Plugins
A plugin is a Claude Code package that bundles related capability into one install. Skills, slash commands, hooks, and MCP servers — together. One claude plugin install and your terminal gets a new superpower.
On this page
1. What a plugin is
A plugin is a folder (usually a git repo) with a plugin.json manifest and any combination of:
skills/— one or more skill folderscommands/— slash command fileshooks/— hook configurationsmcp/— MCP server configsagents/— custom subagent definitions
When you install the plugin, all these pieces register at once. Uninstall and they all leave together — no orphan files.
2. Plugin vs Skill vs MCP vs Command
| Concept | What it is | When you reach for it |
|---|---|---|
| Skill | A folder of instructions Claude loads when its description matches the user's prompt. | You want a capability that triggers automatically based on the conversation. |
| Slash command | A reusable prompt template invoked by typing /name. | You want a shortcut the human types deliberately. |
| MCP server | A long-running process exposing tools/resources. | You want Claude to talk to an external system (DB, API, hardware). |
| Hook | A shell command Claude runs on tool events. | You want automation around tool use (format on save, notify on stop). |
| Plugin | A bundle of the above, distributed as one unit. | You want all four to ship and version together. |
3. Installing plugins
Marketplace install
# browse claude plugin list # install claude plugin install playwright claude plugin install awesome-claude-code-tools # add a third-party marketplace (org/repo on GitHub) claude plugin marketplace add nextlevelbuilder/ui-ux-pro-max-skill
Local install (during development)
claude plugin install /path/to/local/plugin
List, update, remove
claude plugin list # what's installed claude plugin update <name> # pull the latest claude plugin remove <name>
Installed plugins live at ~/.claude/plugins/. Their skills/commands/hooks/MCPs are auto-loaded on the next session.
4. The essentials
| Plugin | What it bundles | Why install |
|---|---|---|
| anthropic-skills | The full set of official skills (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, web-design, MCP-builder, skill-creator). | Day-one productivity. One install, everything official. |
| playwright | Browser-test skill + Playwright MCP server + slash command /test-browser. |
End-to-end browser testing from chat. |
| github-tools | GitHub MCP + skills for PR review, issue triage, release notes + commands like /open-pr, /babysit-prs. |
Most of your team's repo ops, scripted. |
5. Developer plugins
| Plugin | Bundles |
|---|---|
| postgres-tools | Postgres MCP + sql-explainer skill + /explain-query command. |
| k8s-ops | Kubernetes MCP + k8s-debug skill + /triage command for pod incidents. |
| aws-toolkit | Read-only AWS MCP + aws-cost-audit skill + slash commands for common CLI calls. |
| terraform-pro | Plan review skill + state-inspection MCP + drift detection command. |
| rust-tools | Cargo helpers, clippy interpretation, suggested fixes. |
6. Workflow plugins
| Plugin | Bundles |
|---|---|
| standup | /standup command that reads your git activity + Linear tickets and drafts a status update. |
| release-train | Skills for changelog, semver bump, release-notes draft + /cut-release command. |
| incident-toolkit | Sentry MCP + Grafana MCP + post-incident report skill + Slack notify hooks. |
| spec-to-pr | End-to-end: spec doc → branch → scaffolded files → tests → draft PR. |
| doc-writer | README generator, OpenAPI generator, code-to-docs sync. |
7. Quality / review plugins
| Plugin | Bundles |
|---|---|
| ultrareview | Multi-agent code review (correctness, security, design, perf, tests) on a branch or PR. Triggered with /ultrareview. |
| a11y-pro | axe-core MCP + accessibility-review skill + WCAG checklist command. |
| perf-doctor | Lighthouse MCP + perf-audit skill + /perf command. |
| test-coach | Coverage analysis + test-writing skills (Jest/pytest/Go) + /test-this command. |
| secret-scanner | Pre-commit hook + skill that flags secrets / PII before they're ever staged. |
8. Build your own plugin
Scaffold
npx create-claude-plugin my-plugin cd my-plugin
Folder layout
my-plugin/ ├── plugin.json ├── skills/ │ └── my-skill/ │ └── SKILL.md ├── commands/ │ └── do-thing.md ├── hooks/ │ └── format-on-edit.json ├── mcp/ │ └── server.json └── README.md
plugin.json
{
"name": "my-plugin",
"version": "0.1.0",
"description": "What this plugin does, in one sentence.",
"author": "you",
"license": "MIT",
"repository": "https://github.com/you/my-plugin",
"components": {
"skills": ["skills/my-skill"],
"commands":["commands/do-thing.md"],
"hooks": ["hooks/format-on-edit.json"],
"mcp": ["mcp/server.json"]
}
}
Test locally
claude plugin install .
Iterate: edit, restart a Claude Code session, repeat.
9. Publishing to the marketplace
- Push to a public GitHub repo. The repo root must contain
plugin.json. - Tag a release:
git tag v0.1.0 && git push --tags. - Submit to a marketplace — Anthropic's official one or a community one — by opening a PR adding your repo to its index.
- Once accepted, users install with
claude plugin install your-name@marketplace.
Versioning matters. Use semver. A plugin that changes skill descriptions or removes commands is a breaking change. Bump the major version and document it in the release notes.