What to Actually Install in Claude (and the Order)

A big toolbox isn't the goal — a short one you actually open is. This is the full menu I'd install into Claude as an engineer or EM: eight plugins, eight skills, eight MCP servers, grouped by what they are, each with the command to add it and a note on who it's for. You won't remember twenty-four names, and you shouldn't try. Get the starter three in this week, then pull one more from any section only when a real task demands it. A stack you reach for daily beats a museum of installs you forgot you had.

Start with three

If you do nothing else, install these — they carry most of the value and make the rest optional.

• find-skills is the meta-skill: it searches the whole ecosystem and installs any other skill on request, so you never memorize this list. npx skills add vercel-labs/skills --skill find-skills.
• context7 pulls current, version-correct docs into context while Claude codes, instead of the stale API it half-remembers from training. /plugin marketplace add upstash/context7, then /plugin install context7-plugin@context7-marketplace.
• Zapier is a single wire to thousands of apps and tens of thousands of actions. Set it up at zapier.com/mcp, then wire that server URL in as a connector.

Get those three in and the other twenty-one become nice-to-haves you add on demand.

Plugins — a whole crew in one install

Plugins bundle commands, agents, and skills together; in Claude Code most register with /plugin marketplace add <repo>, then /plugin install.

• gstack — Garry Tan's opinionated Claude Code setup: ~23 skills that play CEO, designer, eng manager, release engineer, QA, and security officer. Clone garrytan/gstack and run its setup. Best for solo builders who want a whole team's instincts on tap.
• superpowers — a complete methodology in one plugin: design questioning, tight task planning, real TDD, debugging playbooks, and subagent-driven work. /plugin marketplace add obra/superpowers-marketplace, then /plugin install superpowers@superpowers-marketplace. Best when you want Claude to work like a disciplined senior.
• codex-plugin-cc — OpenAI's own plugin runs Codex inside Claude Code for second opinions and background jobs you hand off. /plugin marketplace add openai/codex-plugin-cc (needs a ChatGPT account or OpenAI key). Best as a reviewer from a different model family.
• financial-services — Anthropic's finance suite: DCF and LBO models, comparable-company work, and equity-research flows. Add from the official Anthropic plugin directory or the repo. Best for anyone doing real modeling, not toy spreadsheets.
• claude-for-legal — Anthropic's legal suite: a dozen plugins and dozens of agents across practice areas, with contract review a non-lawyer can drive too. Same install path. Best for teams that touch contracts weekly.
• claude-skills — one community mega-repo: hundreds of skills plus agents and commands spanning engineering, product, marketing, and ops. Follow the one-line installer in its README. Best when you'd rather browse a huge catalogue than assemble your own.
• marketingskills — a growth kit: CRO, copywriting, SEO, and analytics. npx skills add coreyhaines31/marketingskills. Best for founders and solo marketers running the whole funnel.

Skills — one command, a repeatable capability

Skills add a single repeatable capability and mostly install with npx skills add <repo>, working in both Claude Code and the apps.

• skill-creator — Anthropic's official skill interviews you about a task you do often, then generates a ready-to-use custom skill from your answers. Ships in the anthropics/skills set (Settings → Capabilities → Skills, or install from the repo). Best the moment you notice you're re-explaining the same job.
• office skills (docx, pptx, xlsx) — turn Claude's output into real Word documents, PowerPoint decks, and Excel spreadsheets instead of markdown you reformat. Built into the apps; for Claude Code, install from anthropics/skills. Best for anyone who ships deliverables to non-engineers.
• frontend-design — Anthropic's taste skill trades the generic-AI look for real typography, chosen color, and deliberate layout. npx skills add anthropics/skills --skill frontend-design. Best when Claude builds UI that has to look intentional.
• web-design-guidelines — audits whatever Claude ships to the web against a long list of professional accessibility and UX rules. npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills --skill web-design-guidelines. Best as a checklist pass before anything goes live.
• hyperframes — write HTML and render actual video: motion graphics straight from your coding agent. Follow the repo quickstart; it registers /hyperframes commands. Best for social clips and product motion without a video editor.
• claude-seo — an SEO kit built for the AI-search era: technical SEO, schema, GEO/AEO, and local, split across sub-skills and sub-agents. Follow the installer in the README. Best if you publish and want to be found by Google and AI answers alike.
• caveman — makes Claude write terse notes to itself and, by the repo's own tests, cuts output tokens ~65% on average (a 22–87% range across ten prompts). Install from JuliusBrussee/caveman. Best when you keep hitting usage limits — it's a joke that lowers the bill.

MCP servers — connect your real tools

MCP servers read and write your live systems. Where a one-click connector exists it's at claude.ai (Settings → Connectors); otherwise claude mcp add in Claude Code.

• Notion — read and edit your databases, docs, and wikis. Enable the Notion connector at claude.ai, or claude mcp add. Best when your team's brain lives in Notion.
• Slack — read channels, post updates, and pull action items; your workspace admin approves it once. Enable via the Slack connector. Best for turning a noisy channel into a summary or a task list.
• Granola — every meeting transcript feeds into Claude, so you can ask about any call you've had. Connect at claude.ai via OAuth, no keys. Best if your week is wall-to-wall meetings.
• Perplexity — live web search and current-events research, right inside Claude. claude mcp add with a Perplexity API key. Best for fresh research without leaving the chat.
• Apify — no-code web scraping: competitor data, lead lists, comments, and market data through thousands of prebuilt scrapers. Use the hosted server on mcp.apify.com. Best for gathering data you'd otherwise copy-paste by hand.
• Shopify — pull orders, products, and customers straight from your store (a community-built server; Shopify's official MCP only covers developer docs). claude mcp add with your Admin API token. Best for founders who want to ask their store questions directly.
• Stripe — ask about revenue in plain English: MRR, churn, which payments failed, top customers. Use the hosted server at mcp.stripe.com via OAuth. Best for a fast read on the money without building a dashboard.

Install in this order

• Week 1: the starter three — find-skills, context7, Zapier.
• Week 2 — where your day lives: Notion or Slack (whichever holds your work), Granola if your week is calls, plus skill-creator and the office skills, so you get finished files.
• Week 3 — the money-makers: Shopify and Stripe if you sell, marketingskills, claude-seo, and Apify if you create or market.
• Week 4 — the heavy machinery: gstack or superpowers (they overlap — run just one), codex-plugin-cc, frontend-design and web-design-guidelines if you build UI, hyperframes for video, caveman when you keep hitting limits.

Install counts and commands move fast — everything here was accurate when I wrote it, so confirm each in the repo's README before you run it. If a tool got renamed since, find-skills finds the current one.

Sources

• gstack (Garry Tan's Claude Code crew)
• superpowers (dev methodology plugin)
• codex-plugin-cc (run Codex inside Claude Code)
• Anthropic financial-services suite
• Anthropic claude-for-legal suite
• claude-skills (community mega-repo)
• marketingskills (growth kit)
• context7 (current-docs plugin)
• find-skills (the skill that installs other skills)
• skill-creator (Anthropic official)
• Anthropic office skills (docx/pptx/xlsx)
• frontend-design (Anthropic taste skill)
• web-design-guidelines (accessibility/UX audit)
• hyperframes (HTML to video)
• claude-seo (AI-search SEO kit)
• caveman (output-token compressor)
• Zapier MCP server
• Notion MCP server (official)
• Slack MCP server (official)
• Granola MCP server
• Perplexity MCP server
• Apify MCP server
• Shopify MCP server (community)
• Stripe MCP server (official)