Plugins

A plugin is a folder that adds skills, agents, hooks, or MCP servers to Claude Code. A marketplace is a list of plugins that you can install. For example, claude plugin install my-plugin@my-marketplace installs a plugin from a marketplace. This page gives the big picture. The other pages list every key, command, and path.

At a Glance

Question	Answer
Can you use it?	✅ Yes. Install with claude plugin install or the /plugin panel.
Can you change it?	✅ Yes. Write your own plugin folder and an optional marketplace file.
Can you turn it on or off?	claude plugin enable and disable, or enabledPlugins in settings. Managed settings can lock the rules.
Where does it live?	~/.claude/plugins/ for installs. .claude-plugin/plugin.json in the plugin folder.
Status	Documented Undocumented

What a Plugin Holds

A plugin can bundle these parts. Each part has a default folder or file name.

Part	Status	Default Place	Page
Skills	Documented	skills/	Manifest
Commands	Documented	commands/	Manifest
Agents	Documented	agents/	Manifest
Hooks	Documented	hooks/hooks.json	Manifest
MCP servers	Documented	.mcp.json	Manifest
LSP servers	Documented	.lsp.json	Manifest
Monitors	Documented	monitors/monitors.json	Manifest
Output styles	Documented	output-styles/	Manifest
Workflows and themes	Documented	workflows/, themes/	Manifest
Executables	Documented	bin/	Manifest
Mods	Documented	types key, TypeScript files	Mod API

Ids, Scopes, and Special Marketplaces

• A plugin id is name@marketplace. The text before @ is the entry name in the marketplace file.
• The scopes are user, project, local, and managed. The enable state of each plugin lives in enabledPlugins.
• A plugin skill gets the name /<plugin>:<skill>, so two plugins cannot clash.
• Four marketplace names are special and you cannot reuse them.

Marketplace	Status	Meaning
inline	Documented	Plugins loaded for one session with --plugin-dir or --plugin-url. Their ids end in @inline.
builtin	Documented	Plugins that ship inside Claude Code.
skills-dir	Documented	Plugins made by claude plugin init in ~/.claude/skills/. They load on the next session.
synced	Documented	Plugins synced from your claude.ai account. Turn off with syncClaudeAiPlugins: false.

Example

This flow creates a plugin, tests it for one session, and installs it from a marketplace.

Build, test, and install

# Create a plugin folder at ~/.claude/skills/my-plugin/
claude plugin init my-plugin --with skills hooks

# Check the files
claude plugin validate ~/.claude/skills/my-plugin

# Try a folder for one session only
claude --plugin-dir ./my-plugin

# Add a marketplace, then install from it
claude plugin marketplace add owner/repo
claude plugin install my-plugin@my-marketplace --scope project

How It Works

Claude Code reads the marketplace, fetches the source of the plugin you pick, and copies it into a cache folder. It writes an install record. At session start it loads every enabled plugin. Paths and variables are in Plugin Loading.

Pages in This Section

Page	What It Covers
Plugin Manifest	Every plugin.json key, userConfig, and the folder layout
Marketplaces	Every marketplace.json key, plugin sources, marketplace sources
Plugin Commands	Every claude plugin subcommand, /plugin, and session flags
Plugin Loading	Paths, cache, variables, env vars, and enabling
Plugin Settings Keys	Settings keys for plugins and marketplaces
Plugin Env Vars	Env vars for plugins and MCP

Sources

• Create Plugins is the official guide for authors.
• Plugin Manifest Reference describes plugin.json.
• Program-only facts come from the program (the bundled manifest schema and the plugin loader).