Plugin Management

claude plugin install cowork-plugin-management@knowledge-work-plugins

You: Create a plugin for design review workflows

Claude: I'll help you build a design review plugin. Let me understand what you need:

1. What should this plugin help with specifically? 
   (e.g., collecting feedback, tracking changes, generating summaries)

2. Who will use it?
   (designers, product managers, engineers, stakeholders)

3. What tools do you use for design work?
   (Figma, Sketch, Abstract, Linear, etc.)

You: We use Figma for designs and Linear for tracking feedback. 
     The plugin should help designers collect structured feedback 
     from stakeholders and turn it into Linear issues.

Claude: Got it. Here's what I'm planning:

**Skills:**
- feedback-collection: Guide stakeholders through giving structured feedback
- feedback-synthesis: Summarize feedback themes and priorities

**Commands:**
- /design-review:start — Begin a new design review
- /design-review:summarize — Summarize feedback and create Linear issues

**MCP Servers:**
- Figma (read designs, add comments)
- Linear (create issues, link to designs)

Does this match your vision?

You: Customize the sales plugin for our team

Claude: I'll customize the sales plugin for your organization. 
        Let me gather some context...

[Searches Slack, Notion, email for tool mentions]

Here's what I learned:

**From searching Slack:**
- You use HubSpot for CRM
- Sales calls are recorded in Fireflies
- Team uses #sales-ops for internal discussion

**From searching Notion:**
- Deal stages: Discovery, Demo, Negotiation, Closed
- You track competitive intel on key competitors

I have a few questions:

1. What enrichment tool do you use for prospect research?
   (ZoomInfo, Apollo, Clay, other, or none)

You: We use Apollo

Claude: Perfect. I've customized the plugin:

**Changes made:**
- Set CRM to HubSpot
- Added Fireflies for call transcripts
- Added Apollo for prospect enrichment
- Updated deal stages to match your process
- Set Slack channel to #sales-ops

**MCP Servers connected:**
✓ HubSpot
✓ Fireflies
✓ Apollo

**You should also connect:**
- Slack (connect at Settings → Plugins → Slack)
- Notion (connect at Settings → Plugins → Notion)

Ready to install your customized sales plugin!

You: Add a skill for preparing weekly sales reviews

Claude: I'll create a weekly-review skill. Tell me:

1. What should trigger this skill?
   (e.g., "prepare my weekly review", "weekly sales report")

2. What data should it include?
   (e.g., deals closed, pipeline changes, upcoming meetings)

3. Should it pull from CRM automatically or ask the user for input?

You: Trigger with "weekly review" or "sales report". 
     Pull from HubSpot: deals closed this week, new opportunities,
     stage changes, and upcoming meetings.

Claude: Creating skill with:

**Frontmatter:**
- name: weekly-review
- description: Generate weekly sales review with deal activity, 
  pipeline changes, and upcoming meetings. Trigger with 
  "weekly review", "sales report", or "prepare my weekly review".

**Workflow:**
1. Query HubSpot for current week activity
2. Group by: deals closed, new opps, stage changes
3. Pull calendar for upcoming meetings
4. Generate formatted summary

**Output:** Structured review with metrics and action items

Looks good?

You: Add a command for qualifying leads

Claude: I'll create a lead qualification command. Tell me:

1. What arguments should it accept?
   (e.g., company name, contact name, file with lead data)

2. What should it output?
   (e.g., score, recommendation, research summary)

You: It should take a company name and optionally a contact name.
     Output a qualification score (A/B/C/D) with reasoning.

Claude: Creating command:

**File:** commands/qualify-lead.md

**Frontmatter:**
- description: Qualify a lead with research and scoring
- argument-hint: "<company> [contact-name]"

**Usage:**
/qualify-lead <company> [contact-name]

**Workflow:**
1. Research company (size, industry, funding)
2. Check if existing customer or past opportunity (CRM)
3. Look up contact if provided
4. Score based on ICP fit (A: strong, B: moderate, C: weak, D: poor)
5. Output reasoning and next steps

Good?

