Mar 14, 2026

Getting More Out of Claude Code (2) — Plugins, MCP, and IDE Integration

Introduction

In Part 1, we covered memory, skills, and hooks — ways to make Claude remember you and automate repetitive work.

In Part 2, we expand Claude Code’s reach outward:

Part 1 — Memory + Skills + Hooks
Part 2 — Plugins + MCP + IDE integration (this post)
Part 3 — Sub-agents + Agent Teams
Part 4 — Workflows + Ultrareview + Remote Agents

What we’ll cover:

Plugins: bundle skills, agents, hooks, and MCP servers into shareable packages
MCP: connect external tools like GitHub, Sentry, and databases to Claude
IDE integration: use Claude Code natively inside VS Code and JetBrains

Note: This post was checked against the latest version as of June 2026. Commands, flags, and MCP server endpoints change often, so always confirm install commands against each service’s official docs or claude mcp --help.

TL;DR

Plugins are feature bundles. Package skills, agents, hooks, and external-tool config into one unit to share with your team or community. For solo use, just drop things in .claude/.
MCP connects external tools. Attach hundreds of tools — GitHub, Sentry, databases, Slack — via a standard protocol. Most install in one command.
There are two connection styles. Cloud services connect remotely (HTTP); local tools run as a process on your machine. Remote servers usually authenticate via browser login (OAuth).
When tools pile up, they’re loaded on demand. Instead of loading every tool definition upfront, Claude searches and loads them as needed — on by default — to save context.
Use it right inside your editor. VS Code has a dedicated side panel; JetBrains integrates via a plugin. There’s also a cloud version that runs in the browser with no install.

A plugin packages skills, agents, hooks, and MCP servers into a single unit. You can build your own, or install one someone else made from a marketplace.

1.1 Plugins vs Standalone Config

Approach	Skill name	Best for
Standalone config (`.claude/` dir)	`/hello`	Personal workflow, per-project customization
Plugin (`.claude-plugin/plugin.json`)	`/plugin-name:hello`	Team sharing, community distribution, versioning

For solo use, put things directly in .claude/; to share with a team or community, make a plugin.

1.2 Building a Plugin

Directory structure

my-plugin/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json          # Manifest (required)
├── commands/                # Slash commands
├── skills/                  # Agent skills
│   └── code-review/
│       └── SKILL.md
├── agents/                  # Custom agents
├── hooks/
│   └── hooks.json           # Hook config
├── .mcp.json                # MCP server config
└── settings.json            # Default settings

Writing plugin.json

{
  "name": "my-plugin",
  "description": "Code review automation plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "author": {
    "name": "Your Name"
  }
}

Only name is required; version is optional (if omitted, the git commit SHA is used). author is an object holding name/email/url, not a string. The name becomes the skill namespace, so this plugin’s skill is called as /my-plugin:code-review.

Adding a skill

skills/code-review/SKILL.md:

---
name: code-review
description: Check code quality and security
---

When reviewing code, check:
1. Code structure and readability
2. Error handling
3. Security vulnerabilities
4. Test coverage

Local testing

Before publishing to a marketplace, point at a local directory (or .zip) to test:

# Start Claude Code loading ./my-plugin as a temporary plugin
claude --plugin-dir ./my-plugin

# Test multiple plugins at once
claude --plugin-dir ./plugin-one --plugin-dir ./plugin-two

# Load from a remote .zip URL for this session only
claude --plugin-url https://example.com/my-plugin.zip

This starts a fresh Claude Code recognizing that folder as a plugin. It’s valid only for that session and disappears when it ends.

Things to test:

The skill appears in the / command list (/my-plugin:code-review)
Agents show up in /agents
Hooks trigger on events
MCP servers connect in /mcp

While developing, edit a file and apply it without restarting via /reload-plugins.

1.3 Installing Plugins & Marketplaces

# Inside Claude Code
/plugin  # Open the plugin manager (Discover / Installed / Marketplaces / Errors tabs)

Note: The canonical command is /plugin (singular). /plugins may work in some environments, but the documented form is /plugin.

