Claude Code plugins worth trying, and how to install them

Plugins and marketplaces in one minute

A plugin is a folder of extras that Claude Code installs and loads as one unit: skills, subagents, hooks, MCP servers and sometimes language servers. Instead of copying five files from a blog post, you install one plugin and get updates from its marketplace, which is a catalogue of plugins kept in a GitHub repository.

• claude-plugins-official: Anthropic's official marketplace. Claude Code adds it for you the first time you start an interactive terminal session. It holds plugins Anthropic maintains plus many from partners and other authors.
• claude-community: third-party plugins submitted to Anthropic. Add it with /plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community.
• Topic marketplaces from Anthropic, such as anthropics/skills and anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins, which is aimed at work outside coding.

To see what is popular, browse Claude Marketplace on the web. It shows install counts and marks some plugins Anthropic verified.

Plugins worth trying first

These are all made by Anthropic and live in the official marketplace. Pick two or three that match how you work, not all of them.

• commit-commands: commands for committing, pushing and opening pull requests.
• code-review: reviews a pull request with several specialised agents and filters out low-confidence findings.
• pr-review-toolkit: review agents focused on comments, tests, error handling, type design and code quality.
• security-guidance: security review for code Claude writes, with warnings as it edits and a review of the changes.
• feature-dev: a full feature workflow with agents for exploring the codebase, designing the change and reviewing it.
• code-simplifier: tidies recently changed code for clarity without changing what it does. Handy if you worry about bloat.
• claude-md-management: helps you audit and keep your CLAUDE.md files up to date.
• frontend-design: for building web interfaces that look designed rather than generic.
• hookify: creates hooks from plain rules, so you can block behaviour you do not want.
• explanatory-output-style and learning-output-style: make Claude explain its choices, or ask you to write key parts yourself. Great while you are learning.

For building your own extras there are skill-creator, plugin-dev and agent-sdk-dev.

Code intelligence: a plugin for your language

Language server plugins let Claude see type errors straight after an edit and jump around code by symbol, the way your editor does. The official marketplace has them for many languages, for example typescript-lsp, pyright-lsp for Python, php-lsp, gopls-lsp for Go and csharp-lsp.

Each one needs two things: the plugin, and the language server program installed on your machine. If Claude Code spots a language it has a plugin for, it may offer one with a recommendation dialog. They work in terminal sessions, not in cloud sessions.

Install, try and remove

Inside a Claude Code session:

/plugin                                          # browse: open the Discover tab and search
/plugin install code-review@claude-plugins-official
/reload-plugins                                  # load changes into this session

Installing opens a details pane where you choose a scope:

• User: every project on your machine.
• Project: everyone working in this repository, saved in .claude/settings.json.
• Local: only you, only in this repository. The best choice for trying something out.

A plugin's skills can be run as commands named /plugin-name:skill-name, for example /commit-commands:commit. The same jobs work from your normal terminal too:

claude plugin install code-review@claude-plugins-official --scope local
claude plugin list                 # what is installed, its scope and status
claude plugin disable code-review@claude-plugins-official
claude plugin uninstall code-review@claude-plugins-official

In the desktop app, use + then Add plugins. In VS Code, type /plugins.

Try plugins safely

• A plugin runs as you: whatever marketplace it comes from, it can run hooks and MCP servers with your permissions. Read the details pane before you install.
• Anthropic does not review third-party marketplaces, so only add ones from people or companies you trust.
• Every plugin costs context: an enabled plugin adds to what Claude reads on every turn. Official plugins show a Context cost estimate, and Not used recently helps you find ones to remove.
• Updates: official plugins update automatically by default. Community and third-party ones do not, so update them yourself.

Check yourself

Three quick questions to check it stuck.

Ask the tutor

Frequently asked