Claude Code plugins: how to install them, the official marketplace, and the most popular ones

A Claude Code plugin is a package of skills, slash commands, subagents, hooks, MCP servers or language servers that installs in one step. Type /plugin to browse: Claude Code adds Anthropic's official marketplace, claude-plugins-official, on first launch, with 315 plugins as of October 7, 2026. Install one with /plugin install name@claude-plugins-official, or add another marketplace with /plugin marketplace add owner/repo. The most installed are Anthropic's frontend-design (about 1.1 million installs), the community superpowers collection, and Anthropic's code-review. Anthropic warns that a plugin "can execute arbitrary code on your machine with your user privileges," so install only from sources you trust.

Key takeaways

• What: a bundle of skills, commands, subagents, hooks, MCP and LSP servers, installed and updated as one unit.
• Where: /plugin has Discover, Installed, Marketplaces and Errors tabs; the official marketplace also lists install counts on the web.
• Popular: frontend-design, superpowers, code-review, context7, code-simplifier, playwright and github top the list.
• Not free in context: every enabled plugin adds its skill and command descriptions to every turn; Claude Code shows a context cost for official plugins.
• Teams: list a marketplace and plugins in the repository's .claude/settings.json, or lock them down with managed settings.

What is a Claude Code plugin?

A folder Claude Code loads as one unit, usually with a manifest at .claude-plugin/plugin.json (Anthropic). It can contain skills, commands, subagents, hooks, MCP servers, language servers (LSP), output styles and more. A plugin's skills are namespaced, so a skill hello in my-plugin runs as /my-plugin:hello.

Plugins vs skills: a skill is one set of instructions (Claude Code skills). Anthropic suggests a plugin "when you want several skills, subagents, hooks, or MCP servers packaged as one unit," with one-command install and updates.

How do you install Claude Code plugins?

From Anthropic's guide (Anthropic):

• Browse: type /plugin and open Discover. Official plugins show what they'll install and their context cost.
• Install: /plugin install frontend-design@claude-plugins-official, then choose a scope: user (all your projects), project (.claude/settings.json, shared through git) or local.
• Add a marketplace: /plugin marketplace add owner/repo (a GitHub repository, git URL or local path).
• Manage: /plugin enable, disable and uninstall; /reload-plugins applies changes without restarting.
• From the shell: claude plugin install, list, update and more.

Official marketplace plugins update automatically; community and third-party marketplaces don't unless you turn it on. Cloud sessions on claude.ai/code don't load your local plugins.

What are the best Claude Code plugins?

The ten most installed on Anthropic's marketplace, October 7, 2026 (Anthropic):

1. frontend-design (Anthropic): distinctive, production-grade interfaces, about 1.13 million installs.
2. superpowers (Jesse Vincent): a collection of development skills, about 1.01 million.
3. code-review (Anthropic): multi-agent pull request review.
4. context7 (Upstash): up-to-date library documentation.
5. code-simplifier (Anthropic): refines code for clarity.
6. playwright (Microsoft): browser automation.
7. github (GitHub).
8. claude-md-management (Anthropic): audits and updates CLAUDE.md.
9. feature-dev (Anthropic): a feature workflow with exploration, architecture and review agents.
10. security-guidance (Anthropic): flags risky code as Claude edits (Is Claude Code safe?).

Also popular: vercel, typescript-lsp, ralph-loop, commit-commands, figma, supabase and pr-review-toolkit. Note that "Anthropic verified" isn't the same as made by Anthropic: the badge also appears on vendors' plugins such as Slack and Adobe.

Which plugins reduce token usage?

The one Anthropic documents is code-intelligence (LSP) plugins: "A single 'go to definition' call replaces what might otherwise be a grep followed by reading multiple candidate files" (Anthropic). The official marketplace has them for 12 languages, including TypeScript, Python (pyright), Go, Rust, Java and C#; you also install the language server itself. No official plugin otherwise claims to save tokens, and plugins themselves cost context: check with claude plugin details <name> and disable ones you don't use. More in How to reduce Claude Code token usage.

How do teams share plugins?

Commit this to the repository's .claude/settings.json and teammates are offered the marketplace and plugin when they trust the folder (Anthropic):

{
  "extraKnownMarketplaces": {
    "team": { "source": { "source": "github", "repo": "your-org/plugins" } }
  },
  "enabledPlugins": { "tool@team": true }
}

Organizations can allow only listed marketplaces with strictKnownMarketplaces, block others with blockedMarketplaces, and push settings through managed policy.

How do you make a Claude Code plugin?

Create a folder with .claude-plugin/plugin.json (only name is required) and your skills, hooks or MCP config; check it with claude plugin validate, and test it with claude --plugin-dir ./my-plugin (Anthropic). To publish, add a .claude-plugin/marketplace.json to a git repository; anyone can then add it with /plugin marketplace add. Anthropic's plugin-dev plugin scaffolds one for you.

Are Claude Code plugins safe?

As safe as their author. A plugin "can execute arbitrary code on your machine with your user privileges"; its hooks and MCP servers run outside the sandbox, and with auto-update on, the files you reviewed can change (Anthropic). Before installing, read the details pane, the plugin's hooks/hooks.json and .mcp.json, and prefer Anthropic's and vendors' own plugins. Anthropic doesn't review third-party marketplaces.

Plugins in Codex and Cursor

• Codex: one plugin directory serves ChatGPT and Codex; open it with /plugins in the Codex CLI (OpenAI).
• Cursor: a reviewed Cursor Marketplace, plus team marketplaces on Teams and Enterprise (Cursor).

One setup for a whole team

A plugin listed in the repository still runs in each person's own session. In Poly (usepoly.co), a team works with one Claude Code or Codex agent in a shared browser room with one setup, everyone sees each step live, and any member can approve a change before it happens. Free to start. What is Poly?