Chapter 20: Plugins & Marketplaces

What Are Plugins?

A plugin is a bundle of extensions that add new capabilities to Claude Code. Plugins combine:

Skills: Custom commands you create (e.g., /my-command)
Agents: Specialized assistants that solve specific problems
Hooks: Automation that runs on events (file saves, commits, etc.)
MCP servers: External service integrations (GitHub, Slack, databases)
LSP servers: Language intelligence (code navigation, diagnostics)

Instead of building each component separately, plugins package them together so you can share them with your team or community, or discover plugins built by others.

Think of plugins as "Claude Code packages" — similar to npm packages for Node.js.

Official Marketplace

Anthropic maintains the official marketplace (claude-plugins-official), available automatically when you start Claude Code. Browse it with:

bash

/plugin

This opens the plugin manager with four tabs: Discover, Installed, Marketplaces, and Errors.

Categories in the official marketplace

Code intelligence plugins configure Language Server Protocol (LSP) connections for real-time code analysis. After installing, you get automatic diagnostics (type errors, missing imports, syntax issues) and code navigation (jump to definition, find references, list symbols).

Language	Plugin	Requires
Python	`pyright-lsp`	`pyright-langserver`
TypeScript	`typescript-lsp`	`typescript-language-server`
Go	`gopls-lsp`	`gopls`
Rust	`rust-analyzer-lsp`	`rust-analyzer`
Java	`jdtls-lsp`	`jdtls`
C/C++	`clangd-lsp`	`clangd`

External integrations bundle pre-configured MCP servers for common tools:

GitHub, GitLab: source control and PR workflows
Jira, Asana, Linear, Notion: project management
Slack, Discord: team communication
Vercel, Firebase, Supabase: cloud deployment
Figma: design collaboration

Development workflows add commands and agents for common tasks:

commit-commands: git workflows (commit, push, PR creation)
pr-review-toolkit: automated pull request review
agent-sdk-dev: tools for building with the Agent SDK
plugin-dev: toolkit for creating your own plugins

Installing & Managing Plugins

Install from the official marketplace

Install a plugin directly from the command line:

bash

/plugin install github@claude-plugins-official

Or use the interactive UI: run /plugin, go to Discover, select a plugin, and choose your installation scope.

Installation scopes

When installing, choose where the plugin should live:

User scope (default): Available across all your projects
Project scope: Added to .claude/settings.json, shared with team
Local scope: Just this project, not shared
Managed scope (read-only): Configured by administrators

For team plugins, use project scope so all collaborators get the same tools automatically.

Manage installed plugins

List all installed plugins:

bash

/plugin
→ Installed tab

Disable without uninstalling:

bash

/plugin disable plugin-name@marketplace-name

Re-enable a disabled plugin:

bash

/plugin enable plugin-name@marketplace-name

Remove completely:

bash

/plugin uninstall plugin-name@marketplace-name

After making changes, reload plugins in your current session:

bash

/reload-plugins

Community Marketplaces

Beyond the official marketplace, anyone can create and share a marketplace. Add a community marketplace with:

bash

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-code

This registers the marketplace without installing any plugins — you still choose which ones to install individually.

Add marketplaces from different sources

GitHub repositories (recommended for transparency):

bash

/plugin marketplace add owner/repo

The repository must contain .claude-plugin/marketplace.json with plugin definitions.

Git URLs (GitLab, Bitbucket, self-hosted):

bash

/plugin marketplace add https://gitlab.com/company/plugins.git
/plugin marketplace add git@github.com:org/plugins.git#v1.0.0

Local paths (development):

bash

/plugin marketplace add ./my-marketplace
/plugin marketplace add ./path/to/marketplace.json

Remote URLs (simple hosting):

bash

/plugin marketplace add https://example.com/marketplace.json

Manage marketplaces

List all configured marketplaces:

bash

/plugin marketplace list

Update marketplace listings to fetch new plugins:

bash

/plugin marketplace update marketplace-name

Remove a marketplace (this uninstalls its plugins):

bash

/plugin marketplace remove marketplace-name

Auto-updates

Official Anthropic marketplaces auto-update by default. Toggle auto-updates in the UI:

bash

/plugin
→ Marketplaces tab
→ Select marketplace
→ Enable/Disable auto-update

Or set environment variables:

bash

export DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER=true
export FORCE_AUTOUPDATE_PLUGINS=true

This keeps plugin updates while managing Claude Code updates manually.

