For complete technical specifications and schemas, see Plugins reference. For marketplace management, see Plugin marketplaces.
Plugins let you extend Claude Code with custom functionality that can be shared across projects and teams. Install plugins from marketplaces to add pre-built commands, agents, hooks, Skills, and MCP servers, or create your own to automate your workflows.

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Quickstart

Let’s create a simple greeting plugin to get you familiar with the plugin system. We’ll build a working plugin that adds a custom command, test it locally, and understand the core concepts.

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Prerequisites

  • Claude Code installed on your machine
  • Basic familiarity with command-line tools

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Create your first plugin

1

Create the marketplace structure

mkdir test-marketplace cd test-marketplace
2

Create the plugin directory

mkdir my-first-plugin cd my-first-plugin
3

Create the plugin manifest

Create .claude-plugin/plugin.json
mkdir .claude-plugin cat > .claude-plugin/plugin.json << 'EOF' { "name": "my-first-plugin", "description": "A simple greeting plugin to learn the basics", "version": "1.0.0", "author": { "name": "Your Name" } } EOF
4

Add a custom command

Create commands/hello.md
mkdir commands cat > commands/hello.md << 'EOF' --- description: Greet the user with a personalized message ---  # Hello Command  Greet the user warmly and ask how you can help them today. Make the greeting personal and encouraging. EOF
5

Create the marketplace manifest

Create marketplace.json
cd .. mkdir .claude-plugin cat > .claude-plugin/marketplace.json << 'EOF' { "name": "test-marketplace", "owner": { "name": "Test User" }, "plugins": [ {  "name": "my-first-plugin",  "source": "./my-first-plugin",  "description": "My first test plugin" } ] } EOF
6

Install and test your plugin

Start Claude Code from parent directory
cd .. claude
Add the test marketplace
/plugin marketplace add ./test-marketplace
Install your plugin
/plugin install my-first-plugin@test-marketplace
Select “Install now”. You’ll then need to restart Claude Code in order to use the new plugin.
Try your new command
/hello
You’ll see Claude use your greeting command! Check /help to see your new command listed.
You’ve successfully created and tested a plugin with these key components:
  • Plugin manifest (.claude-plugin/plugin.json) - Describes your plugin’s metadata
  • Commands directory (commands/) - Contains your custom slash commands
  • Test marketplace - Allows you to test your plugin locally

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Plugin structure overview

Your plugin follows this basic structure: 
my-first-plugin/ ├── .claude-plugin/ │ └── plugin.json # Plugin metadata ├── commands/ # Custom slash commands (optional) │ └── hello.md ├── agents/ # Custom agents (optional) │ └── helper.md ├── skills/ # Agent Skills (optional) │ └── my-skill/ │ └── SKILL.md └── hooks/ # Event handlers (optional)  └── hooks.json
Additional components you can add:
  • Commands: Create markdown files in commands/ directory
  • Agents: Create agent definitions in agents/ directory
  • Skills: Create SKILL.md files in skills/ directory
  • Hooks: Create hooks/hooks.json for event handling
  • MCP servers: Create .mcp.json for external tool integration
Next steps: Ready to add more features? Jump to Develop more complex plugins to add agents, hooks, and MCP servers. For complete technical specifications of all plugin components, see Plugins reference.

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Install and manage plugins

Learn how to discover, install, and manage plugins to extend your Claude Code capabilities.

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Prerequisites

  • Claude Code installed and running
  • Basic familiarity with command-line interfaces

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Add marketplaces

Marketplaces are catalogs of available plugins. Add them to discover and install plugins:
Add a marketplace
/plugin marketplace add your-org/claude-plugins
Browse available plugins
/plugin
For detailed marketplace management including Git repositories, local development, and team distribution, see Plugin marketplaces.

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Install plugins

Open the plugin management interface
/plugin
Select “Browse Plugins” to see available options with descriptions, features, and installation options.

