Claude's New Plugin Directory Portal: A Developer Guide
September 27, 2026
Anthropic opened a self-service submission portal for Claude plugins on September 25, 2026, letting any developer on a paid Claude plan submit a plugin without waiting on a manual review queue. It runs from claude.ai/directory/manage/new and covers everything from automated validation through safety review to a live listing. It also lands two days after Anthropic launched the Claude Marketplace, the customer-facing catalog where those plugins actually show up.
Key Takeaways
- Anthropic opened a public submission portal for Claude plugins on September 25, 2026, open to developers on paid Claude plans
- You can submit a single remote MCP connector, or a GitHub-hosted plugin bundle combining MCP servers and Agent Skills
- Every submission gets automated validation and a safety scan right away, with review status and feedback visible in the portal
- Approval doesn't auto-publish — you choose when your plugin goes live, then get install and discovery analytics afterward
- The portal follows the September 23 launch of the Claude Marketplace, which listed more than 2,000 connectors and plugins on day one
What is the Claude plugin directory submission portal?
It's the pipeline Anthropic built for getting a plugin from your local folder into the Claude directory. A plugin packages an MCP connector, Agent Skills, or both, and it's the main format for third-party extensions across claude.ai, the desktop and mobile apps, Cowork, and Claude Code. Submit through the portal, and once Anthropic approves it, it shows up in the directory at claude.ai/directory where anyone on a paid plan can add it.
What are the two ways to submit a plugin?
The first is a single MCP connector: you point the portal at your remote MCP server. The second is a plugin bundle, where you combine MCP servers and skills, host the result on GitHub, and submit the repo. If you're building specifically for Claude Code, a plugin bundle can also carry LSPs, commands, hooks, and agents — pieces that only make sense in that terminal and IDE environment.
What happens after you submit?
Three things, in order. First, automated validation and a safety scan run as soon as you submit, so structural problems surface immediately rather than after a human reviewer gets to your submission. Second, the portal shows you where the plugin sits in review, the safety scan results, and any changes Anthropic recommends. Third, once it's approved, publishing isn't automatic — you decide when the listing actually goes live. After that, usage analytics track installs by product surface and version, and discovery analytics show listing views and the searches that lead people to it.
What can you check locally before submitting?
Most of the tooling for this lives in Claude Code, Anthropic's command-line coding tool. If you haven't built the MCP server side of a plugin before, our guide to setting up a secure local MCP server covers the basics before you package it into a plugin. Once you have something to test, two commands do most of the work:
claude plugin validate ./my-plugin
claude --plugin-dir ./my-plugin
The first checks your manifest and component files for structural problems before you push anything. The second starts a Claude Code session with your plugin loaded from a local folder, so you can try its skills and commands without a repository yet. There's also claude plugin eval for running test cases against the plugin (each run counts against your usage or API bill, since it's a real model call), and /skill-doctor inside a session to see what each installed skill costs in context and how often Claude actually invokes it.
How does this fit with the new Claude Marketplace?
Two days before the submission portal opened, Anthropic launched the Claude Marketplace: a single destination bringing plugins and connectors, purchasable agents and products, and consulting partners together. It launched with more than 2,000 connectors and plugins already available, including Atlassian, Google, Microsoft, Notion, and Salesforce. Alongside those, customers can put a portion of their committed Anthropic spend toward Claude-powered products from companies like CrowdStrike, Cursor, Harvey, Legora, Lovable, and Snowflake, or connect with a systems integrator through the Claude Partner Network. The submission portal is the pipeline that feeds new plugin listings into that marketplace.
Do existing skills and connectors need to change?
No. Skills and MCP connectors remain valid building blocks on their own, and the directory keeps listing them alongside plugins. If you already have a skill, connector, or plugin listed, Anthropic says you don't need to do anything differently. The one thing to watch for: Anthropic says connector listings will eventually be convertible into full plugins, though that isn't available yet.
Wrapping Up
If a review process with no visibility has kept you from bothering with a Claude plugin, that's less of an excuse now. Lay out the plugin, run claude plugin validate against it locally, and submit through the portal — you'll actually see where it stands instead of waiting on an email back.
Sources
Anthropic — Build plugins for Claude
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can submit a plugin to the Claude directory?
Developers on a paid Claude plan, through the portal at claude.ai/directory/manage/new.
What are the two ways to submit a plugin?
A single remote MCP connector, or a plugin bundle hosted on GitHub that combines MCP servers and Agent Skills. Claude Code plugins can also include LSPs, commands, hooks, and agents.
Does approval mean the plugin goes live automatically?
No. Once a submission is approved, the developer decides when to actually publish it in the directory.
What analytics do you get once a plugin is published?
Install counts broken down by product surface and version, plus how often the listing is viewed and which searches led people to it.
How is the submission portal different from the Claude Marketplace?
The Marketplace, launched September 23, 2026, is the customer-facing catalog of plugins, connectors, purchasable agents, and consulting partners. The submission portal is the developer-facing pipeline that gets a plugin listed there.
Can you test a plugin before submitting it?
Yes. claude plugin validate checks the manifest and files, and claude --plugin-dir loads the plugin from a local folder so you can try its skills and commands in a Claude Code session first.