The four Claude Code plugins to install first.

Claude Code can do more when you add plugins, which are small packages of extra skills and tools, but each one uses a little of Claude's working memory in every session and some of them run code on your PC. Many lists tell you to install twenty. I picked four for people who make content rather than write code, and checked what each one costs.

The four at a glance

Each plugin, what it does, what it adds to every session, and the line to type in PowerShell. Details and screenshots are further down.

$ claude plugin install frontend-design@claude-plugins-official

$ claude plugin install superpowers@claude-plugins-official

$ claude plugin marketplace add blader/humanizer

$ claude plugin install humanizer@humanizer

$ claude plugin install playwright@claude-plugins-official

On a brand new setup, add Anthropic's official list once first. The step is under How to add one.

How to add one

In the desktop app, open the Code tab, click the + next to the prompt box, choose Plugins, then Add plugin, pick the plugin and choose Install for you. In a terminal, type the line shown under each plugin below. On a brand new setup, type claude plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-official once first, because Claude Code only adds Anthropic's official list by itself the first time you open a normal session, and without it the install lines below say the plugin was not found. Installing all four takes about half a minute, and the files take 25 MB.

When all four are in, check with this line. Every plugin should say enabled.

Type this in PowerShell

$ claude plugin list

What each one costs

After installing, the command claude plugin details followed by the plugin's name shows how much it adds. These are the numbers:

Tokens are the units Claude counts its working memory in. Smaller is better, and these are estimates from Claude Code itself, not exact bills.

How to read the two columns.

• Added to every session is the short card of the plugin: its name and a one line description. Claude reads it every time you start, so you pay this small amount even on days you never use the plugin.
• When Claude uses it is the size of the full instructions of the plugin. Claude loads them only when your request fits, for example humanizer when you ask for a text that sounds less like AI, or when you call the plugin by name. Then those instructions (about 8.1k for humanizer) stay in the conversation until you start a new one. If you never ask for it, you never pay it.
• Neither number grows with your text. They measure the plugin itself. The text you give Claude is counted on top of that, like in any chat, so a longer text costs more with or without a plugin. A file with a million words would be far too long for one conversation anyway.

Type this in PowerShell

$ claude plugin details superpowers

1. frontend-design: pages with a point of view

What this is: a skill that tells Claude to design pages with a point of view instead of the usual template.

Type this in PowerShell

$ claude plugin install frontend-design@claude-plugins-official

I gave Claude the same request twice: a one-file landing page for the voice guide. The second time I added "Use the frontend-design skill."

2. superpowers: Claude asks first, then builds

What this is: a set of skills that make Claude ask questions and write a plan before it builds.

Type this in PowerShell

$ claude plugin install superpowers@claude-plugins-official

I wrote one sentence, "I want a website for my newsletter about free AI tools. Build it.", with and without the plugin.

For a site you care about, those questions save a round of fixing.

It works best with Git for Windows installed.

3. humanizer: text that sounds less like AI

What this is: a skill that rewrites text so it sounds less like AI.

Type this in PowerShell

$ claude plugin marketplace add blader/humanizer
claude plugin install humanizer@humanizer

I wrote a paragraph full of AI habits and asked Claude to rewrite it twice, once with "make it sound more natural" and once with "use the humanizer skill".

The plain rewrite kept the list of benefits and the "Let's get started" ending. The humanizer version cut them, and when the text had no real facts to add, it asked which generator I meant.

4. Playwright: let Claude look at the page it made

What this is: lets Claude open a page in a real browser, look at it and take a screenshot. It needs Node.js on your PC.

Type this in PowerShell

$ claude plugin install playwright@claude-plugins-official

Type this in PowerShell

$ claude plugin details playwright

I asked Claude to open a page, read its main heading, count the numbered steps and save a screenshot.

Tip: Playwright controls a real browser and can visit any page you point it at, so point it at pages you trust.

Next on my list

Many creators talk about these plugins, and I have not covered them yet. My take and the results come in a later post.

Context7 looks up the newest documentation for a coding library.

OmniRoute is a gateway that sends your requests to other AI models, for example when you reach a usage limit.

Ponytail aims to make Claude write less code, and Graphify builds a graph of a codebase so Claude can find its way around it.

These are short descriptions from creators who cover them, not results from my own tests.

How to remove one

Type the same line with uninstall in place of install, for example:

Type this in PowerShell

$ claude plugin uninstall frontend-design@claude-plugins-official

How to get the best result

A plugin changes how Claude works, so a clear request gets you the most from it. Say what you want, for whom, and which plugin to use, for example: "Use the frontend-design skill and build a one page landing page for my voice guide, with a headline, three benefits and one button." Open the result and read every word before you post it. After a plugin update, your screen may look a little different from the screenshots here.

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