You: Connect to our Snowflake data warehouse

Claude: I'll add Snowflake as an MCP server. A few questions:

1. Do you want to use the standard Snowflake MCP server 
   or a custom one?

2. Should I use environment variables for credentials?

You: Use the standard server with environment variables

Claude: Adding to .mcp.json:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "snowflake": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.snowflake.com/mcp",
      "env": {
        "SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT": "${SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT}",
        "SNOWFLAKE_USER": "${SNOWFLAKE_USER}",
        "SNOWFLAKE_PASSWORD": "${SNOWFLAKE_PASSWORD}"
      }
    }
  }
}

export SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT="your-account"
export SNOWFLAKE_USER="your-user" 
export SNOWFLAKE_PASSWORD="your-password"

## Best Practices

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Start simple, iterate">
    Begin with minimal components (1-2 skills, 1 command). Add more after testing the basics.
  </Accordion>
  
  <Accordion title="Be specific in descriptions">
    The more specific your skill/command descriptions, the better Claude knows when to use them.
  </Accordion>
  
  <Accordion title="Test without connectors first">
    Ensure skills work standalone before adding MCP dependencies.
  </Accordion>
  
  <Accordion title="Document your customizations">
    Keep notes on what you changed and why — helps future updates.
  </Accordion>
  
  <Accordion title="Version your plugins">
    When making significant changes, increment the version number in plugin.json.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Validation and Packaging

Before delivering your plugin, the management plugin:

1. **Validates** the plugin structure using `claude plugin validate`
2. **Fixes** any errors or warnings
3. **Packages** as a `.plugin` file (zip archive)
4. **Delivers** with a preview you can browse and accept

The validation checks:
- Required files exist (plugin.json, etc.)
- JSON syntax is valid
- Frontmatter is properly formatted
- Required fields are present
- File naming follows conventions

## Installation

After Claude delivers your `.plugin` file:

<Steps>

<Step title="Review the plugin">
  Click the delivered file to see a preview with all files and content.
</Step>

<Step title="Accept the plugin">
  Click the "Accept" or "Install" button in the preview.
</Step>

<Step title="Configure connectors">
  Go to Settings → Plugins → Your Plugin to connect MCP servers.
</Step>

<Step title="Test it out">
  Try triggering skills and invoking commands to verify everything works.
</Step>

</Steps>

## Iterating on Plugins

After creating a plugin, you can continue the conversation to refine it:

## When to Use Plugin Management

| Scenario | Approach |
|----------|----------|
| Installing marketplace plugin for first time | Use **Customize** workflow |
| Building plugin for unique workflow | Use **Create** workflow |
| Adding a single skill to existing plugin | Use **Create** workflow, specify "add skill" |
| Changing tool configurations | Use **Customize** workflow |
| Updating workflows for your process | Edit files directly or use **Customize** |
| Sharing plugin with team | Package with **Create** workflow |

## Advanced: Distributable Plugins

If you're creating a plugin for others outside your organization, Claude can use `~~` placeholders:

## Troubleshooting

| Issue | Solution |
|-------|----------|
| Claude can't find installed plugin | May be in remote container; customization only works in desktop app |
| Validation fails | Check error message, fix syntax or missing fields |
| Skills not triggering | Make description more specific with clear trigger phrases |
| MCP servers not connecting | Verify URLs, check authentication, ensure env vars are set |
| Plugin package too large | Move reference content to separate files, remove unused assets |

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Getting Started" icon="rocket" href="/building/getting-started">
    Learn the basics of how plugins work
  </Card>
  <Card title="Creating Skills" icon="brain" href="/building/creating-skills">
    Deep dive into writing effective skills
  </Card>
  <Card title="Creating Commands" icon="terminal" href="/building/creating-commands">
    Learn command structure and best practices
  </Card>
  <Card title="Plugin Structure" icon="folder-tree" href="/building/plugin-structure">
    Understand the complete plugin file structure
  </Card>
</CardGroup>