Anthropic introduced plugins for Claude Code on October 9, 2025, allowing users to package and share combinations of tools with a single command. These plugins include slash commands, which serve as shortcuts for common operations, subagents for specialized development tasks, MCP servers for connecting to tools and data sources through the Model Context Protocol, and hooks for modifying Claude Code's behavior at key stages of the workflow. Users install them via the /plugin command, which is now in open beta, and can enable or disable them as needed to reduce the complexity of the system prompt.
Plugins make it easier to share configurations among colleagues or with the community. For example, developers who have created complex configurations can now package them into a single bundle and distribute them. Anthropic plans to continue developing plugins as the standard way to share customizations while adding more extension points.
Practical uses of plugins
Plugins help standardize Claude Code environments according to shared practices. Engineering leads use them to ensure consistency across teams, for example through hooks for code reviews or testing processes. Open-source project authors provide slash commands that help developers use their packages correctly.
Other examples include sharing workflows such as debugging, deployment, or testing frameworks. Teams that need to connect internal tools through MCP servers can accelerate setup using the same security protocols. Framework authors bundle multiple customizations together for specific scenarios, simplifying deployment. Available information indicates that plugins support DevOps automation, documentation generation, project management, and test suites.
Plugin marketplaces
Anyone can create and host a marketplace—a collection of plugins for discovery and installation. All that is needed is a Git repository, a GitHub repository, or a URL containing a .claude-plugin/marketplace.json file as specified in the documentation. Users add a marketplace with the /plugin marketplace add user-or-org/repo-name command and browse plugins in the /plugin menu.
The community is already creating marketplaces. For example, engineer Dan Ávila offers plugins for DevOps automation, documentation generation, project management, and test suites at aitmpl.com/plugins. Engineer Seth Hobson has collected more than 80 specialized subagents in his GitHub repository at github.com/wshobson/agents, available through plugins. Anthropic shares examples at github.com/anthropics/claude-code, including plugins for pull request reviews, security guidance, Claude Agent SDK development, and a meta-plugin for creating new plugins.
Other sources show that marketplaces facilitate the distribution of approved plugins within organizations and help address common development challenges. Installation is simple using /plugin install [plugin-name], and teams can configure automatic installation in the settings.json file in the project's .claude folder.
Getting started with plugins
Plugins are available in open beta to all Claude Code users and work in both the terminal and VS Code. The documentation at docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/plugins-reference describes installation, creating custom plugins, and publishing marketplaces.
As a demonstration, Anthropic suggests the command /plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-code followed by /plugin install feature-dev, which launches a multi-agent workflow used in Claude Code development. Other updates include switching MCP servers at runtime for better context management and a beta version of the native VS Code extension with inline diffs for tracking changes in real time.
