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Cowork Plugins — Extend Your Capabilities

Claude's Cowork can significantly expand its reach by adding plugins. In its default state, Cowork focuses primarily on file operations on your computer. By adding plugins for Slack, Notion, Google Drive, GitHub, and more, you can handle work that spans multiple tools — all from Claude alone.

This article covers everything from the concept of plugins to installation and management procedures, as well as how to make the most of the key plugins available. You don't need any programming knowledge — anyone can set up official plugins in just a few minutes.

What Are Plugins — The "Integration Bridge" for Cowork

Plugins are "integration bridges" that connect Cowork with external services. By adding a plugin, Claude gains the ability to access external services and read or write information there.

What Becomes Possible

Without any plugins, Claude can only operate on "files within folders you have permitted." Once you add plugins, the following becomes possible:

PluginWhat You Can Do
SlackRead channel messages, send messages
NotionCreate and update pages, write to databases
Google DriveSearch and read files, edit spreadsheets
GitHubRead repositories, create and update issues
GmailRead emails, send emails

Combining these opens up cross-tool automation — for example, "read a Slack message and copy it to Notion" or "analyze data from Google Drive and send a report via email."

Relationship with MCP Servers (Technical Note)

Internally, plugins are built on a mechanism called MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers. MCP is a standard communication protocol that connects tools with AI, and official plugins are "user-friendly packages" built to that standard.

For non-engineers, it's enough to understand that "adding a plugin lets Claude use external services." If you're interested in the technical details, refer to the MCP Guide — Connect External Tools to Claude.

How to Install Official Plugins

Official plugins can be installed in just a few steps from the plugin store.

Step 1: Open the Plugin Store

  1. Launch the Claude Desktop app
  2. Select the "Cowork" tab in the left sidebar
  3. Click the "Plugins" icon in the lower left (or from the settings menu)
  4. The plugin store (a list of installable plugins) will appear

Step 2: Choose and Install a Plugin

  1. Select the plugin you want to add
  2. The plugin detail page opens. Review the "Required Permissions"
  3. Click the "Install" button

Step 3: Authenticate with the External Service

After installation, you'll need to log in (authenticate) with the external service.

  1. Click the "Connect" or "Authenticate" button
  2. A browser window opens showing the login page for the target service (Slack, Notion, etc.)
  3. Log in with your account for that service
  4. A confirmation screen appears asking "Allow Claude the following permissions?"
  5. Review the details and click "Allow"
  6. Return to Claude Desktop and confirm that the connection is complete

Common stumbling point: If "Connection failed" appears after authentication, the cause may be your browser's popup blocker. Allow popups in your browser settings, or manually copy the displayed URL, paste it into your browser, and complete the authentication that way.

Step 4: Verify It Works

Once installation is complete, confirm it's working.

Example verification for the Slack plugin:

Please read the 5 most recent messages from the Slack #general channel and tell me what they say.

If Claude returns Slack messages, the connection is successful.

Managing Plugins

Viewing Your Installed Plugins

Installed plugins can be viewed as a list from "Settings > Plugins." The following information is shown for each plugin:

  • Connection status: Active (green) / Inactive (gray) / Re-authentication required (red/yellow)
  • Last updated: Plugin version information
  • Granted permissions: The access permissions held by that plugin

Temporarily Disabling a Plugin

For plugins you're not currently using, you can disable them to pause their activity while retaining their permissions.

  1. Open the plugin list from "Settings > Plugins"
  2. Toggle the switch for the target plugin to off
  3. When asked "Disable this plugin?", click "Disable"

A disabled plugin can be re-enabled later by simply toggling it back on. Re-authentication is not required.

Deleting a Plugin

Completely deleting a plugin also removes its access permissions. Use this when you want to disconnect from an external service.

