A plugin can make Claude useful for your job in one click. It can also hand a stranger's instructions the keys to your inbox. You can tell the two apart without reading code, if you know what a plugin is made of, where it came from, and five questions to ask before you click Add.
Anthropic describes a plugin as a package that bundles skills, connectors, and sub-agents, so Claude is set up for a job from the first conversation. Plugins are on every paid plan, and they work in Claude on the web and in the desktop app.
The word "plugin" hides four different things. They do not carry the same risk.
| Part | What it is | What it can touch |
|---|---|---|
| Skill | Written instructions Claude follows for a task | Nothing by itself. It steers what Claude does with the access Claude already has. |
| Command | A shortcut you type, like /monday-brief | Same as a skill. It starts one. |
| Connector | A link to one of your accounts: Gmail, Drive, QuickBooks | Whatever your own login can see and do in that account. |
| Local server or hook | A small program that runs on your computer | Anthropic's wording: it runs "with the same permissions as any other program you run." |
Open Customize in the sidebar, then the Plugins tab. Everything starts there.
The Discover tab. Each listing names its publisher ("by Anthropic", "by Figma") and shows an install count. Since September 25, 2026, new submissions go through Anthropic's portal, where each one is validated and safety-scanned, then reviewed before it is listed.
Add, then Add marketplace, then a repository address. This pulls plugins straight from someone's GitHub. Nobody reviewed them except the author.
Add, then Upload plugin, which takes a .zip or .plugin file. The upload screen itself warns that Anthropic has not checked the file. Same trust level as an email attachment from that person.
Add, then Create with Claude. You know exactly what is in it, because you asked for it. The Advanced guide covers building.
Read the name on the listing and search for it. A company with customers, or a person with a public history, has something to lose. A name you cannot find anywhere else does not.
Open the listing and count the parts from Step 1. Skills and commands only: low stakes. A connector: read 3.3. Anything that runs on your computer: stop unless you would let this publisher install software on your laptop.
Name each account it connects. Then finish this sentence: "If this plugin did the worst thing possible with that access, I would lose ___." If the blank is a client list or a bank login, the plugin needs to be worth it.
Skills are plain text files, usually a page or two. If the plugin lives on GitHub, open them. You are looking for three things: instructions to send data somewhere, instructions to delete, and any line telling Claude to ignore what you say.
A plugin can change after you install it. Anthropic's help page says that when an author updates a shared plugin, recipients "automatically get the updated version at next use." The publisher you trusted on install day is the publisher you are trusting on every day after it.
The Connectors tab listed 4,287 on October 5, 2026. Four rules cover the choosing.
On September 17, 2026, the security firm Air Security published a flaw it named Plugin4Shell. It affected four coding agents, Claude Code among them. Whoever controlled a plugin's repository could swap in different code during an automatic update, while the setting meant to lock the plugin to one approved version appeared to hold.
According to the report, Anthropic fixed it in Claude Code 2.1.179. Not every vendor had shipped a fix when the report came out. If you use the Claude app and never Claude Code, this flaw did not reach you.
The technical detail matters less than the three habits it argues for, and those apply to everyone.
A mod is a small program, shipped inside a plugin, that changes how Claude Code itself works. It can rewrite a prompt, add a panel, or replace a built-in feature. Mods arrived on October 1, 2026.
Mods are not sandboxed, Anthropic says. They run with the same access to your machine as Claude Code, and its advice is to install them only from sources you trust, the way you would any software.
| Plugin | Publisher | What is inside | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude for Small Business | Anthropic | 43 workflows plus connectors to accounting, CRM, and payments. Each workflow starts in approval mode. | Weekly briefs, proposals, month-end close. See the crosswalk. |
| Anthropic's role plugins | Anthropic | Skills for one job: Data, Design, Engineering, Legal, and others. | A head start in your own field. Find them under Discover. |
I wrote these, and the four larger ones each have a page here. Apply the same five questions to them.
voice-rules for the Writing guide and prompt-coach for the Prompting Guide. Skills only.Go to Customize, then Plugins, then Yours. Each plugin has a Turn off button. Off means Claude stops using it, and you can turn it back on later. Use this when you are unsure.
Same list. Open the three-dot menu beside the plugin and choose Remove.
Removing a plugin does not always disconnect the accounts it used. Open the Connectors tab, check Yours, and disconnect any you no longer need. Then remove Claude's access inside the service too. For a Google account, that list is under third-party connections in your account's security settings.
Open Scheduled in the sidebar. Delete any recurring task the plugin set up that you no longer want.