The Complete Claude Code Plugin Marketplace Guide

Claude Code has a built-in plugin system that lets you browse, install, and manage skills directly from your terminal. These same skills work with OpenClaw, Codex CLI, and other SKILL.md-compatible agents. No web browser needed, no manual file copying. This guide covers everything you need to know about using it effectively.

What are plugins?

In Claude Code, a plugin is a package that bundles one or more skills along with optional extensions like hooks and MCP server configurations. When you install a plugin, you get all the skills it contains.

The relationship between plugins and skills is simple: plugins are the distribution format, skills are the content. You install plugins; you use skills.

Browsing the marketplace

Start a Claude Code session and type:

/plugin

This opens the plugin browser. You'll see three tabs:

Installed shows plugins you've already installed, with their status and the skills they provide.

Discover shows available plugins from your connected marketplaces. By default, you have the official Anthropic marketplace. Each plugin listing shows its name, description, and the skills it includes.

Marketplaces shows which plugin sources you're connected to.

Navigate with arrow keys. Press Enter to select a plugin and see details or install it.

Installing a plugin

From the Discover tab, find a plugin and press Enter. You'll be asked to choose a scope:

User scope installs the plugin to ~/.claude/skills/ so it's available in all your projects. Best for general-purpose skills you want everywhere.

Project scope installs to .claude/skills/ in your current repo. Best for project-specific skills that should be shared with your team through version control.

After choosing a scope, the plugin installs immediately. The skills it contains are available in your current session without restarting.

Adding community marketplaces

The default Anthropic marketplace has official and verified plugins. To access community plugins, add third-party marketplaces:

/plugin marketplace add author/repository

This accepts GitHub repositories, Git URLs, local paths, or remote URLs. After adding a marketplace, its plugins appear in the Discover tab alongside official ones.

Some popular community marketplaces have hundreds of plugins covering engineering, marketing, product management, and specialized workflows.

Managing installed plugins

View installed plugins: Type /plugin and go to the Installed tab.

Update a plugin: Reinstall it. The plugin system doesn't have automatic updates yet, but reinstalling pulls the latest version.

Remove a plugin: Delete its folder from your skills directory. For user-scoped plugins, that's ~/.claude/skills/[plugin-name]/. For project-scoped, it's .claude/skills/[plugin-name]/.

Disable a skill without removing it: You can't disable individual skills within a plugin through the UI yet. As a workaround, rename the SKILL.md file to something Claude won't recognize (like _SKILL.md).

Plugins vs. manual install

The plugin marketplace is the most convenient way to install skills, but it's not the only way. You can also download skills from Agensi or GitHub and install them manually by unzipping into your skills directory.

Use the plugin marketplace when a skill is available there and you want quick, terminal-based installation. Use manual install for skills from other sources, paid marketplace skills, or when you want more control over what gets installed where.

Both methods result in the same thing: a skill folder with a SKILL.md file in your skills directory.

Tips for power users

Combine sources. There's no conflict between marketplace plugins and manually installed skills. Use the marketplace for community skills and manual install for Agensi purchases or your own custom skills.

Check before installing. Read the skill's description and check what it does before installing. Plugins can include scripts that run on your machine.

Keep it lean. Don't install every interesting skill you find. Too many skills can slow down session startup and cause false activations. Install what you'll actually use.

For more installation methods beyond the plugin marketplace, read How to Install Skills in Claude Code. To understand the SKILL.md format these plugins contain, see our complete guide to SKILL.md.