What to Actually Install in Claude (and the Order)
Plugins, skills, and MCP servers worth adding to Claude — what each one does, the single command to install it, and the order to add them so you build a stack you use, not a museum.
- #setup
- #plugins
- #mcp
The goal isn't a big toolbox — it's a short one you actually reach for. Here are the plugins, skills, and MCP servers I'd put in Claude as a working engineer or EM — grouped by type, each with the one command to add it, and the order to do it in. Don't install everything today.
Start with three
If you do nothing else: find-skills — searches the ecosystem and adds any other skill on command, so you never memorize the rest of this list; context7 — keeps Claude coding against current docs instead of two-year-old APIs; and Zapier — one connection to thousands of apps. Those three carry most of the value.
Plugins — a whole toolkit in one install
In Claude Code: /plugin marketplace add <repo>, then /plugin install.
- gstack — Garry Tan's opinionated setup: a full dev crew (designer, eng manager, reviewer, QA) in one install.
- superpowers — a full dev methodology baked in: planning, test-first workflows, debugging playbooks, and subagent-driven work.
- codex-plugin-cc — brings OpenAI's Codex into Claude Code as a second reviewer and for work you hand off to run in the background (needs a ChatGPT/OpenAI key).
Skills — one command, a repeatable capability
Most install with npx skills add <repo> and work in Claude Code and the apps.
- skill-creator — Anthropic's official tool that asks you about a job you do often, then generates a ready-to-use custom skill from your answers. Ships in anthropics/skills.
- office skills (docx/pptx/xlsx) — turn Claude's output into real Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files. Built into the apps; for Claude Code, install from anthropics/skills.
- frontend-design — Anthropic's taste skill; kills the generic-AI look with real type, color, and layout.
npx skills add anthropics/skills --skill frontend-design - caveman — makes Claude think in terse notes to itself; reportedly cuts ~65% of output tokens. Funny, and it saves money.
MCP servers — connect your real tools
One click at claude.ai (Settings → Connectors) where available, or claude mcp add in Claude Code.
- Notion — read and write your databases, docs, and wikis.
- Slack — read channels, post updates, pull action items (admin approves once).
- Granola — every meeting transcript flows into Claude; ask about any call you've had.
- Perplexity — real-time web research inside Claude (needs an API key).
- Stripe — query your revenue conversationally: MRR, churn, which payments failed last week.
Install in this order
- Week 1: the starter three above.
- Week 2: add the connector your job lives in (Notion or Slack), Granola if your week is full of calls, and skill-creator plus the office skills — so Claude hands you finished files instead of markdown to reformat.
- Week 3: the heavy machinery — pick gstack or superpowers (don't run both), then codex-plugin-cc, frontend-design, and reach for caveman whenever you start bumping into usage limits.
Install counts and exact commands change fast — confirm each in the repo's README before running it. If a tool got renamed since, find-skills can locate the current one.
This week: install find-skills, context7, and Zapier — then add one more only when a real task demands it.
Sources
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