  1. Open the plugin list from "Settings > Plugins"
  2. Select the target plugin and click "Delete"
  3. When asked "Are you sure you want to delete?", click "Delete"

Common stumbling point: Even after deleting a plugin, the authentication on the external service side (Slack, Notion, etc.) may remain. To fully disconnect, you'll also need to remove Claude's integration from the connected apps section in that service's account settings.

Checking for Updates

When a new version of a plugin is available, an "Update available" badge appears in the plugin list.

  1. Open the plugin list from "Settings > Plugins"
  2. Select a plugin showing "Update available"
  3. Click "Update"

If new permissions have been added in the update, a confirmation screen will appear again.

Key Plugins Explained

Here are the most commonly used official plugins.

Slack — Automate Team Communication

What you can do:

  • Read messages from specified channels and create summaries
  • Search for messages containing specific keywords
  • Send and post messages
  • Extract thread content and compile it into documents

Usage examples:

Read all messages in today's #sales channel and summarize the important information, decisions, and action items in a bulleted list.

Summarize the content of last week's #general channel and save it to the desktop as "weekly-highlights.txt".

Required permissions: Channel read access, message sending (if using the send feature)

Common stumbling point: Messages in private channels can only be read if you're authenticated as an account that is a member of that channel. Private channels you haven't been invited to cannot be accessed.

Notion — Integrate with Your Knowledge Base

What you can do:

  • Create and update pages
  • Add and update records in databases
  • Read the content of existing pages
  • Search for a list of pages

Usage examples:

Create a new page in the "Meeting Notes" database with today's date, and write in the following content:
- Date: March 24, 2026
- Attendees: Johnson, Smith, Williams
- Decisions: Set Q2 target to [X]

List the tasks in Notion's "Project Management" database that have a status of "In Progress".

Required permissions: Page read access, page creation and editing

Google Drive / Google Workspace — Integrate with G Suite

What you can do:

  • Search and read files in Google Drive
  • Read and write data in Google Sheets
  • Read and edit content in Google Docs
  • View and create Google Calendar events

Usage examples:

Read the "Sales_2026.xlsx" spreadsheet in Google Drive and tell me last month's total sales and the month-over-month change.

Check this week's Google Calendar events and tell me which days have the most meetings and when the open time slots are.

Required permissions: Google Drive file read access (plus write access if writing is needed)

Common stumbling point: If you're authenticating with a Google Workspace account (company domain), third-party app connections may be restricted depending on your organization's IT policy. If you're unable to connect, check with your internal IT administrator.

GitHub — Integrate with Repositories

What you can do:

  • Read a repository's README and code
  • View issues list and details
  • Review and summarize pull requests
  • Create issues and add comments

Usage examples (for engineers and tech leads):

List the open issues in this repository and narrow it down to the top 5 that appear most urgent.

Review the pull requests merged last week and summarize the main changes in release note format.

Required permissions: Repository read access (plus write access for creating issues and adding comments)

PowerPoint — Enhance Presentations with AI

What you can do:

  • Automatically generate competitive analysis slides (preserving the design of existing templates)
  • Batch convert numbers and currencies in slides (e.g., USD to EUR)
  • Check consistency across a deck (e.g., detect CAGR calculation errors)

Supported environments:

  • PowerPoint on the web
  • Windows version (Microsoft 365 build 16.0.13127.20296 or later)
  • Mac version (16.46 or later)
  • Note: Perpetual license versions (2016/2019) and iPad/Android are not supported

How to install:

  1. Search for "Claude by Anthropic in PowerPoint" in Microsoft AppSource and install it
  2. Sign in with your Claude account
  3. Claude's panel will appear inside PowerPoint, where you can use skills (commands)

Usage examples:

/competitive-analysis — Generate a competitive analysis deck while preserving the template

/deck-refresh — Update numbers and charts in slides with the latest data

/ib-check-deck — Automatically check the numerical consistency across the entire deck

Required permissions: Microsoft 365 subscription. Also supports bulk deployment by organization administrators (via the Microsoft 365 admin center).

