Claude plugins are ready-made packages that bundle skills, connectors and sub-agents so Claude is set up for a job, like sales, marketing or finance, from your first conversation. They're on paid plans (Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise), and you add one from Customize, then Plugins, then Discover, then Add.
Think of a plugin as a starter kit. Instead of connecting Gmail, writing your own skills and setting up an agent one by one, you install a single plugin and the pieces arrive together. Anthropic now calls plugins the main way third parties build extensions for Claude, so expect the library to keep growing.
I've put this together from Anthropic's help centre and the Claude blog, read in October 2026.
What's inside a Claude plugin
| Part | What it does | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|
| Skills and commands | Repeatable instructions Claude follows for a task | Chat, Cowork and Claude Code |
| Connectors | Links to services such as Google Drive, Gmail, Slack or DocuSign | Chat, Cowork and Claude Code |
| Sub-agents | Helpers that take on part of a bigger task | Cowork and Claude Code only |
| Hooks | Automatic actions that fire at set moments | Cowork and Claude Code only |
Here's the detail that confuses people: hooks and sub-agents don't run in ordinary chat. Anthropic says they show greyed out there. If a plugin seems half-working in chat, that's usually why, and it'll do more in Cowork.
Which plans get plugins
Anthropic lists plugins on all paid plans: Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. They're not on the Free plan. If you're weighing up an upgrade, my breakdown of Claude's plans shows what each tier includes.
How to install a Claude plugin
- Open Claude on the web or in Claude Desktop.
- Click Customize in the left sidebar. This is where plugins, skills and connectors now live together.
- Open the Plugins tab.
- Open the Discover tab to see what's available.
- Pick the plugin you want and click Add.
In Cowork, open the Cowork tab first and then go to Customize. Once a plugin's added, type a forward slash or click the plus button to see its skills. In Cowork you can also run a plugin command directly by typing /plugin-name:command.
Plugins you add are saved to your account rather than your computer, so they follow you between chat, Cowork and Claude Code. To take one off later, open it and choose Remove.
What kinds of plugins you'll find
Anthropic says the library covers common knowledge work, including sales, finance, legal, marketing, HR, engineering, design, operations and data analysis. Each one comes set up with the skills and connectors that job needs. Some are built by partners: Salesforce in Claude, for example, brings in that partner's own connectors and skills.
There's also a plugin called Plugin Create that walks you through building your own, starting from one of Anthropic's templates if you like.
The safety check before you install
This is the part I'd want every business owner to read. Anthropic's own help page warns that plugins may include local MCP servers that run on your computer with the same permissions as any other program you run. Its advice is plain: only install plugins from sources you trust.
On Enterprise plans, there's an extra layer. When skill and plugin scanning is switched on, Claude checks third-party plugins for malicious content when they're installed or updated, and returns one of three results:
| Result | What happens |
|---|---|
| Pass | The plugin installs normally |
| Warn | It stays usable behind a caution banner you acknowledge first |
| Fail | It's blocked unless someone with the right permission allows it |
Anthropic is careful to say a pass isn't a guarantee a plugin is safe in every respect. It looks for one kind of threat, plugins built to misuse the access they're given, such as quietly moving data somewhere it shouldn't go. So even with scanning on, the trust question is still yours.
Plugins in Claude Code
If you or your developer use Claude Code, plugins you've installed sync across when you sign in with the same Claude account. Anthropic says this needs Claude Code version 2.1.273 or later, syncs once each time Claude Code starts and only reads from your account, never changing it. It doesn't sync if Claude Code is signed in with an API key or runs through a cloud provider. For more ideas there, see my Claude Code prompts.
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Sharing plugins with your team
On Team and Enterprise plans, an Owner or Primary Owner can switch on plugin sharing in Organization settings, then Plugins and skills, on the Policy tab. After that, you can share a plugin you built with specific colleagues, or with a group on Enterprise. Shared plugins are view-only for the people receiving them, and they get your updates automatically. One limit: you can only share plugins you uploaded or created yourself, not ones you added from a catalogue.
Building a plugin to list in the directory
If you run a software business, Anthropic has opened a directory submission portal for developers on paid plans. You can submit a single MCP connector or a bundle of MCP servers and skills hosted on GitHub. Each submission is checked and safety-scanned straight away, you can follow its review status, and once it's approved you choose when to publish. After launch you'll see installs and which searches lead people to your listing.
If you'd like help choosing which plugins and connectors make sense for your team, that's something I do on my work with me page.
My verdict
Plugins are the fastest way to make Claude useful for a specific job without fiddling with every setting yourself. Start with one plugin for the work you repeat most, test it in Cowork where it can do everything it's built for, and treat installing an unknown plugin the way you'd treat installing unknown software. If you don't know who made it, don't add it.
Plugins often rely on connectors underneath, and I explain how to link your apps in my guide to connecting apps with Claude connectors.
Frequently asked questions
What are Claude plugins?
Plugins are packages that bundle skills, connectors and sub-agents into one install, so Claude is ready for a job such as sales, finance or marketing from the start.
Are Claude plugins free?
Anthropic lists plugins on paid plans only: Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. They aren't available on the Free plan.
How do I add a plugin to Claude?
Click Customize in the left sidebar, open the Plugins tab, open Discover, choose a plugin and click Add. In Cowork, open the Cowork tab first.
Why are some plugin features greyed out in chat?
Hooks and sub-agents only run in Cowork and Claude Code. In ordinary chat they appear greyed out, while skills and commands still work.
Are Claude plugins safe?
Anthropic warns that plugins may include local servers running with your computer's permissions, so only install plugins from sources you trust. Enterprise plans can switch on scanning, but a pass isn't a full guarantee.
