The Claude Code Plugin Ecosystem
Claude Code plugins are open source. The Tons of Skills marketplace at tonsofskills.com is maintained by Intent Solutions and powered by contributions from developers around the world. Whether you want to use existing plugins, improve them, or build and publish your own, there are clear paths to get involved.
This page covers every channel, resource, and workflow available to community members — from filing a bug report to publishing a full plugin with verification badges.
GitHub Repository
The primary hub for all plugin development is the GitHub repository:
github.com/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins
This monorepo contains:
- All 418 plugins organized under
plugins/by category (plugins/automation/,plugins/security/,plugins/devops/, etc.) - MCP server plugins under
plugins/mcp/ - SaaS skill packs under
plugins/saas-packs/ - The marketplace website under
marketplace/(the Astro 5 site at tonsofskills.com) - The ccpi CLI under
packages/cli/ - Build scripts, validators, and CI pipeline at the root level
- Templates under
templates/for bootstrapping new plugins
Cloning the repository
git clone https://github.com/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins.git
cd claude-code-plugins
pnpm install
The repo uses pnpm workspaces. After cloning, pnpm install sets up all workspace dependencies. The marketplace directory uses npm (enforced by CI), so if you are working on the website, run cd marketplace && npm install separately.
Repository structure at a glance
claude-code-plugins/
plugins/
automation/ # Automation plugins
business-tools/ # Business tool plugins
code-analysis/ # Code analysis plugins
database/ # Database plugins
debugging/ # Debugging plugins
devops/ # DevOps plugins
documentation/ # Documentation plugins
frontend-development/ # Frontend plugins
mcp/ # MCP server plugins
saas-packs/ # SaaS integration packs
security/ # Security plugins
testing/ # Testing plugins
... # Additional categories
marketplace/ # Astro 5 website (tonsofskills.com)
packages/cli/ # ccpi CLI package
scripts/ # Build, validation, and sync scripts
templates/ # Plugin templates (minimal, full, etc.)
freshie/ # Ecosystem inventory database
Filing Issues and Feature Requests
Bug reports
If you encounter a problem with a plugin, the marketplace website, or the ccpi CLI, file an issue on GitHub:
- Go to github.com/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins/issues.
- Click “New issue.”
- Choose the appropriate template if one matches your problem (bug report, feature request, plugin issue).
- Include:
- What you expected to happen.
- What actually happened, including any error messages or unexpected behavior.
- Steps to reproduce the issue.
- Environment details: operating system, Node.js version, Claude Code version, ccpi version.
- Plugin name and version if the issue is plugin-specific.
Feature requests
Have an idea for a new plugin, a marketplace feature, or a CLI improvement? File a feature request issue with the “enhancement” label. Describe the use case, the expected behavior, and any alternatives you considered.
Security issues
If you discover a security vulnerability in a plugin or in the marketplace infrastructure, do not file a public issue. Instead, use GitHub’s private vulnerability reporting feature or contact the maintainers directly through the repository’s security policy.
Contributing Plugins to the Marketplace
Contributing a plugin to Tons of Skills is the most impactful way to participate in the ecosystem. Every plugin you contribute becomes available to the entire Claude Code community through the marketplace, the ccpi CLI, and Cowork downloads.
Step 1: Choose a template
The repository includes several plugin templates under templates/:
- Minimal — a bare-bones plugin with
plugin.jsonand a single skill. Good for simple, focused utilities. - Command — a plugin built around slash commands. Good for tools that need explicit user invocation.
- Agent — a plugin that defines an autonomous agent persona. Good for complex, multi-step workflows.
- Skill — a plugin with one or more auto-activating skills. Good for context-sensitive capabilities.
- Full — a plugin with skills, commands, agents, hooks, and documentation. Good for comprehensive tooling.
Copy the template that best matches your plugin’s purpose:
cp -r templates/skill plugins/your-category/your-plugin-name
Step 2: Build your plugin
At minimum, your plugin needs:
.claude-plugin/plugin.jsonwith required fields:name,version,description,author.README.mddescribing what the plugin does, how to install it, and how to use it.- At least one skill, command, or agent file providing actual functionality.
Follow the SKILL.md specification for skill files and the plugin specification for overall structure.
Step 3: Validate locally
Run the universal validator to check your plugin against both the standard tier (Anthropic minimum) and the enterprise tier (100-point rubric):
# Standard validation
python3 scripts/validate-skills-schema.py --verbose plugins/your-category/your-plugin-name/
# Enterprise validation (full 100-point rubric)
python3 scripts/validate-skills-schema.py --enterprise --verbose plugins/your-category/your-plugin-name/
Fix any errors or warnings. Aim for a B grade or higher (80+ points) to earn a verification badge on the marketplace.
Step 4: Add to the catalog
Add your plugin’s entry to .claude-plugin/marketplace.extended.json. This is the source-of-truth catalog file. Then sync:
pnpm run sync-marketplace
This generates the CLI-compatible marketplace.json from your extended entry.
Step 5: Run the test suite
Before opening a PR, run the quick validation suite:
pnpm run sync-marketplace
./scripts/quick-test.sh
This checks JSON validity, plugin structure, catalog sync, and marketplace build in about 30 seconds.
Step 6: Open a pull request
Push your branch and open a PR against main. The CI pipeline runs parallel validation jobs including:
- Plugin structure and JSON validation
- Universal validator (standard and enterprise tiers)
- Marketplace build and route validation
- Performance budget checks
- End-to-end tests
A maintainer reviews your PR. Once approved and merged, your plugin appears on the live marketplace at the next deployment.
