> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://claude.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# MCP, plugins, skills, and hooks

> Extend Claude Desktop on 3P with connectors, organization plugins, skills, and hooks for administrators and end users

Claude Desktop on third-party (3P) supports the same extensibility model as standard Claude Desktop ([MCP connectors](/connectors/overview), [skills](/skills/overview), and [plugins](/plugins/overview)), 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:

| Layer                | Provisioned by | Delivered via                          |
| -------------------- | -------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| Managed MCP servers  | Admin          | `managedMcpServers` configuration key  |
| Organization plugins | Admin          | A system-wide directory on each device |
| User extensions      | End user       | In-app Connectors and Plugins UI       |

Admins can disable the user layer entirely; see [Controlling user extensions](#controlling-user-extensions).

## Managed MCP servers (admin)

Use the `managedMcpServers` configuration key to deploy MCP servers (remote HTTP/SSE or local stdio command) 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`).

```json theme={null}
[
  {
    "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](/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#managedmcpservers) in the configuration reference for every field, including static headers, OAuth, and the headers-helper executable for short-lived tokens.

In the in-app configuration window, each server you add under **Connectors & extensions** has a **Test this connection** button that runs a live MCP `initialize` and `tools/list` against the server using the headers or OAuth settings you've entered, then shows the round-trip latency, the discovered tool list, or the error returned. Use it to validate reachability and credentials before exporting the configuration.

### Supported MCP servers

Any MCP server reachable from the user's device over HTTPS works with Claude Desktop on 3P, including public servers from third parties and internal servers you build and host (including on internal gateways).

The [Claude connector directory](https://claude.com/connectors) is the canonical catalog of vetted servers. **Every connector in the directory that is not labeled "Made by Anthropic" is accessible in Claude Desktop 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 Claude Desktop.

### Recommended MCP servers

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.

#### Productivity suites

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Google Workspace" icon="google" href="https://developers.google.com/workspace/guides/configure-mcp-servers">
    Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, and more via Google's own Workspace MCP servers. See [Google's setup guide](https://developers.google.com/workspace/guides/configure-mcp-servers) to get started.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Microsoft 365" icon="microsoft" href="/third-party/claude-desktop/connectors-m365">
    Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams. Requires registering an app in your Entra tenant and an Anthropic allowlist step.
  </Card>
</Columns>

#### Collaboration and knowledge work

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

<Columns cols={3}>
  <Card title="Atlassian" href="https://www.atlassian.com/platform/remote-mcp-server">
    Jira, Confluence, and Compass via the Atlassian Rovo MCP Server.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Notion" href="https://www.notion.com/help/mcp-connections-for-custom-agents">
    Pages, databases, and search.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Linear" href="https://linear.app/docs/mcp">
    Issues, projects, and cycles.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Asana" href="https://developers.asana.com/docs/mcp-server">
    Tasks, projects, and goals.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Box" href="https://developer.box.com/guides/box-mcp/">
    Files and document management. Requires a pre-registered Box Custom App; set `oauth` to an object with `clientId`, `clientSecret`, and `authorizationServer: ["https://api.box.com"]` rather than `true`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="GitHub" href="https://github.com/github/github-mcp-server">
    Repositories, issues, and pull requests.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Salesforce" href="https://github.com/salesforcecli/mcp">
    CRM records and Apex.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Hex" href="https://learn.hex.tech/docs/administration/mcp-server">
    Notebooks and analytics projects.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Stripe" href="https://docs.stripe.com/mcp">
    Payments, customers, and invoices.
  </Card>
</Columns>

#### Financial services

Vendor-published MCP servers from the [Claude connector directory](https://claude.com/connectors). Each requires an account or data license with the respective vendor.

<Columns cols={3}>
  <Card title="FactSet" href="https://claude.com/connectors">
    Institutional financial data and analytics.
  </Card>

  <Card title="LSEG" href="https://claude.com/connectors">
    Multi-asset-class data and analytics.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Moody's Analytics" href="https://claude.com/connectors">
    Risk insights and decision intelligence.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Morningstar" href="https://claude.com/connectors">
    Investment and market insights.
  </Card>

  <Card title="MSCI" href="https://claude.com/connectors">
    Index and ESG data.
  </Card>

  <Card title="PitchBook" href="https://claude.com/connectors">
    Private-market and deal data.
  </Card>

  <Card title="CB Insights" href="https://claude.com/connectors">
    Private-company intelligence.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Daloopa" href="https://claude.com/connectors">
    Fundamental data and KPIs with source links.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Aiera" href="https://claude.com/connectors">
    Earnings calls, filings, and company publications.
  </Card>

  <Card title="MT Newswires" href="https://claude.com/connectors">
    Real-time financial news.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Brex" href="https://claude.com/connectors">
    Spend management and finance automation.
  </Card>

  <Card title="EdgarTools" href="https://www.edgartools.io/edgartools-mcp-for-sec-filings/">
    SEC EDGAR filings, statements, and insider trading. Open source; no license required.
  </Card>
</Columns>

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](https://claude.com/connectors).

## Organization plugins (admin)

[Plugins](/plugins/overview) bundle MCP connectors, skills, slash commands, hooks, and sub-agents into a single directory. In Claude Desktop 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.

### Plugin directory location

| Platform | Path                                               |
| -------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| macOS    | `/Library/Application Support/Claude/org-plugins/` |
| Windows  | `C:\Program Files\Claude\org-plugins\`             |

On Windows, the directory is under `Program Files` (not `ProgramData`) so that only administrators can create or modify it. Claude Desktop treats the presence of this directory as an admin-provisioned source.

### Plugin structure

Each subdirectory of `org-plugins/` is one plugin. The directory name is the plugin's canonical name.

