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A plugin is one install that bundles skills, MCP servers, commands and hooks from a single source. A marketplace is a git repo that publishes an index of plugins. This guide installs a plugin from a marketplace, then forks one of its parts so you can change it.

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Before you start

  • You can sign in to the Pinework dashboard.
  • For the CLI tab, you have run pinework login.
  • A signed-in person installs a plugin or adds a marketplace. When an agent in a run tries, Pinework raises an approval instead. The change applies after you approve it.

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Install a plugin from a marketplace

Every workspace starts with two built-in marketplaces. claude-plugins-official shows as Anthropic official plugins. cursor-plugins shows as Cursor official plugins.
1

Open the catalog

Click Customize in the sidebar. On the Plugins tab, click Add plugin. The Add a plugin page opens on Anthropic official plugins.
2

Add another marketplace (optional)

Click Marketplaces. Paste the repo URL, such as https://github.com/owner/repo, and click Add. You see an “Added” toast with the number of plugins it offers. Pick it in the marketplace picker.
3

Pick a plugin

Search with Search the catalog or filter by category. Click a plugin card. The dialog lists what it bundles.
4

Install it

Click Install followed by the plugin’s name. You see an “Installed” toast. Sometimes you see “Installing” first, and the plugin appears shortly after.
5

Check it

Click Done. The plugin now appears on the Plugins tab of Customize.
You can also paste an install command into the box under the tabs on the Plugins tab. It accepts commands such as claude plugin install <plugin>@<marketplace> or a plugin’s GitHub link. Click Install, check the summary, then click Install again.

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What the install turns on

  • The plugin’s skills are on for every agent in the workspace.
  • Its MCP servers arrive switched off. To turn one on, open its More actions menu on the MCP Servers tab and click Enable.
  • Its hooks do not run. The plugin’s detail lists them, with no way to turn them on.
  • Installing a plugin again from its marketplace updates it in place. Pasting the same GitHub link again fails, because the plugin already exists.
  • To switch the whole plugin off, open its More actions menu on the Plugins tab and click Disable. In the CLI, run pinework plugin update <plugin-id> --enabled false.

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Fork a part to change it

The parts a plugin installs are read-only. Pinework refuses edits to a plugin’s skill, MCP server or command. To change one, install your own copy and turn the original off. These steps fork a skill.
1

Copy the skill's source

Fork or copy the plugin’s source repo into a public GitHub repo you control. Edit the skill’s SKILL.md there.
2

Install your copy

In Customize, open the Skills tab. Paste an npx skills command into the box under the tabs, then click Install.
Check the summary and click Install again. You see a toast such as “Installed 1 skill from your-org/your-repo”.
3

Turn the original off

On the Skills tab, find the plugin’s version of the skill. Open its More actions menu and click Disable.
Your copy does not belong to the plugin. Refreshing the plugin updates its own parts and leaves your copy alone. The original stays off after a refresh. Uninstalling the plugin removes the original but keeps your copy. To fork an MCP server, add your own server and switch off the plugin’s one. See Add an MCP server.

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Troubleshooting

The catalog says some entries “can’t be installed”. Click the note to expand it. Each entry shows the reason Pinework skips it. Adding a marketplace fails with “No marketplace index found in”. The repo has no plugin index Pinework can read. Pinework looks for .agents/plugins/marketplace.json, .claude-plugin/marketplace.json and .cursor-plugin/marketplace.json. To install one plugin from its own repo, paste its GitHub link into the install box instead. Editing a plugin’s skill fails with “owned by a plugin and is read-only”. That is expected. Follow the fork steps above. Your copy is skipped because the slug is taken. Another skill of yours already uses that slug. Rename the skill in your copy, or delete the old one first. A plugin’s skill never blocks your copy’s slug.

Plugins and skills

How plugins, skills and marketplaces fit together.

Add an MCP server

Turn on or add the MCP servers your agents use.