MCP, plugins, skills, and hooks changedthird-party/claude-desktop/extensions
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4747
48<Note>
49 Every entry other than a [built-in server](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/built-in-connectors) needs a `transport`. Claude Desktop doesn't read `type`, the field name that a plugin's `.mcp.json` file uses. It drops an entry that has no `transport` and reports a configuration error.
50</Note>
51
4852See the [`managedMcpServers` schema](/docs/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.
4953
5054In the in-app configuration window, each server you add under **Connectors** 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.
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8286To name the authorization server yourself instead of discovering it, set `oauth.clientId` together with one of `oauth.tenantId` plus `oauth.scope` (Microsoft Entra ID), a single `oauth.authorizationServer` entry (the issuer URL exactly as that server's metadata states it), or `oauth.authorizationUrl` and `oauth.tokenUrl` for a provider that serves no discovery document. With several `oauth.authorizationServer` entries, discovery runs as in step 2 and the discovered authorization server must match one of them.
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84Tokens are stored on the device, encrypted with the operating system's secure storage (see [Credentials](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage#credentials)), and refreshed in the background before they expire. When the authorization request carries a scope and the authorization server's metadata lists `offline_access`, Claude Desktop adds `offline_access` so that a refresh token is issued; see `oauth.scope` and `oauth.appendOfflineAccess` in the [configuration reference](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#managedmcpservers) to change the requested scopes. If the authorization server rejects a refresh, or issued no refresh token and the access token expires, the server returns to the **Connect** state and the user signs in again.
88Tokens are stored on the device, encrypted with the operating system's secure storage (see [Credentials](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage#credentials)), and refreshed in the background before they expire. When the authorization request carries a scope and the authorization server's metadata lists `offline_access`, Claude Desktop adds `offline_access` so that a refresh token is issued; see `oauth.scope` and `oauth.appendOfflineAccess` in the [configuration reference](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#managedmcpservers) to change the requested scopes. If the authorization server rejects a refresh, or issued no refresh token and the access token expires, the server returns to the **Connect** state and the user signs in again. A stored sign-in belongs to the server's `url`, so after you change the `url`, each user signs in again.
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8690If sign-in fails (the callback does not arrive within 120 seconds, the authorization server rejects the registration or the redirect URI, or the identity provider completes sign-in from a host other than the authorization endpoint's), the user sees a connection error, the server keeps its **Connect** button, and `main.log` in the [logs directory](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage#where-data-lives) records the reason. For an identity provider that completes sign-in from a different host than its authorization endpoint, list that host in `oauth.additionalRedirectReferrerHosts`. The log names the rejected host.
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139143
140144This is the recommended way to distribute organization plugins. For a git-hosted marketplace, Claude Desktop clones with the git already installed on each device, so include git in your device baseline (Git for Windows on Windows; the Xcode Command Line Tools provide it on macOS); devices without git can use a [marketplace hosted over HTTPS](#host-the-marketplace-over-https-instead-of-git) instead. Use the [system-wide directory](#organization-plugins-admin) path when end-user devices cannot reach a git server or an HTTPS file host.
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142<Note>
143 Plugin marketplaces are in beta and require Claude Desktop 1.17377.1 or later.
144</Note>
145
146146### Create the marketplace repository
147147
148148A marketplace repository contains a `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json` file at its root that lists each plugin and its location. The format is shared with Claude Code; see [Create and distribute a plugin marketplace](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-marketplaces) for the full schema and walkthrough.
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203203 <img src="https://mintcdn.com/claude-ai/JnLDSb03Rtghdgpj/images/third-party/config-window-plugin-marketplaces.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=JnLDSb03Rtghdgpj&q=85&s=a9bdd6d5bdbf22716340aedf1cc2d16b" alt="In-app configuration window Plugins section showing the plugin marketplaces card with an open Add marketplace menu offering Blank, GitHub repo, and Git URL, above the organization plugins folder path with two loaded plugins." width="1792" height="1238" data-path="images/third-party/config-window-plugin-marketplaces.png" />
204204</Frame>
205205
206To write the configuration by hand instead, add the repository to the [`allowedPluginMarketplaces`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration) configuration key. The key is read from an MDM profile, local configuration, or the [bootstrap server](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/bootstrap) response. In an MDM profile the value is a JSON array encoded as a string (see [Value types](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#value-types)). In a local configuration file or the bootstrap response the value is a native JSON array.
206To write the configuration yourself instead, add the repository to the [`allowedPluginMarketplaces`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#allowedpluginmarketplaces) configuration key. The key is read from an MDM profile, local configuration, or the [bootstrap server](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/bootstrap) response. In an MDM profile the value is a JSON array encoded as a string (see [Value types](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#value-types)). In a local configuration file or the bootstrap response the value is a native JSON array.
207207
208208```xml .mobileconfig (macOS) theme={null}
209209<key>allowedPluginMarketplaces</key>
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403403End users cannot add remote MCP servers from the app's settings or install desktop extension files (`.mcpb`) themselves. Remote servers come from admin-provisioned `managedMcpServers`, from organization plugins, and from other plugins that bundle them, including plugins users install. A Code session can also load the servers a user defines in Claude Code's own configuration (`~/.claude.json`, a project's `.mcp.json`, or `claude mcp add`). To limit plugin-bundled servers, see [Controlling user extensions](#controlling-user-extensions). To limit the servers a Code session loads, see [Applied as managed policy](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/code#applied-as-managed-policy).
404404
405405User-added extensions are stored in the user's [local data directory](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage) and apply only to that device.
406
407Claude Desktop keeps its own record of the skills each user creates or uploads, and it removes a skill folder that the record doesn't list. To deliver skills to users, use [organization plugins](#organization-plugins-admin) or a [plugin marketplace](#plugin-marketplaces-admin).
406408
407409## Controlling user extensions
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