Claude Code has layers:Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://agentic.proxify.io/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
~/.claude/CLAUDE.md for global preferences, project CLAUDE.md for repo-specific context, community skills for your tech stack. But there’s a layer missing from most setups — your own tooling. The skills, agents, hooks, and workflows you build to make Claude work the way you work.
That’s your personal plugin workspace. It’s a directory in your home folder that acts as your Claude operating system: meta-skills that improve how Claude reasons, custom agents for how you review code, slash commands for your daily workflows, hooks that enforce your standards. It loads in every session, across every codebase.
Think of it as your dotfiles for Claude.
Where It Fits
Claude Code already has global config (~/.claude/CLAUDE.md) and per-project config. Your workspace is a different thing entirely — it’s not configuration, it’s tooling.
| Layer | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
~/.claude/CLAUDE.md | Global preferences | ”I prefer concise responses” |
Project CLAUDE.md | Repo-specific context | ”Run npm test, we use Prisma” |
| Community skills | Tech stack patterns | React, Tailwind, Zod conventions |
| Your workspace | Your meta-tooling | Decision frameworks, custom agents, workflow commands, context auditors |
Set It Up
One command:Load It
Point Claude at your workspace to start using it:| Stage | How to load | When |
|---|---|---|
| Trying it out | claude --plugin-dir ~/my-workspace | First day |
| Daily driver | /plugin marketplace add ~/my-workspace | After a week of use |
| Sharing with your team | Push to GitHub, /plugin marketplace add owner/repo | When others want it |
What Belongs Here
Anything that makes Claude better at working your way, regardless of the project you’re in.- Meta-skills
- Custom agents
- Slash commands
- Hooks
Skills that improve how Claude operates — not domain knowledge, but operational tooling:
- A decision framework for where new knowledge should live (CLAUDE.md vs skill vs agent)
- A context auditor that shows which skills consume the most tokens
- A skill architecture guide that teaches Claude how to build better skills
Growing It
Start with one skill. Add the next piece when you catch yourself working around a gap. As your workspace matures, organize by concern — keep meta-tooling, domain skills, and workflow commands in separate plugins under one repo. Amarketplace.json at the root lets you manage multiple plugins together. See the official plugin docs for the marketplace structure.
When something in your personal workspace turns out to be useful for your whole team, extract it into a shared plugin. Your workspace stays yours.
Anti-Patterns
Don’t confuse config with tooling. Global preferences go in~/.claude/CLAUDE.md. Project context goes in your project’s CLAUDE.md. Your workspace is for tools that change how Claude operates — see Context Distribution.
Don’t skip the trial period. Use --plugin-dir mode for a week before installing permanently. If a skill’s description never triggers, rewrite it. If you keep editing the body, it’s not ready.
Don’t build a monolith. If your workspace grows past 5–6 unrelated skills, split by concern. Meta-tooling, workflow commands, and domain skills have different lifecycles.