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Via direct commands (for quick installation)

Install a specific plugin
/plugin install formatter@your-org
Enable a disabled plugin
/plugin enable plugin-name@marketplace-name
Disable without uninstalling
/plugin disable plugin-name@marketplace-name
Completely remove a plugin
/plugin uninstall plugin-name@marketplace-name

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Verify installation

After installing a plugin:
  1. Check available commands: Run /help to see new commands
  2. Test plugin features: Try the plugin’s commands and features
  3. Review plugin details: Use /plugin → “Manage Plugins” to see what the plugin provides

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Set up team plugin workflows

Configure plugins at the repository level to ensure consistent tooling across your team. When team members trust your repository folder, Claude Code automatically installs specified marketplaces and plugins. To set up team plugins:
  1. Add marketplace and plugin configuration to your repository’s .claude/settings.json
  2. Team members trust the repository folder
  3. Plugins install automatically for all team members
For complete instructions including configuration examples, marketplace setup, and rollout best practices, see Configure team marketplaces.

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Develop more complex plugins

Once you’re comfortable with basic plugins, you can create more sophisticated extensions.

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Add Skills to your plugin

Plugins can include Agent Skills to extend Claude’s capabilities. Skills are model-invoked—Claude autonomously uses them based on the task context. To add Skills to your plugin, create a skills/ directory at your plugin root and add Skill folders with SKILL.md files. Plugin Skills are automatically available when the plugin is installed. For complete Skill authoring guidance, see Agent Skills.

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Organize complex plugins

For plugins with many components, organize your directory structure by functionality. For complete directory layouts and organization patterns, see Plugin directory structure.

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Test your plugins locally

When developing plugins, use a local marketplace to test changes iteratively. This workflow builds on the quickstart pattern and works for plugins of any complexity.
1

Set up your development structure

Organize your plugin and marketplace for testing:
Create directory structure
mkdir dev-marketplace cd dev-marketplace mkdir my-plugin
This creates:
dev-marketplace/ ├── .claude-plugin/marketplace.json (you'll create this) └── my-plugin/ (your plugin under development)  ├── .claude-plugin/plugin.json  ├── commands/  ├── agents/  └── hooks/
2

Create the marketplace manifest

Create marketplace.json
mkdir .claude-plugin cat > .claude-plugin/marketplace.json << 'EOF' { "name": "dev-marketplace", "owner": { "name": "Developer" }, "plugins": [ {  "name": "my-plugin",  "source": "./my-plugin",  "description": "Plugin under development" } ] } EOF
3

Install and test

Start Claude Code from parent directory
cd .. claude
Add your development marketplace
/plugin marketplace add ./dev-marketplace
Install your plugin
/plugin install my-plugin@dev-marketplace
Test your plugin components:
  • Try your commands with /command-name
  • Check that agents appear in /agents
  • Verify hooks work as expected
4

Iterate on your plugin

After making changes to your plugin code:
Uninstall the current version
/plugin uninstall my-plugin@dev-marketplace
Reinstall to test changes
/plugin install my-plugin@dev-marketplace
Repeat this cycle as you develop and refine your plugin.
For multiple plugins: Organize plugins in subdirectories like ./plugins/plugin-name and update your marketplace.json accordingly. See Plugin sources for organization patterns.

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Debug plugin issues

If your plugin isn’t working as expected:
  1. Check the structure: Ensure your directories are at the plugin root, not inside .claude-plugin/
  2. Test components individually: Check each command, agent, and hook separately
  3. Use validation and debugging tools: See Debugging and development tools for CLI commands and troubleshooting techniques

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Share your plugins

When your plugin is ready to share:
  1. Add documentation: Include a README.md with installation and usage instructions
  2. Version your plugin: Use semantic versioning in your plugin.json
  3. Create or use a marketplace: Distribute through plugin marketplaces for easy installation
  4. Test with others: Have team members test the plugin before wider distribution
For complete technical specifications, debugging techniques, and distribution strategies, see Plugins reference.

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Next steps

Now that you understand Claude Code’s plugin system, here are suggested paths for different goals:

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For plugin users

  • Discover plugins: Browse community marketplaces for useful tools
  • Team adoption: Set up repository-level plugins for your projects
  • Marketplace management: Learn to manage multiple plugin sources
  • Advanced usage: Explore plugin combinations and workflows

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For plugin developers

  • Create your first marketplace: Plugin marketplaces guide
  • Advanced components: Dive deeper into specific plugin components:
  • Distribution strategies: Package and share your plugins effectively
  • Community contribution: Consider contributing to community plugin collections

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For team leads and administrators

  • Repository configuration: Set up automatic plugin installation for team projects
  • Plugin governance: Establish guidelines for plugin approval and security review
  • Marketplace maintenance: Create and maintain organization-specific plugin catalogs
  • Training and documentation: Help team members adopt plugin workflows effectively

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See also