Building Your Own Plugin

A plugin is a directory with a PLUGIN.md file and a marketplace.json manifest. To get started:

bash

/plugin create my-awesome-plugin

This scaffolds:

my-awesome-plugin/
├── PLUGIN.md              # Plugin metadata and description
├── .claude-plugin/
│   ├── marketplace.json   # Plugin definition
│   ├── skills/            # Custom commands (optional)
│   ├── agents/            # Specialized assistants (optional)
│   └── hooks/             # Automation triggers (optional)
└── README.md              # For your repository

PLUGIN.md describes what your plugin does:

markdown

---
name: my-awesome-plugin
version: 1.0.0
description: Brief description of what this plugin does
author: Your Name
license: MIT
---

## What this plugin provides

- A `/my-command` skill
- A `my-agent` assistant for X task
- Integration with [service]

## Installation

Install from the marketplace:

/plugin install my-awesome-plugin@my-org

## Usage

Run `/my-command --help` for options.

marketplace.json tells Claude Code what components are in your plugin:

json

{
  "plugins": [
    {
      "name": "my-awesome-plugin",
      "description": "What it does",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "components": {
        "skills": ["skills/my-command/SKILL.md"],
        "agents": ["agents/my-agent/AGENT.md"],
        "mcp_servers": ["mcp/config.json"]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Once created, share it by publishing to a marketplace (GitHub recommended) and publicizing its owner/repo.

Team Marketplace Setup

For team-specific plugins, configure them in .claude/settings.json:

json

{
  "extraKnownMarketplaces": {
    "my-team-tools": {
      "source": {
        "source": "github",
        "repo": "your-org/claude-plugins"
      }
    }
  },
  "enabledPlugins": {
    "my-team-plugin@my-team-tools": {
      "enabled": true,
      "scope": "project"
    }
  }
}

When team members trust the repository, Claude Code prompts them to install team plugins automatically.

Security Considerations

Plugins are highly trusted — they can execute arbitrary code on your machine. Only install plugins from sources you trust.

Before installing:

Verify the plugin author
Review the plugin's repository and recent commits
Check what permissions it requests (file access, external services)
Read the plugin's documentation

For teams:

Require marketplace approval for new plugins
Audit plugins before adding to .claude/settings.json
Use managed settings to restrict which marketplaces developers can add
Document why each plugin is required

Red flags:

No public repository or source code
Requests to run arbitrary shell commands on startup
Unmaintained (no commits in 6+ months)
No clear privacy policy for external integrations

Anthropic does not review or verify third-party plugins — you are responsible for what you install.

Troubleshooting

/plugin command not recognized

Update Claude Code to version 1.0.33+:

bash

brew upgrade claude-code     # macOS with Homebrew
npm update -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code  # npm

Plugin skills don't appear after installation

Clear the plugin cache and reinstall:

bash

rm -rf ~/.claude/plugins/cache
/reload-plugins
/plugin install plugin-name@marketplace

Language server not starting

Install the required binary and verify it's in your PATH:

bash

which pyright-langserver    # Python example
which typescript-language-server  # TypeScript example

Check the /plugin Errors tab for detailed diagnostics.

High memory usage from code intelligence plugins

Large language servers (rust-analyzer, pyright) consume significant memory. If needed, disable and rely on Claude's built-in search:

bash

/plugin disable rust-analyzer-lsp@claude-plugins-official

Next Steps

Use official plugins: Run /plugin and install code intelligence plugins for your languages
Try the demo marketplace: anthropics/claude-code has example plugins showing best practices
Build a skill: Create your first custom skill before building a full plugin
Share with your team: When you have a useful plugin, add it to a team marketplace
Read the plugin reference: Claude Code Plugin Docs

Next up: Chapter 21 — Worktree & Isolation

Chapter 20: Plugins & Marketplaces ​

What Are Plugins? ​

Official Marketplace ​

Categories in the official marketplace ​

Installing & Managing Plugins ​

Install from the official marketplace ​

Installation scopes ​

Manage installed plugins ​

Community Marketplaces ​

Add marketplaces from different sources ​

Manage marketplaces ​

Auto-updates ​

Building Your Own Plugin ​

Team Marketplace Setup ​

Security Considerations ​

Troubleshooting ​

Next Steps ​

Chapter 20: Plugins & Marketplaces

What Are Plugins?

Official Marketplace

Categories in the official marketplace

Installing & Managing Plugins

Install from the official marketplace

Installation scopes

Manage installed plugins

Community Marketplaces

Add marketplaces from different sources

Manage marketplaces

Auto-updates

Building Your Own Plugin

Team Marketplace Setup

Security Considerations

Troubleshooting

Next Steps