Contribution guidelines
- One plugin per PR unless the plugins are closely related (e.g., a pack of SaaS integrations).
- Include meaningful content in skill and command files. Stubs with placeholder text will be flagged by the validator.
- Follow naming conventions: plugin directories use kebab-case, skill names use kebab-case, categories match the existing set.
- Do not modify auto-generated files (
marketplace.json,catalog.json,skills-catalog.json,unified-search-index.json). These are rebuilt by the build pipeline. - Newest contributors go at the top of the README contributors list.
GitHub Discussions
The GitHub repository’s Discussions tab is the place for open-ended conversations that do not fit neatly into an issue:
- Q&A — ask questions about plugin development, Claude Code configuration, or marketplace usage.
- Ideas — propose new directions for the ecosystem without the formality of a feature request.
- Show and tell — share what you have built with Claude Code plugins and get feedback.
- General — anything else related to the Claude Code plugin community.
Visit github.com/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins/discussions to participate.
Claude Code Discord and Forums
The Claude Code community extends beyond this repository. Key channels:
- Anthropic’s Discord — the official Anthropic Discord server includes channels dedicated to Claude Code, where developers share tips, report issues, and discuss new features.
- Claude Code subreddit — community discussions, tutorials, and plugin showcases on Reddit.
- X / Twitter — follow
@AnthropicAIand search for#ClaudeCodeto find community posts and announcements.
These channels are community-run and not officially maintained by Tons of Skills, but they are valuable for connecting with other Claude Code users and staying current on ecosystem developments.
Other Tools in the Claude Code Ecosystem
Claude Code plugins are one part of a larger ecosystem of tools built around Anthropic’s Claude models. Understanding the landscape helps you choose the right tool for each situation.
Claude Desktop
Claude Desktop is Anthropic’s standalone application for macOS and Windows. It provides a chat-based interface to Claude with support for file uploads, image analysis, and extended conversations. Claude Desktop supports MCP servers, which means some MCP plugins from the Tons of Skills marketplace can be configured to work with it — though the primary target for marketplace plugins is Claude Code in the terminal.
Claude for VS Code
The Claude for VS Code extension integrates Claude into Visual Studio Code’s editor environment. It provides inline code suggestions, chat-based assistance, and file-aware context. While it shares the underlying Claude model with Claude Code, its plugin system is separate. Claude Code plugins (SKILL.md, commands, agents) are specific to the Claude Code CLI and do not load in VS Code.
Claude for JetBrains
Similar to the VS Code extension, Claude for JetBrains brings Claude’s capabilities into IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, and other JetBrains IDEs. It operates independently from the Claude Code plugin system.
Cursor and Windsurf
Cursor and Windsurf are third-party AI-powered code editors that support Claude models. Some plugins in the Tons of Skills marketplace include compatible-with metadata indicating they work with these editors, but the primary target remains Claude Code. The compatible-with field in SKILL.md frontmatter can specify claude-code, cursor, windsurf, or combinations thereof.
ccpi CLI
The ccpi CLI (@intentsolutionsio/ccpi on npm) is the companion tool for managing plugins outside of a Claude Code session. It handles marketplace connections, plugin search, installation workflows, validation, and diagnostics. See the installation guide for setup instructions.
Learning Resources
The Tons of Skills website includes several sections dedicated to helping developers learn and grow their Claude Code skills.
Learning Path (/learning)
The Learning section provides structured educational content organized by difficulty level:
- Beginner — what Claude Code is, how plugins work, installing your first plugin.
- Intermediate — writing skills, building commands, using the validator, publishing to the marketplace.
- Advanced — MCP server development, hooks, agent design, dynamic context injection, enterprise compliance.
Playbooks (/playbooks)
The Playbooks section contains opinionated, end-to-end workflow guides that combine multiple plugins to solve real-world problems. Each playbook walks through a complete scenario — for example, setting up a security scanning pipeline or automating code review — and shows which plugins to install, how to configure them, and what to expect.
Research (/research)
The Research section publishes technical analyses of the plugin ecosystem: benchmark results, compliance trends, adoption statistics, and architectural investigations. These are data-driven reports, not tutorials.
Blog (/blog)
The Blog covers release announcements, contributor spotlights, technical deep dives, and ecosystem news. It is updated regularly and provides a running narrative of how the marketplace evolves.
External Sync and Third-Party Contributions
The marketplace supports external plugin sources through an automated sync mechanism. Third-party repositories can register in sources.yaml and have their plugins pulled into the marketplace catalog automatically via a daily cron job (scripts/sync-external.mjs).
Each synced plugin receives a .source.json provenance file that tracks its origin repository, sync timestamp, and include/exclude globs. External sync creates PRs automatically (labeled automated, sync, external-plugins) for maintainer review.
If you maintain a separate repository of Claude Code plugins and want them listed on the Tons of Skills marketplace without moving them into the monorepo, external sync is the mechanism to use. File an issue or start a discussion to request onboarding.
How to Stay Informed
- Star the repository on GitHub to receive notifications about releases and major changes.
- Watch releases to get notified when new versions of the marketplace or CLI ship.
- Subscribe to the blog at tonsofskills.com/blog for ecosystem updates.
- Check the changelog in the repository root for a detailed history of all changes.
Next Steps
- Marketplace Guide — browse and install plugins from the Tons of Skills catalog.
- Official Anthropic Docs — organized directory of Anthropic’s Claude Code documentation.
- FAQ — answers to the most common questions about Claude Code plugins.
- Install Claude Code Plugins — get set up and install your first plugin.