list with those changes applied, and keep a short CHANGELOG at the bottom saying what changed and after which trip. Do not silently re-add anything I removed in a previous debrief - if you think something should come back, say so and ask.

Where it fails

Failure What happens What to do about it
Additive by default Every "what am I missing?" grows the bag, because finding nothing reads as unhelpful Run the subtraction pass separately, in a fresh conversation
Stated limits Confident liquid, weight and dimension numbers that are carrier-specific or out of date Forbid stating them. Output a verify list with the source named
Season, not forecast It knows the climate average for October, not the week you are going Check the forecast yourself, then tell it what you found
Legal claims Assertions about what may be carried into a country, especially medication Embassy or consulate, and your prescriber. Never the chat
Generic filler Items that appear because packing lists have them, not because your trip needs them The three-tier triage. Tier 3 goes in one line and stops there
No body It does not know what fits you, what gives you blisters, or what you are actually willing to wear twice Tell it once, then keep that in the base list rather than re-typing it
No memory A fresh chat starts from the internet's average traveller every single time A saved base list plus the debrief prompt, which is what a loaded skill is for

How do you install the Nina skill?

The download is a ZIP with SKILL.md at the root of the archive, not inside a nested folder - that folder structure is the usual reason an upload fails. In the Claude desktop app, open Customize → Skills, upload the ZIP and toggle it on.

Skills need code execution enabled, under Settings → Capabilities. Anthropic's help centre currently lists Skills on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise, while its Academy tutorial lists Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise - so if you are on the free plan, check Settings → Capabilities for your own account rather than taking either page's word for it. The full walkthrough is in the skill installation guide.

In ChatGPT or Gemini there is no upload step: open SKILL.md, copy the contents, and paste them into custom instructions. You lose automatic triggering and keep the method.

Who is this for?

People who travel often enough that starting from zero each time is annoying, people going somewhere where the middle tier is large (remote, off-season, a different pharmacy culture), and anyone packing for someone other than themselves. It works in Claude, ChatGPT or any AI chat.

The rest of the trip splits into its own skills, each $19 and a one-time download:

The wider set is the travel, food & home skills.

In summary:

Stop asking for a packing list and start asking for a triage: what could I not replace there, what would cost me to replace, and what is not worth managing. Derive clothes from a day-by-day wear plan with laundry access as an input, not from categories. Run a separate subtraction pass in a fresh conversation, because the model only ever adds. Let it state no limits at all - liquids, weight, dimensions, batteries, passport validity - and make it hand you a verify list with the source named instead. For a one-off list before a trip next week, the AI Packing List Generator ($9); for a base list that gets shorter every trip, Nina - Packing List AI Skill ($19). Both work in Claude, ChatGPT and any AI chat, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Skill · .md · Works with Claude & ChatGPT

Nina - Packing List AI Skill

Three-tier triage instead of a flat list, garments derived from a wear plan, limits handed back as things to verify rather than stated, and a base list that remembers what you did not touch last time. No subscription. Yours permanently.

$19
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Frequently asked questions

Can Claude make a packing list?+

It can, and the flat list it gives you by default is mostly noise. The useful move is to ask for a triage instead: what could I not replace at the destination at all, what is replaceable but at a penalty such as airport prices or a Sunday closure, and what is trivially replaceable within an hour. The first tier is usually six or seven items and is the entire point of packing carefully. The third tier goes on one line and stops there.

Why does AI always give me a longer list than I need?+

Because it is additive by construction. Ask what am I forgetting and it will always find something, since returning nothing reads as unhelpful. Ask five times and you get five more items, each individually defensible and none of them things you would actually have missed. The correction is to ask the subtractive question separately, in a fresh conversation with no stake in the list: what here will I not touch, and what is here only because generic packing lists have it.

How do I stop overpacking clothes?+

Make the model derive the list from a constraint rather than a category. Give it the days, the activity for each day, and whether you have laundry access and on which day, then ask for a day-by-day wear plan before any garment list exists. The list is then the union of that plan and nothing else, and adding an item means changing the plan out loud with a reason. Seven days with a washing machine on day four is a different arithmetic problem from seven days without one.

Can AI tell me the hand luggage liquid limit?+

No, and it will try. The limits are airport-specific and carrier-specific and they change. The UK is the clearest case: the government's own guidance says most airports cap containers at 100ml, some allow up to 2 litres, and you have to check the airport you fly from and every airport you pass through on the return. One country, no single answer. The instruction that belongs in the prompt is to state no limit at all and instead output a line to verify, with the source named.

Do power banks go in checked or carry-on baggage?+

Carry-on only, never checked, and if your cabin bag is taken at the gate the spare batteries have to come out and stay with you. The FAA limit is 100 watt-hours per lithium-ion battery, and between 101 and 160 watt-hours you need airline approval and may carry at most two. Many airlines are stricter, and several have tightened power-bank rules recently, so the carrier's own page is the one that counts. This is the single most commonly mis-packed item and, unlike liquids, it does not vary by airport.

Can I ask AI whether my medication is allowed in a country?+

Ask, but do not accept the answer. Whether a medicine may be brought into a country is a legal question with real consequences, the rules differ widely, and some medicines that are ordinary at home are controlled or prohibited elsewhere. The answer comes from the destination's embassy or consulate and from your prescriber. What the model is genuinely useful for is reminding you to ask in time, and listing what to carry: original labelled packaging, in hand luggage rather than the hold, with a copy of the prescription or a letter from your doctor.

Is a skill better than a one-off prompt for packing?+

Only if you travel more than once or twice a year. A one-off prompt pack produces a good list for the trip in front of you and remembers nothing. A loaded skill keeps the base list, the things you personally always forget, and what you did not touch on the last three trips, which is the only mechanism by which a packing list gets shorter over time rather than longer. If the next trip is the only trip, the prompt pack is the honest answer.

How do I install the Nina skill?+

The download is a ZIP with SKILL.md at the root of the archive rather than inside a nested folder, which is the usual reason an upload fails. In the Claude desktop app open Customize, then Skills, upload the ZIP and toggle it on. Skills need code execution enabled, under Settings then Capabilities. Anthropic's help centre currently lists Skills on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise, while its Academy tutorial lists Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise, so if you are on the free plan check Settings then Capabilities for your own account rather than trusting either page. In ChatGPT or Gemini there is no upload step, so open SKILL.md, copy the contents and paste them into custom instructions.

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