```text theme={null}
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
```

| File                         | Purpose                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `.claude-plugin/plugin.json` | **Required.** Plugin manifest (name, description, version). Directories without this file are ignored.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| `version.json`               | `{"version": "1.2.3"}`. When this string changes, Claude Desktop 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.json`                  | MCP servers bundled with this plugin. A JSON object keyed by server name: `{"mcpServers": {"<name>": {"type": "http", "url": "...", "oauth": true}}}`. Each entry uses `type` (`http` or `sse`), not `transport`, and supports `url`, `headers`, and `oauth` only; `toolPolicy`, `headersHelper`, and `headersHelperTtlSec` are not read from this file. |
| `agents/`                    | Sub-agent definitions.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| `commands/`                  | Slash-command definitions.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| `skills/`                    | [Skill](/skills/overview) directories.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| `hooks/`                     | Hook definitions that run on agent lifecycle events.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |

See the [plugins reference](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins) for the full file format of each component, including the hooks schema.

<Note>
  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.
</Note>

<Note>
  MCP servers declared in a plugin's `.mcp.json` don't carry a `toolPolicy` field in the plugin file itself. To lock tools on a plugin-delivered server, set [`orgPluginSettings`](/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#orgpluginsettings) in managed configuration, keyed on the server's `name`.
</Note>

### Auto-installing organization plugins

By default, organization plugins appear in the user's plugin browser as available to install, and each user opts in. To install a plugin automatically for every user, set `installationPreference` in the plugin's `.claude-plugin/plugin.json`:

```json theme={null}
{
  "name": "code-reviewer",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Internal code review assistant",
  "installationPreference": "required"
}
```

| Value                      | Behavior                                                                                                                                              |
| -------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `"required"`               | Installs automatically when the user signs in. The Uninstall action is hidden. If the plugin is removed from disk, it reinstalls on the next sign-in. |
| `"auto_install"`           | Installs automatically when the user signs in. Users can uninstall it, and it stays uninstalled for that user.                                        |
| `"available"` (or omitted) | Default. Users install manually from the plugin browser.                                                                                              |

This mirrors the installation preference behavior of remote-managed plugins on Claude.ai. Changing a plugin's `installationPreference` takes effect the next time each user signs in.

### 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

## 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](/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage) and apply only to that device.

## Controlling user extensions

Admins can restrict or disable each user-extension surface independently via managed configuration:

| Key                                   | Effect when `false`                                                         |
| ------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `isLocalDevMcpEnabled`                | Users cannot add their own local MCP servers from **Settings → Developer**. |
| `isDesktopExtensionEnabled`           | Users cannot install local `.mcpb` desktop extensions.                      |
| `isDesktopExtensionSignatureRequired` | (When `true`) Unsigned `.mcpb` extensions are rejected.                     |

Setting the first two 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](/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#recommended-security-profiles) for a complete example.

## Related topics

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Code tab" icon="code" href="/third-party/claude-desktop/code">
    How extensions and managed settings reach the embedded Claude Code engine.
  </Card>

  <Card title="MCP in Claude Code" icon="terminal" href="https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp">
    Configure MCP servers for the standalone Claude Code CLI.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Claude Code plugins" icon="terminal" href="https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins">
    Plugin structure, marketplaces, and management for Claude Code.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Managed MCP in Claude Code" icon="terminal" href="https://code.claude.com/docs/en/managed-mcp">
    Restrict which MCP servers Claude Code users can add.
  </Card>
</Columns>