Plugin feature support across platforms

You can install the same plugin folder everywhere you use Claude, but chat, Cowork, and Claude Code each load a different subset of what the folder can contain. A surface skips a component it doesn’t load, so a plugin can look complete in one place and partial in another. This page is for anyone checking a component or behavior before relying on it, whether you’re installing a plugin, building one, or submitting one to the directory.

If you want to install and manage plugins, see Plugins
If you’re building a plugin, see Plugin structure and testing
If you run Claude Desktop on your own model provider, see its Feature matrix for feature availability
If you want to know where MCP Apps render, see Add interactive UI with MCP Apps

Compare component support by app

The tables on this page use these column names:

Chat: conversations in claude.ai on the web, in the Claude desktop app, and in the mobile apps
Cowork: Cowork tasks in the desktop app
Claude Code: the terminal, the IDE extensions, and the desktop app’s Code tab

A component marked “Ignored” is skipped on that surface, and a component marked “Can’t be installed” makes that surface refuse the whole plugin.

Component	Chat	Cowork	Claude Code	Notes
Skills (`skills/<name>/SKILL.md`)	Loads	Loads	Loads	Create custom skills
Commands (`commands/*.md`)	Loads as a skill; Claude applies it when it fits	Loads; you run it by typing `/plugin-name:command`	Loads
Agents (`agents/*.md`)	Ignored	Loads	Loads
Hooks (`hooks/hooks.json`)	Ignored	Loads	Loads	Hooks in the Claude Code docs
Remote MCP server, `http` or `sse` with a fixed URL	Listed on the plugin’s Connectors tab; works once you add or connect it there	Loads; connect it from the plugin’s Connectors tab	Loads	Bundle a connector with its skill
Local MCP server, a command the app starts, including `.mcpb` bundles	Ignored	Loads when the Cowork session runs on your computer	Loads	On the web, the plugin’s Connectors tab marks it Runs in each session
MCP server that references `${user_config.*}` values	Ignored when the URL contains the reference	Ignored when a referenced option has no default; Cowork doesn’t prompt for values	Loads; prompts you for the values	User configuration
Executables in a top-level `bin/` directory	Can’t be installed	Can’t be installed	Loads
LSP servers, output styles, themes, `settings`	Ignored	Ignored	Loads	Plugin components

When you submit a plugin to the directory, the portal derives the surfaces it supports from these same rules and shows them to you before you submit.

Compare installation, sync, and admin controls

Chat and Cowork read plugins from your claude.ai account, and Claude Code reads them from the machine it runs on.

	Chat and Cowork	Claude Code	Notes
Where you add plugins	Customize > Plugins in claude.ai or the desktop app	`/plugin` in a session, or `claude plugin install`	Plugins, Install plugins
What an install is attached to	Your account, for the organization you’re in	The machine, at user, project, or local scope
Which way installs travel	A plugin you install on your account also appears in Claude Code as a synced plugin at the next session start	A plugin you install from the command line stays on that machine and isn’t added to your account	Synced plugins
Hosts for a marketplace you add yourself	GitHub and GitHub Enterprise repositories, and public GitLab and Bitbucket repositories	Any Git repository, GitHub shorthand, URL, or local path	Repositories your organization syncs to distribute plugins follow different rules
Marketplace and plugin limits	Up to 25 marketplaces that you add yourself, counted for your account in each organization. Each plugin can contain up to 5,000 files and 200 MB, and 200 MB is also the largest file that Upload plugin accepts.	No account limits apply; installs are per machine
Install from a file	Add > Upload plugin with a zip of the folder	`claude --plugin-dir <path>` for one session	Plugin structure and testing
Browse the directory	Discover in Customize > Plugins, on Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans. On Team and Enterprise plans, an Owner can remove the directory as a source for the organization.	Not in `/plugin`; a plugin added from the directory on claude.ai reaches Claude Code as a synced plugin	Publish to the directory
Organization controls	An Owner sets each plugin to Not available, Available to install, Installed by default, or Required	In managed settings, an admin allowlists or blocks marketplaces and force-installs plugins	Manage plugins for your organization, and the Claude Code equivalent

Plugin structure and testing: lay out the plugin folder and write the manifest that all three surfaces load
Plugin components in the Claude Code docs: look up every component type, including the Claude Code-only ones
Manage plugins for your organization: as an Owner, set each plugin’s availability for members

Build a plugin

Build an MCP server

Add interactive UI with MCP Apps

Publish to the directory

Plugin feature support across platforms

Compare component support by app

Compare installation, sync, and admin controls

​Compare component support by app

​Compare installation, sync, and admin controls

​Related resources

Compare component support by app

Compare installation, sync, and admin controls

Related resources