Plugin
An extension that adds capabilities to an AI tool (skills, MCP servers, hooks).
Why it matters
Plugins make AI tools extensible. Build your own skills and customize agent behavior.
In practice
Our Claude Code uses 10+ plugins: Vercel, Playwright, context7, Linear, and custom plugins for commits and code review.
Related terms
Skill
A reusable instruction set that teaches an agent a specific workflow.
Hooks
Scripts that fire automatically at lifecycle events for deterministic control over AI behavior.
MCP (Model Context Protocol)
An open standard for connecting AI tools to external services. "USB-C for AI."
Claude Code
Anthropic's agentic coding tool that runs in the terminal, understands codebases, and executes tasks autonomously.