Plugins

Plugins are remote MCP packages (Claude or Cursor format) that you reference in your capabilities file. When you run capa install, CAPA clones each plugin, reads its manifest, installs its skills into your client directories, and merges its MCP servers and tools into your project. You get extra capabilities without editing the plugin source.

Enabling Plugins

Add a plugins array to your capabilities file. Each entry is a remote plugin reference with a URI:

plugins:
  - type: remote
    def:
      uri: github:owner/repo
      # Optional: version or ref
      # version: v1.0.0
      # ref: abc123def456

  - type: remote
    def:
      uri: gitlab:group/project
      version: 1.2.0

{
  "plugins": [
    {
      "type": "remote",
      "def": {
        "uri": "github:owner/repo"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "remote",
      "def": {
        "uri": "gitlab:group/project",
        "version": "1.2.0"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Plugin URI Format

Supported formats:

github:owner/repo – latest default branch
github:owner/repo:v1.0.0 – tag or branch (use : for version)
github:owner/repo#abc123 – specific commit (use # for ref)
gitlab:group/project, gitlab:group/project:v1.0.0, gitlab:group/project#abc123 – same for GitLab

Private repositories are supported when you have GitHub or GitLab OAuth configured; CAPA will use your token to clone.

What Happens at Install

When you run capa install:

CAPA clones each plugin repo (or uses a cached copy) into a temporary directory.
It detects and parses the plugin manifest (Cursor or Claude format).
Skills from the plugin are installed to your MCP client directories (e.g. .cursor/skills/).
Plugin MCP servers and tools are merged into your project capabilities. Plugin tools are exposed to MCP clients like any other tool.

Your own skills, servers, and tools in the capabilities file are preserved; plugin entries are added and tagged with plugin attribution.

Supported Plugin Formats

CAPA supports:

Cursor plugins – manifests and skill layout used by Cursor.
Claude plugins – Claude Desktop plugin format; CAPA normalizes them into the same merged capabilities model.

OAuth for Private Repos

To use private GitHub or GitLab plugin repositories:

Connect GitHub or GitLab in the CAPA web UI (project credentials / OAuth).
After connecting, capa install will use your token to clone private plugin repos.