Choose an install scope:

Scope	Description
Install for you	Use across all projects (user)
Install for this project	This project only, shared with team (project)
Install locally	This project only, just you (local)

Marketplaces can be added from a GitHub repo (owner/repo), a Git URL, a local path, or a marketplace.json URL. There’s an official marketplace, and you can also build a team-only one.

1.4 Converting Existing Config to a Plugin

If you already have skills or hooks in .claude/, move them into the plugin structure:

mkdir -p my-plugin/.claude-plugin
# After creating plugin.json
cp -r .claude/commands my-plugin/
cp -r .claude/skills my-plugin/
cp -r .claude/agents my-plugin/

2. MCP — Connecting External Tools

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard protocol for connecting Claude Code to external tools. You can connect hundreds of tools: GitHub, Sentry, databases, Slack, and more.

flowchart LR
    cc["Claude Code"]
    subgraph servers["MCP servers"]
      gh["GitHub"]
      sentry["Sentry"]
      db["DB (DBHub)"]
    end
    ext["External service APIs"]

    cc <-->|MCP protocol| servers
    servers <-->|each service API| ext

2.1 What You Can Do with MCP

With an MCP server connected, you can do things like:

Implement the feature described in JIRA ENG-4521 and open a GitHub PR

Check Sentry errors from the last 24 hours and analyze which deploy started them

Query this month's revenue data from PostgreSQL

2.2 Recommended MCP Servers

Useful MCP servers by category. Most install in one command. Endpoints can change, so verify against each service’s official docs before installing.

Development & code management

Server	Transport	Install command
GitHub	HTTP	`claude mcp add --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/`
Sentry	HTTP	`claude mcp add --transport http sentry https://mcp.sentry.dev/mcp`
Context7	stdio	`claude mcp add --transport stdio context7 -- npx -y @upstash/context7-mcp`
Stripe	HTTP	`claude mcp add --transport http stripe https://mcp.stripe.com`

Databases

Server	Transport	Install command
Supabase	HTTP	`claude mcp add --transport http supabase https://mcp.supabase.com/mcp`
DBHub	stdio	`claude mcp add --transport stdio db -- npx -y @bytebase/dbhub --dsn "connection-string"`

DBHub connects PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, and SQLite with a single DSN string. Use a read-only account.

DSN examples:

PostgreSQL: postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/db

MySQL: mysql://user:pass@host:3306/db

SQL Server: sqlserver://user:pass@host:1433/db

SQLite: sqlite:///path/to/db.sqlite

Project management & communication

Server	Transport	Install command
Notion	HTTP	`claude mcp add --transport http notion https://mcp.notion.com/mcp`
Linear	HTTP	`claude mcp add --transport http linear https://mcp.linear.app/mcp`
Atlassian	HTTP	`claude mcp add --transport http atlassian https://mcp.atlassian.com/v1/mcp`
Asana	SSE	`claude mcp add --transport sse asana https://mcp.asana.com/sse`
Slack	HTTP	`claude mcp add --transport http slack https://mcp.slack.com/mcp`

Caution — transport: Asana currently uses an SSE endpoint. But SSE transport is deprecated, so prefer HTTP when a service offers it. Slack doesn’t support dynamic client registration and needs pre-issued OAuth credentials.

The full list is in the MCP server registry. Third-party MCP servers aren’t vetted by Anthropic, so install only trusted ones.

2.3 Installing MCP Servers

HTTP servers (recommended)

# Connect GitHub
claude mcp add --transport http github https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/

# With an auth header
claude mcp add --transport http secure-api https://api.example.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer your-token"

stdio servers (local process)

# Connect PostgreSQL
claude mcp add --transport stdio db -- npx -y @bytebase/dbhub \
  --dsn "postgresql://readonly:pass@prod.db.com:5432/analytics"

# Connect Airtable (inject env var)
claude mcp add --transport stdio --env AIRTABLE_API_KEY=YOUR_KEY airtable \
  -- npx -y airtable-mcp-server

Managing servers

claude mcp list              # List
claude mcp get github        # Details
claude mcp remove github     # Remove
/mcp                         # Status / auth inside Claude Code

2.4 MCP Install Scopes

Scope	Storage	Use for
local (default)	`~/.claude.json`	This project, just you
project	`.mcp.json`	Shared with team (Git)
user	`~/.claude.json`	All projects

# Install for team sharing
claude mcp add --transport http github --scope project \
  https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/

Installing with --scope project creates a .mcp.json; commit it to Git and the whole team gets the same MCP servers. The default is local (just you, current project).

