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Cowork on third-party (3P) supports the same extensibility model as standard Cowork (MCP connectors, skills, and plugins), with the key difference that administrators provision them through the filesystem and managed configuration rather than the claude.ai admin console. There are three layers, in order of precedence:
LayerProvisioned byDelivered via
Managed MCP serversAdminmanagedMcpServers configuration key
Organization pluginsAdminA system-wide directory on each device
User extensionsEnd userIn-app Connectors and Plugins UI
Admins can disable the user layer entirely; see Controlling user extensions.

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Managed MCP servers (admin)

Use the managedMcpServers configuration key to deploy remote MCP servers to every device. These appear in the user’s connector list automatically, can’t be removed by the user, and support per-tool policy locks (allow / ask / blocked). 
[
  {
    "name": "internal-search",
    "url": "https://mcp.example.corp",
    "oauth": true,
    "toolPolicy": { "search": "allow", "delete_document": "blocked" }
  },
  {
    "name": "ticketing",
    "url": "https://tickets.example.corp/mcp",
    "headersHelper": "/usr/local/bin/corp-sso-token",
    "headersHelperTtlSec": 900
  }
]
See the managedMcpServers schema in the configuration reference for every field, including static headers, OAuth, and the headers-helper executable for short-lived tokens.

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Supported MCP servers

Any MCP server reachable from the user’s device over HTTPS works with Cowork on 3P, including public servers from third parties and internal servers you build and host (including on internal gateways). The Claude connector directory is the canonical catalog of vetted servers. Every connector in the directory that is not labeled “Made by Anthropic” is accessible in Cowork on 3P and can be deployed via managedMcpServers or installed by users. Connectors labeled “Made by Anthropic” are hosted on Anthropic infrastructure and are available only in standard Cowork. The grids below highlight commonly used servers from the directory. Most require an account or license with the vendor; the MCP server itself accesses data through your existing entitlement.

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Productivity suites

Google Workspace

Google Workspace is not currently supported in Cowork on 3P, but will be available soon. We will update our docs when it becomes available.

Microsoft 365

The Anthropic M365 Connectors are not currently supported in Cowork on 3P, but will be available soon. We will update our docs when they become available.

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Collaboration and knowledge work

Vendor-hosted remote MCP servers. Add them to managedMcpServers with "oauth": true; users authenticate with their existing vendor account.

Atlassian

Jira, Confluence, and Compass via the Atlassian Rovo MCP Server.

Notion

Pages, databases, and search.

Linear

Issues, projects, and cycles.

Asana

Tasks, projects, and goals.

Box

Files and document management.

GitHub

Repositories, issues, and pull requests.

Salesforce

CRM records and Apex.

Hex

Notebooks and analytics projects.

Stripe

Payments, customers, and invoices.

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Financial services

Vendor-published MCP servers from the Claude connector directory. Each requires an account or data license with the respective vendor.

FactSet

Institutional financial data and analytics.

LSEG

Multi-asset-class data and analytics.

Moody's Analytics

Risk insights and decision intelligence.

Morningstar

Investment and market insights.

MSCI

Index and ESG data.

PitchBook

Private-market and deal data.

CB Insights

Private-company intelligence.

Daloopa

Fundamental data and KPIs with source links.

Aiera

Earnings calls, filings, and company publications.

MT Newswires

Real-time financial news.

Brex

Spend management and finance automation.

EdgarTools

SEC EDGAR filings, statements, and insider trading. Open source; no license required.
For licensed data sources without a public MCP server (S&P Capital IQ, internal research databases), build an internal MCP server against your existing API entitlements and deploy it via managedMcpServers. For the full catalog of vetted servers across all categories, browse the Claude connector directory.

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Organization plugins (admin)

Plugins bundle MCP connectors, skills, slash commands, hooks, and sub-agents into a single directory. In Cowork on 3P, admins distribute plugins by placing them in a system-wide directory on each device, typically via the same MDM or software-distribution channel used for the app itself.

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Plugin directory location

PlatformPath
macOS/Library/Application Support/Claude/org-plugins/
WindowsC:\Program Files\Claude\org-plugins\
On Windows, the directory is under Program Files (not ProgramData) so that only administrators can create or modify it. Cowork treats the presence of this directory as an admin-provisioned source.

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Plugin structure

Each subdirectory of org-plugins/ is one plugin. The directory name is the plugin’s canonical name. 
org-plugins/
└── code-reviewer/
    ├── .claude-plugin/
    │   └── plugin.json
    ├── version.json
    ├── .mcp.json
    ├── agents/
    │   └── code-reviewer.md
    ├── commands/
    │   └── find-all-bugs.md
    └── skills/
        └── security-review/
            └── SKILL.md
FilePurpose
.claude-plugin/plugin.jsonRequired. Plugin manifest (name, description, version). Directories without this file are ignored.
version.json{"version": "1.2.3"}. When this string changes, Cowork re-syncs the plugin on next launch. Any string change triggers re-sync (there’s no semver ordering, so a downgrade is just another version string). If absent, the directory’s modification time is used instead.
.mcp.jsonMCP servers bundled with this plugin, in the same object format as managedMcpServers.
agents/Sub-agent definitions.
commands/Slash-command definitions.
skills/Skill directories.
hooks/Hook definitions that run on agent lifecycle events.
See the plugins reference for the full file format of each component, including the hooks schema.
Symlinks inside a plugin are followed as long as the target resolves to a path inside the plugin directory. Symlinks that point outside the plugin (for example, skills/foo/SKILL.md → /etc/hosts) are skipped. A symlinked top-level plugin directory (for example, org-plugins/my-plugin → /opt/shared/my-plugin) is also followed.
MCP servers declared in a plugin’s .mcp.json do not inherit the per-tool policy locks (toolPolicy) that managedMcpServers supports. If you need to lock specific tools to allow or blocked, deploy that server via managedMcpServers instead of bundling it in a plugin.

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Updating organization plugins

To roll out a new version of a plugin:
  1. Update the plugin contents in org-plugins/<name>/ via your software-distribution tool
  2. Bump the version string in version.json
  3. Users pick up the change on their next app launch

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User extensions

Unless restricted by an admin, end users can add their own extensions through the in-app UI:
  • Plugins — install plugins (which can bundle skills, hooks, slash commands, and sub-agents) from the Plugins settings page
  • Connectors — install local desktop extensions (.mcpb) from the Connectors settings page
  • Local MCP servers — add local MCP server processes from Settings → Developer, when enabled by the admin
End users cannot add remote MCP servers; remote servers are available only via admin-provisioned managedMcpServers or organization plugins. User-added extensions are stored in the user’s local data directory and apply only to that device.

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Controlling user extensions

Admins can restrict or disable each user-extension surface independently via managed configuration:
KeyEffect when false
isLocalDevMcpEnabledUsers cannot add their own local MCP servers from Settings → Developer.
isDesktopExtensionEnabledUsers cannot install local .mcpb desktop extensions.
isDesktopExtensionDirectoryEnabledThe Anthropic extension directory is hidden from the Connectors UI.
isDesktopExtensionSignatureRequired(When true) Unsigned .mcpb extensions are rejected.
Setting the first three to false restricts MCP servers and connectors to those delivered through managedMcpServers and org-plugins/. Users can still add their own skills and plugins regardless of these settings. See the Locked down profile for a complete example.