How to Install a Specific Community Plugin in Claude Code

Add the anthropics/claude-plugins-community marketplace to Claude Code using the CLI, then install any plugin by its declared name and namespace to automatically load its skill files.

The anthropics/claude-plugins-community repository is a read-only mirror of the Claude Code plugin marketplace, where each community extension contains a plugin.json descriptor and a bundled SKILL.md file. To install a specific community plugin in Claude Code, you register the marketplace source once, then resolve and install individual plugins by their unique identifiers defined in their respective .claude-plugin/plugin.json files.

Step 1: Register the Community Marketplace

Before installing any specific plugin, you must register the community marketplace so Claude Code can resolve plugin names against the master index.

Run the following command to add the marketplace:

claude plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community

This command registers the marketplace index located at .claude-plugin/marketplace.json in the repository root, which contains metadata for all available community plugins.

Step 2: Install the Specific Plugin

Once the marketplace is added, install a specific plugin using the /plugin install slash command followed by the plugin name and its namespace (as defined in the plugin's plugin.json).

For example, to install the quickdesign plugin, run:

/plugin install quickdesign@quickdesign

Claude Code queries the marketplace index to locate the plugin's source files, including its SKILL.md and configuration documents stored under quickdesign/.claude-plugin/.

What Happens Under the Hood

When you execute the install command, Claude Code performs the following actions:

• Downloads skill files – The plugin's SKILL.md and any reference documents are copied to ~/.claude/skills/<plugin-name>/.
• Automatic activation – The skill becomes available automatically in the next Claude Code session without requiring a restart.
• Metadata resolution – Claude Code reads the plugin's capabilities from <plugin>/.claude-plugin/plugin.json to register available commands.

Handling External CLI Dependencies

Some community plugins require separate CLI binaries to function. For example, the QuickDesign plugin depends on its own command-line tool for image and video generation.

Install such binaries separately:

npm install -g @quickdesign/cli

The plugin's SKILL.md will specify any external dependencies required beyond the Claude Code skill files.

Managing and Removing Plugins

Keep your plugins current or remove them using the built-in management commands:

• Update the marketplace to fetch the latest versions:

  /plugin marketplace update

• Uninstall a plugin to remove its skill files from ~/.claude/skills/:

  /plugin uninstall <plugin-name>

Complete Installation Workflow

# 1. Add the community marketplace (required once)

claude plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community

# 2. Install a specific plugin (example: quickdesign)

/plugin install quickdesign@quickdesign

# 3. Install external CLI if required (plugin-specific)

npm install -g @quickdesign/cli

# 4. Verify installation

claude plugin list
claude plugin info quickdesign

Summary

• Register the marketplace source first using claude plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community to enable resolution of community plugins.
• Install specific plugins via /plugin install <name>@<namespace>, referencing the identifier declared in the plugin's .claude-plugin/plugin.json.
• Skill files automatically download to ~/.claude/skills/<plugin>/ and activate on the next session.
• Some plugins require separate CLI binary installation (e.g., via npm install -g).
• Use /plugin marketplace update to refresh available versions and /plugin uninstall <name> to remove plugins.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are community plugins stored after installation?

Claude Code downloads the plugin's SKILL.md and supporting documents into ~/.claude/skills/<plugin-name>/ on your local filesystem. These files persist across sessions and load automatically when you start Claude Code.

Can I install plugins without adding the community marketplace first?

No. You must first execute claude plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community so Claude Code can resolve plugin names against the master index defined in .claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Without this registration step, the plugin install command cannot locate community plugins.

Why do some plugins require additional CLI tools?

Certain plugins, such as QuickDesign, ship only the Claude Code skill definition (SKILL.md) while delegating actual computation to external binaries. You must install these separately (for example, npm install -g @quickdesign/cli) because the skill itself contains only the prompts and command definitions, not the execution engine.

How do I update a community plugin to the latest version?

Run /plugin marketplace update to refresh the marketplace index from the repository and pull the latest plugin versions. This updates the metadata in your local environment according to the source files in anthropics/claude-plugins-community.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}