Claude Plugins

Claude Plugins are how you share skills, agents, hooks, and MCP servers across projects. Official docs split two paths. Standalone .claude/ files are for personal or repo experiments (/hello). A plugin is a directory with a .claude-plugin/plugin.json manifest, and its commands are namespaced (/plugin-name:hello). Start standalone, then convert when you need a versioned team bundle.

The official marketplace claude-plugins-official is added on first interactive start. Browse with /plugin or at claude.com/plugins. Install with /plugin install <name>@claude-plugins-official (example: github@claude-plugins-official). Cloud sessions can declare enabledPlugins in .claude/settings.json. Do not keep the old "500+ plugin ecosystem" line unless you re-count the live catalog.

Key Features

• Bundle four extension types: skills, agents/subagents, hooks, MCP.
• Marketplace install: Official Anthropic catalog plus your own marketplace add.
• Namespaced slash commands: Avoids colliding with repo-local /deploy.
• LSP, monitors, default settings: The create-plugins guide also covers LSP servers, background monitors, and shipped defaults.
• Team and cloud: enabledPlugins for non-interactive environments.

Use Cases

• Standardize a company GitHub + formatter stack with one install.
• Publish an internal marketplace instead of copying .claude/ between repos.
• Community distribution via the official catalog submit path.

Pricing

Plugins are free to author. Runtime still uses your Claude plan. Third-party plugins may call paid APIs. Recheck claude.com/pricing and each plugin's own docs.

Getting Started

1. Read Discover and install plugins.
2. Run /plugin and install one official plugin, such as GitHub.
3. When you outgrow standalone skills, follow Create plugins.
4. For cloud, set enabledPlugins rather than assuming /plugin exists.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is /plugin install always available?

In the terminal CLI, yes. If Claude says the command is missing, use the desktop plugin browser or enabledPlugins.

Plugin vs skill?

A skill is one procedure. A plugin is the shipping container.

Official marketplace name?

claude-plugins-official. Add it with /plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-official if the first-run fetch failed.

Alternatives

• Claude Skills: Build the procedure first.
• Claude Hooks: Enforcement inside the bundle.
• Claude Code: The runtime.

Tips

1. Namespace early. /deploy in a plugin will not match a repo skill unless you plan it.
2. Pin marketplace + plugin names in settings.json for CI.
3. Recheck claude.com/plugins before you cite a catalog size.

Conclusion

Plugins are the distribution layer for Claude Code extensions. Install from the official discover page, then package your own only after a standalone skill works.