Claude Code plugins: install, build and publish

A developer guide details how Claude Code plugins bundle skills, slash commands, subagents, hooks and MCP servers into a single installable package distributed through Git-based marketplaces. Plugins are installed with commands like `/plugin marketplace add` and `/plugin install`, and authors can publish their own marketplace via a `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json` manifest, with Anthropic's own skills such as Frontend Design and Code Review published in the `claude-plugins-official` marketplace.

A Claude Code plugin bundles skills, slash commands, subagents, hooks and MCP servers so they install together from a marketplace with one command. This guide explains what goes in a plugin, how to install one, how plugins differ from plain skills, and how to publish your own marketplace. A skill is one folder with a SKILL.md : instructions for one job. A plugin is a package that can contain many skills plus other extensions, with a manifest that tells Claude Code what is inside. | You want to | Use | |---|---| | Teach Claude one method | A skill | | Ship several skills together | A plugin | | Add a slash command or a subagent alongside skills | A plugin | | Connect an MCP server that the skills depend on | A plugin with .mcp.json | | Let a team install everything with one command | A plugin in a marketplace | | Install one community skill from GitHub | skillgild install <slug no plugin needed | Most of the popular skills on SkillGild ship both ways: as a plain folder you can copy, and as a plugin in the author's marketplace. Anthropic's own skills, such as Frontend Design https://skillgild.dev/skills/frontend-design and Code Review https://skillgild.dev/skills/code-review , are published as plugins in the claude-plugins-official marketplace. Marketplaces are Git repositories or local folders that contain a .claude-plugin/marketplace.json . Add a marketplace, then install plugins from it: /plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-official /plugin install frontend-design@claude-plugins-official /plugin on its own opens a browser where you can search marketplaces, install, enable, disable and uninstall. Installed plugins apply to every project by default; team settings can pin a marketplace and a plugin list for a repository so everyone gets the same set. Other marketplaces people add most often, from the skills listed on SkillGild: /plugin marketplace add obra/superpowers-marketplace /plugin install superpowers@superpowers-marketplace /plugin marketplace add pbakaus/impeccable /plugin install impeccable@impeccable /plugin marketplace add makenotion/notion-workspace-plugin /plugin install notion-workspace@notion-workspace-plugin Each listing on SkillGild shows the plugin commands when the project publishes them, next to the one-line skillgild install that copies the skill folder without the plugin. my-plugin/ ├── .claude-plugin/ │ └── plugin.json name, description, version, author ├── skills/ │ └── paper-figure/ │ └── SKILL.md ├── commands/ │ └── release.md a slash command ├── agents/ │ └── reviewer.md a subagent ├── hooks/ │ └── hooks.json run scripts on events └── .mcp.json MCP servers the plugin needs Only the manifest is required: { "name": "my-plugin", "description": "Figures, release notes and a reviewer for our papers repo.", "version": "1.0.0", "author": { "name": "Your Name" } } Everything else is optional and discovered by folder: skills in skills/ , commands in commands/ , agents in agents/ . When the plugin is installed, its skills behave like personal skills, and its commands appear in the slash menu namespaced by plugin. ~/.claude/skills/ , following skills/ . claude --plugin-dir ./my-plugin claude plugin validate ./my-plugin Keep plugins small. One plugin per job area "release tooling", "design review" installs faster, reads better in the browser and is easier to disable when it misfires. A marketplace is a repository with a .claude-plugin/marketplace.json that lists plugins and where to fetch them: { "name": "acme-marketplace", "owner": { "name": "Acme" }, "plugins": { "name": "my-plugin", "source": "./plugins/my-plugin", "description": "Figures, release notes and a reviewer for our papers repo." }, { "name": "design-review", "source": { "source": "github", "repo": "acme/design-review" }, "description": "A design review skill and a /review command." } } Plugins can live inside the marketplace repository relative source or in their own repositories. People then run /plugin marketplace add acme/acme-marketplace and install by name. Anyone with the repository URL can add it; there is no central approval. A plugin can declare MCP servers in .mcp.json so a skill's tools arrive with it. SkillGild's own hosted skills work this way: the SkillGild MCP server exposes skillgild search skills , skillgild run skill and the session tools, and a skill's wrapper tells Claude how to call them. If you publish a plugin for a team that uses SkillGild, add the server once in .mcp.json : { "mcpServers": { "skillgild": { "command": "skillgild", "args": "mcp" } } } Every team member who installs the plugin then has the hosted catalog available by name, after skillgild login . .claude-plugin/marketplace.json at the root. description does not match how you ask. Fix the description; reinstall is not needed for local --plugin-dir testing. For the differences between every extension type, read skills vs agents, commands and plugins https://skillgild.dev/learn/claude-skills-vs-agents-commands-plugins . To see which MCP servers people add alongside plugins, read the best MCP servers for Claude Code https://skillgild.dev/learn/best-mcp-servers-for-claude-code . Originally published at skillgild.dev https://skillgild.dev/learn/claude-code-plugins .