Common stumbling point: This add-in is not available for perpetual license versions of PowerPoint (Office 2016, Office 2019, etc.). A Microsoft 365 subscription version is required.

Gmail — Automate Email Processing

What you can do:

  • Read and search incoming emails
  • Send emails
  • Create drafts
  • Organize labels and folders

Usage examples:

Check today's received emails, list the ones that need a reply, and prioritize them.

Compose an email with the following content and save it as a draft (do not send it):
To: yamada@example.com
Subject: About next week's meeting
Body: ...

Required permissions: Email read access (plus send access for sending emails)

Common stumbling point: The Gmail plugin holds permission to send emails automatically. To avoid accidentally sending important emails, we recommend instructing Claude to "save as a draft without sending," reviewing the content, and then manually sending it once you're satisfied.

Combining Multiple Plugins

The true power of plugins is realized when you combine them.

Example 1: Auto-Transfer from Slack to Notion

Read all meeting notes posted today in the Slack #meeting channel, create a new page in Notion's "Meeting Notes" database with today's date, and write the content in an organized format.

Plugins used: Slack + Notion

Example 2: Google Drive to Email Report

Read the latest CSV file in the "Monthly Reports" folder on Google Drive, create a report summarizing the month-over-month comparison and trends, and email it to management@example.com with the subject "Monthly Report (Month X)".

Plugins used: Google Drive + Gmail

Example 3: GitHub Issues to Slack Notification

Check the issues newly created this week in the "myproject" GitHub repository and post any with the "priority:high" label to the #dev Slack channel.

Plugins used: GitHub + Slack

Creating Custom Plugins (Overview)

If you want to integrate with a service not included in the official plugins, or with an internal system, you can create a custom plugin.

What Is a Custom Plugin?

A custom plugin is an integration you build from scratch using a mechanism called an MCP server. Programming knowledge (TypeScript or Python) is required.

When Do You Need One?

  • You want to integrate with an internal proprietary system (SFA, ERP, etc.)
  • You want to use an API not covered by official plugins
  • You want to customize the behavior of an existing plugin

See the MCP Guide for Details

The step-by-step instructions, concrete code examples, and debugging methods for creating custom plugins are explained in detail in the following dedicated guide.

MCP Guide — Connect External Tools to Claude

Engineers and tech leads who find that existing plugins don't meet their requirements should refer to this guide.

Troubleshooting

Plugin Cannot Connect

Symptom: Shows "Not connected" despite being installed

Solutions:

  1. Select the plugin from "Settings > Plugins" and click "Reconnect"
  2. If the authentication has expired, log in (authenticate) again
  3. If still not resolved, delete the plugin and reinstall it

Plugin Is Installed but Claude Won't Use It

Symptom: When asked to "check Slack," Claude responds with "I cannot access Slack"

Solutions:

  1. Confirm that the plugin toggle is set to "Enabled" (Settings > Plugins)
  2. Verify that the correct permissions for that service have been granted
  3. Try explicitly stating "use the Slack plugin" in your task instruction

Common stumbling point: When multiple plugins are present, Claude tries to automatically choose the appropriate one, but it can sometimes be ambiguous. Specifying the plugin explicitly — like "use the Slack plugin to check the #general channel" — is more reliable.

Authentication Errors Keep Occurring

Symptom: The connection appears to succeed, but "authentication error" appears during task execution

Solutions:

  1. Check whether the password for the external service (Slack, Notion, etc.) has been changed
  2. In that service, view the list of "connected apps," remove Claude's integration, then reconnect
  3. If you're using an organizational account, check with your IT administrator that third-party app connections are permitted

Insufficient Access Permissions

Symptom: "You do not have permission to access that file" is displayed

Solutions:

  1. You may not have granted the required permissions (e.g., "write" access) when installing the plugin
  2. Delete the plugin, reinstall it, and grant all required permissions on the authentication screen

Next Steps

Use plugins to expand what's possible with Cowork.