Plugins

Plugins give agents skills and MCP tools. Add one, enable it, and choose which agents can use it.

A plugin is a folder. It can hold skills (SKILL.md files) and MCP tools (.mcp.json). Open Plugins in the sidebar to manage them.

The built-in coppice plugin is always there. You can’t switch its skills off.

Install a plugin

Use Add plugins. There are two ways.

From git

1. Paste the Git URL.
2. Optional: set Ref (optional), such as main.
3. Pick a Target directory.
4. Click Install.

Coppice clones the repo with your computer’s git credentials. Click Update on the card later to pull new changes.

From a folder

1. Under Plugin directories, click Browse… and pick a folder. Or type it in Directory path.
2. Click Add directory.

The folder can be one plugin, or hold several plugins as subfolders. Click Rescan after you change files.

If two folders have a plugin with the same name, the one higher in the list wins. Use the arrows to reorder folders. Your default folder shows Default and can’t be removed.

Enable it

Plugins start disabled.

1. Turn on the switch on the plugin’s card. Only plugins with status ok can be enabled.
2. If the card has Settings, fill in each value and click Save settings. Values are stored encrypted.
3. Click Test to start the plugin’s tools and list them. This works before you enable it.

A plugin with a local MCP server runs on your computer with your computer’s privileges. Coppice asks you to confirm first.

Each skill has its own switch. A skill you turn off is hidden from every agent, even in runs already going.

Choose which agents can use it

On the card, under Which agents can use it?, pick:

• All agents: every agent, including ones you create later.
• Choose agents: only the agents you check.

You can also pick plugins on the agent form, under Skills. Both places stay in sync. Changes apply from each agent’s next run.

New plugins start like this:

• Skills only: All agents.
• Has an MCP server: Choose agents, with nobody checked.

Use it on a ticket

Enable the plugin and give the ticket’s assignee access. Then click Run agent.

The agent sees each skill’s name and description, and loads a skill when it needs it. Tools are named <plugin>__<tool>.

To see what was used, open the ticket’s Agent Runs tab, expand a run, and open Tools & Skills. Plugin calls are marked Plugin.

Create a plugin

The simplest plugin is a folder with a SKILL.md. For a name, version and MCP tools, add a manifest.

hello-coppice/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json
├── skills/
│   └── greeting-style/
│       └── SKILL.md
└── .mcp.json

plugin.json

Put it at .claude-plugin/plugin.json.

{
  "name": "hello-coppice",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "description": "Example plugin: one skill and one MCP tool that greets people.",
  "author": { "name": "Coppice" }
}

Without plugin.json, a folder is still a plugin if it has a SKILL.md at the top, or skills in skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, or <name>/SKILL.md. It takes the folder’s name and version 0.0.0.

Skills

Each skill is a folder with a SKILL.md. The folder name is the skill name. The file starts with frontmatter:

---
name: greeting-style
description: How to greet people in ticket comments. Load before writing a greeting.
---

name and description are required. Write the description so the agent knows when to load the skill.

MCP tools

Add .mcp.json with an mcpServers map. Each server is local or remote.

• Local: command, plus optional args and env.
• Remote: "type": "http", url, plus optional headers.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hello": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/server/index.mjs"],
      "env": { "HELLO_GREETING": "${HELLO_GREETING:-Hello}" }
    }
  }
}

${NAME} becomes a setting on the plugin’s card. ${NAME:-default} gives it a default. Coppice fills in ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} with the plugin’s install folder. It is not a card setting. SSE servers aren’t supported.

This example exposes the tool hello-coppice__greet and the skill hello-coppice:greeting-style. See the full example in examples/plugins.

commands/, agents/ and hooks/ folders aren’t supported yet. They show “Not supported yet” and don’t run.