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Use Plugins

A plugin is a packaging unit in Silicon Worker: it bundles a set of related capabilities into one package you install in a single step. This guide covers what a plugin is, how to install and manage plugins, and how plugins relate to skills.

What a plugin is

A plugin can bundle several kinds of capability together, including:

  • Skills: reusable how-to documents (see Use and manage skills).
  • Expert / team definitions: ready-made roles and teams (see Teams in practice).
  • MCP connection settings: connectors to external tools (see Connect MCP tools).
  • Hooks: handlers that fire automatically at certain moments.

In other words, a plugin is a way to deliver "a whole set of related capabilities" at once, instead of installing each piece separately.

How plugins relate to skills

These are two different levels:

  • A skill is one concrete capability unit — a single how-to document.
  • A plugin is a larger packaging and distribution unit; one plugin can contain several skills, and can also carry experts, teams, MCP connections, and hooks.

So you can install a skill on its own, or install a plugin and have its bundled skills, experts, and connections fall into place together. Use a skill when you want to manage a single how-to; use a plugin when you want a whole set of related capabilities at once. For installing and using skills themselves, see Use and manage skills — this page won't repeat it.

Install a plugin

  1. Open the Plugins page.
  2. Choose an install method:
    • From a zip archive: import a packaged plugin file.
    • From a directory: import a local plugin directory.
  3. After confirming, the plugin is installed, and its bundled skills, experts, MCP connections, and so on are registered into Silicon Worker.

Manage plugins

Once installed, you can see each plugin's name and version in the list.

  • View contents: see which skills, experts, or connections a plugin brings.
  • Update: overwrite an installed plugin with a newer version.

Only install plugins you trust

A plugin can bring executable tools and external connections. Install plugins only from trusted sources; once installed, the tools they bring are still subject to Silicon Worker's permission and risk controls.

Where to get plugins

You can obtain plugin files distributed as a zip archive or a directory, then import them with the steps above. Teams can also package their own experts, skills, and connections into a plugin to share internally.

Result and verification

Seeing the plugin in the list, and seeing the skills, experts, or MCP connections it brings on their respective pages, means it installed successfully. Then give a task that uses those capabilities and watch whether the agent invokes them to confirm it's working.