Note: MCP’s local scope storage (~/.claude.json) and Claude Code’s general local settings file (.claude/settings.local.json) are different files. Don’t conflate them.

2.5 OAuth Authentication

Many cloud MCP servers require OAuth:

# Add the server
claude mcp add --transport http sentry https://mcp.sentry.dev/mcp

# Authenticate inside Claude Code
/mcp
# Log in via the browser; it connects automatically

Tokens are stored securely and refreshed automatically.

Create .mcp.json at the project root and commit it to Git so the whole team shares the same MCP config. It supports env var substitution:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "api-server": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "${API_BASE_URL:-https://api.example.com}/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Use ${VAR:-default} for defaults, and keep sensitive values like API keys in environment variables.

2.7 Using Claude Code as an MCP Server

You can turn Claude Code itself into an MCP server:

claude mcp serve

Connect it to Claude Desktop to use Claude Code’s tools (file read, edit, etc.) from Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-code": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "claude",
      "args": ["mcp", "serve"]
    }
  }
}

2.8 MCP Tool Search — Loading Tools On Demand

When you have many MCP servers, the tool definitions crowd the context window. Tool Search doesn’t load every tool upfront; it searches and loads them dynamically as needed, saving context and prompt cache.

On supported models (Sonnet 4+/Opus 4+), it’s on by default (all MCP tools loaded on demand). Tune behavior with the ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH environment variable:

# Threshold mode: load upfront if tool descriptions fit within 10% of context, defer the overflow
ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=auto claude

# Set the threshold to 5%
ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=auto:5 claude

# Off (load all tools upfront)
ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=false claude

Caution — changed from before: It used to default to “auto-activate when tool descriptions exceed 10%,” but now the default is always-deferred. auto is an opt-in that re-enables the old threshold mode. You can mark specific servers alwaysLoad to always load them upfront.

3. IDE Integration — Working Inside Your Editor

Claude Code runs not only in the terminal but natively inside VS Code and JetBrains IDEs. You can talk to Claude without leaving your editor.

3.1 VS Code

Install

Requires VS Code 1.98.0+.

Cmd+Shift+X to search extensions
Search “Claude Code” and Install
Success when the Spark icon (✱) appears top-right in the editor

The dedicated panel (key change)

VS Code integration is no longer just a terminal launch — a dedicated graphical side panel is now the primary interface. Inside the panel:

Session history: search/resume past conversations, and pick up claude.ai web sessions locally (Remote tab)
Inline diff review: view changes side-by-side and accept/reject/request edits
Plan mode: review the plan as a markdown document
Checkpoint rewind: rewind / fork to a specific point

Core actions

Select code → ask: select code and Claude recognizes it automatically. Option+K (Mac) / Alt+K inserts a @file.ts#5-10 reference.
@-mention: @auth.js explain this file's auth logic. Fuzzy matching, no full path needed. Use @terminal to reference terminal output.
Permission modes: default (ask each time) / plan (after approval) / acceptEdits (auto-accept) / bypassPermissions.
Chrome integration: with the extension installed, @browser go to localhost:3000 and check console errors for browser automation.

Shortcuts

Command	Shortcut (Mac)	Description
Focus Input	`Cmd+Esc`	Toggle editor ↔ Claude
New Tab	`Cmd+Shift+Esc`	New conversation tab
Reopen Tab	`Cmd+Shift+T`	Reopen a closed session tab
@-Mention	`Option+K`	Insert a reference to the current file/selection

Caution (macOS Tahoe and later): Cmd+Esc may conflict with the system Game Overlay shortcut and not work. Disable it in System Settings → Keyboard → Game Controllers.

3.2 JetBrains IDEs

Works in most JetBrains IDEs: IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, GoLand, PhpStorm, Android Studio, etc.

