📄 claude/docs/agent-sdk/plugins

File: plugins.md | Updated: 11/15/2025

Source: https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/agent-sdk/plugins

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Plugins in the SDK

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Plugins allow you to extend Claude Code with custom functionality that can be shared across projects. Through the Agent SDK, you can programmatically load plugins from local directories to add custom slash commands, agents, skills, hooks, and MCP servers to your agent sessions.

What are plugins?

Plugins are packages of Claude Code extensions that can include:

Commands: Custom slash commands
Agents: Specialized subagents for specific tasks
Skills: Model-invoked capabilities that Claude uses autonomously
Hooks: Event handlers that respond to tool use and other events
MCP servers: External tool integrations via Model Context Protocol

For complete information on plugin structure and how to create plugins, see Plugins .

Loading plugins

Load plugins by providing their local file system paths in your options configuration. The SDK supports loading multiple plugins from different locations.

TypeScript

Python

Copy

import { query } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

for await (const message of query({
  prompt: "Hello",
  options: {
    plugins: [\
      { type: "local", path: "./my-plugin" },\
      { type: "local", path: "/absolute/path/to/another-plugin" }\
    ]
  }
})) {
  // Plugin commands, agents, and other features are now available
}

Path specifications

Plugin paths can be:

Relative paths: Resolved relative to your current working directory (e.g., "./plugins/my-plugin")
Absolute paths: Full file system paths (e.g., "/home/user/plugins/my-plugin")

The path should point to the plugin’s root directory (the directory containing .claude-plugin/plugin.json).

Verifying plugin installation

When plugins load successfully, they appear in the system initialization message. You can verify that your plugins are available:

TypeScript

Python

Copy

import { query } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

for await (const message of query({
  prompt: "Hello",
  options: {
    plugins: [{ type: "local", path: "./my-plugin" }]
  }
})) {
  if (message.type === "system" && message.subtype === "init") {
    // Check loaded plugins
    console.log("Plugins:", message.plugins);
    // Example: [{ name: "my-plugin", path: "./my-plugin" }]

    // Check available commands from plugins
    console.log("Commands:", message.slash_commands);
    // Example: ["/help", "/compact", "my-plugin:custom-command"]
  }
}

Using plugin commands

Commands from plugins are automatically namespaced with the plugin name to avoid conflicts. The format is plugin-name:command-name.

TypeScript

Python

Copy

import { query } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

// Load a plugin with a custom /greet command
for await (const message of query({
  prompt: "/my-plugin:greet",  // Use plugin command with namespace
  options: {
    plugins: [{ type: "local", path: "./my-plugin" }]
  }
})) {
  // Claude executes the custom greeting command from the plugin
  if (message.type === "assistant") {
    console.log(message.content);
  }
}

If you installed a plugin via the CLI (e.g., /plugin install my-plugin@marketplace), you can still use it in the SDK by providing its installation path. Check ~/.claude/plugins/ for CLI-installed plugins.

Complete example

Here’s a full example demonstrating plugin loading and usage:

TypeScript

Python

Copy

import { query } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";
import * as path from "path";

async function runWithPlugin() {
  const pluginPath = path.join(__dirname, "plugins", "my-plugin");

  console.log("Loading plugin from:", pluginPath);

  for await (const message of query({
    prompt: "What custom commands do you have available?",
    options: {
      plugins: [\
        { type: "local", path: pluginPath }\
      ],
      maxTurns: 3
    }
  })) {
    if (message.type === "system" && message.subtype === "init") {
      console.log("Loaded plugins:", message.plugins);
      console.log("Available commands:", message.slash_commands);
    }

    if (message.type === "assistant") {
      console.log("Assistant:", message.content);
    }
  }
}

runWithPlugin().catch(console.error);

Plugin structure reference

A plugin directory must contain a .claude-plugin/plugin.json manifest file. It can optionally include:

Copy

my-plugin/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json          # Required: plugin manifest
├── commands/                 # Custom slash commands
│   └── custom-cmd.md
├── agents/                   # Custom agents
│   └── specialist.md
├── skills/                   # Agent Skills
│   └── my-skill/
│       └── SKILL.md
├── hooks/                    # Event handlers
│   └── hooks.json
└── .mcp.json                # MCP server definitions

For detailed information on creating plugins, see:

Plugins
- Complete plugin development guide
Plugins reference
- Technical specifications and schemas

Common use cases

Development and testing

Load plugins during development without installing them globally:

Copy

plugins: [\
  { type: "local", path: "./dev-plugins/my-plugin" }\
]

Project-specific extensions

Include plugins in your project repository for team-wide consistency:

Copy

plugins: [\
  { type: "local", path: "./project-plugins/team-workflows" }\
]

Multiple plugin sources

Combine plugins from different locations:

Copy

plugins: [\
  { type: "local", path: "./local-plugin" },\
  { type: "local", path: "~/.claude/custom-plugins/shared-plugin" }\
]

Troubleshooting

Plugin not loading

If your plugin doesn’t appear in the init message:

Check the path: Ensure the path points to the plugin root directory (containing .claude-plugin/)
Validate plugin.json: Ensure your manifest file has valid JSON syntax
Check file permissions: Ensure the plugin directory is readable

Commands not available

If plugin commands don’t work:

Use the namespace: Plugin commands require the plugin-name:command-name format
Check init message: Verify the command appears in slash_commands with the correct namespace
Validate command files: Ensure command markdown files are in the commands/ directory

Path resolution issues

If relative paths don’t work:

Check working directory: Relative paths are resolved from your current working directory
Use absolute paths: For reliability, consider using absolute paths
Normalize paths: Use path utilities to construct paths correctly

📄 claude/docs/agent-sdk/plugins

Source: https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/agent-sdk/plugins

What are plugins?

Loading plugins

Verifying plugin installation

Using plugin commands

Complete example

Plugin structure reference

Common use cases

Troubleshooting

See also