Install

Install the Claude Code plugin from the JetBrains Marketplace (currently Beta)
Restart the IDE

Usage

# In the IDE's built-in terminal
claude          # Auto-connects to the IDE

# In an external terminal
claude
/ide            # Connect to the IDE

Key features

Feature	Description
Diff viewer	Show code changes in the IDE’s diff viewer
Selection context	Selected code is auto-shared with Claude
File reference	`Cmd+Option+K` (Mac) / `Alt+Ctrl+K` inserts `@File#L1-99`
Diagnostics sharing	IDE lint/syntax errors are auto-forwarded
Quick launch	`Cmd+Esc` (Mac) / `Ctrl+Esc` opens Claude Code

Configure under Settings → Tools → Claude Code [Beta]. If ESC doesn’t interrupt, uncheck “Move focus to the editor with Escape” in Settings → Tools → Terminal.

3.3 Claude Code on the Web — No Install, In the Browser

With no install, connect a GitHub repo at claude.ai/code and spin up a Claude Code session right away (research preview; Pro/Max/Team/Enterprise). It runs on Anthropic-managed cloud infrastructure:

Sessions keep running even when you close the browser
Monitor progress from the Claude mobile app
Includes automatic GitHub PR fixes
Resume web sessions locally from the Remote tab in VS Code session history

Recap

If Part 1 strengthened Claude Code from the inside, Part 2 extends it outward:

Feature	Core
Plugins	Bundle skills/agents/hooks/MCP to share with the team
MCP	Connect external tools like GitHub/Sentry/DB (HTTP/stdio)
Tool Search	Load tools on demand to save context (on by default)
IDE integration	VS Code panel, JetBrains plugin, web version

Part 3 covers sub-agents and agent teams — how to split complex work across multiple agents and process it in parallel.

Appendix

A. Glossary

Term	Description
Plugin	A distribution unit bundling skills/agents/hooks/MCP (`.claude-plugin/plugin.json`)
Marketplace	A repository to discover/install plugins (GitHub/URL/local)
MCP	Model Context Protocol. The standard for connecting external tools
HTTP transport	Connection style for remote cloud MCP servers (recommended)
stdio transport	Connection style for a local MCP process on your machine
SSE transport	The older remote connection style (deprecated, prefer HTTP)
Tool Search	Searching/loading MCP tools on demand instead of upfront

B. Command cheat sheet

# Plugins
/plugin                        # Manager (Discover/Installed/Marketplaces/Errors)
claude --plugin-dir ./plugin   # Test a local plugin
/reload-plugins                # Hot-reload during development

# MCP
claude mcp add --transport http <name> <url>     # Add an HTTP server
claude mcp add --transport stdio <name> -- <cmd> # Add a local server
claude mcp add ... --scope project               # Team-shared (.mcp.json)
claude mcp list / get <name> / remove <name>
claude mcp serve                                 # Claude Code as an MCP server
/mcp                                             # Status / OAuth auth

# IDE
/ide                           # Connect to the IDE from an external terminal

C. References

Tags #Claude Code #AI #Coding Agent #Plugin #MCP #IDE #VS Code #Automation

Getting More Out of Claude Code (2) — Plugins, MCP, and IDE Integration

Introduction

TL;DR

1. Plugins — Bundle and Share Functionality

1.1 Plugins vs Standalone Config

1.2 Building a Plugin

Directory structure

Writing plugin.json

Adding a skill

Local testing

1.3 Installing Plugins & Marketplaces

1.4 Converting Existing Config to a Plugin

2. MCP — Connecting External Tools

2.1 What You Can Do with MCP

2.2 Recommended MCP Servers

Development & code management

Databases

Project management & communication

2.3 Installing MCP Servers

HTTP servers (recommended)

stdio servers (local process)

Managing servers

2.4 MCP Install Scopes

2.5 OAuth Authentication

2.6 Sharing Team Config via .mcp.json

2.7 Using Claude Code as an MCP Server

2.8 MCP Tool Search — Loading Tools On Demand

3. IDE Integration — Working Inside Your Editor

3.1 VS Code

Install

The dedicated panel (key change)

Core actions

Shortcuts

3.2 JetBrains IDEs

Install

Usage

Key features

3.3 Claude Code on the Web — No Install, In the Browser

Recap

Appendix

A. Glossary

B. Command cheat sheet

C. References