Anthropic now lets paid-plan developers submit MCP connectors or GitHub-hosted plugin bundles to the Claude directory, follow the review and inspect usage after launch. Approval helps discovery, but it does not prove that a plugin is suitable for a buyer's data or workflow.
RELATED BUYER PROFILEReview Claude plan, plugin and test-pending buyer evidencePricing · access · strengths · limitations →RELATED DECISION GUIDETurn directory approval into a complete vendor evidence checkWorkflow · evidence · risk · governance →CONTINUE THE DECISIONSet scopes, identity, data and action boundariesEvidence · workflow · next action →CONTINUE THE DECISIONPilot one least-privilege read-only plugin taskEvidence · workflow · next action →CONTINUE THE DECISIONMeasure plan, licence, hosting and review cost togetherEvidence · workflow · next action →CONTINUE THE DECISIONOpen the developer AI decision deskEvidence · workflow · next action →What you need to know
- The submission portal is open to developers on paid Claude plans; a free account is not the announced route
- Developers can submit one remote MCP connector or a GitHub-hosted bundle containing MCP servers and Agent Skills
- Anthropic describes automatic validation, a safety scan and directory review, but not an independent security certification for every deployment
The verified submission and buying boundary
Short answer: Claude now has a formal plugin route
Anthropic announced the directory submission portal on 25 September 2026. A developer on a paid Claude plan can submit either one remote MCP connector or a GitHub-hosted plugin bundle that combines MCP servers and Agent Skills. For Claude Code, a bundle may also include LSPs, commands, hooks and agents. An approved submission can be published in the Claude directory, giving builders a clearer route from development to discovery.
The portal adds validation, review and launch control
Anthropic says a submission is automatically validated and safety-scanned when it arrives. The developer can see review status, scan results, feedback and recommended changes. Approval does not force an immediate release: the developer chooses when to publish. This is more accountable than an untracked download link, but the announcement does not define a universal test depth, public pass threshold, independent assessor or guarantee that later versions remain safe in every environment.
Analytics make maintenance evidence more visible
After publication, the portal reports installs by product surface and version, listing views and the searches that led users to the plugin. Those signals can help a maintainer prioritise fixes and identify stale versions. They are usage and discovery measures, not evidence of accuracy, security or business value. Buyers should ask whether the maintainer publishes supported versions, security contacts, change notes, incident handling and a realistic end-of-life policy.
Marketplace scale does not make every listing equivalent
Anthropic launched a broader Claude Marketplace on 23 September and says it contains more than 2,000 connectors and plugins alongside agents, products and service partners. It also says some enterprise customers can apply committed Anthropic spend to eligible third-party products. These are different commercial and technical categories. A connector listing, paid product, implementation partner and Anthropic plan should not be treated as one contract, one data boundary or one assurance level.
MCP 2.0 expands the capability—and the review surface
Anthropic says Claude supports the latest MCP specification, including a stateless core, MCP Apps for interactive interfaces in chat and Enterprise Managed Auth for zero-touch OAuth. These capabilities can make a plugin more useful, but they also make implementation details material. Review what a server can read or change, which identity authorises it, where credentials and data travel, whether interactive content can trigger actions and how access is revoked.
Run separate builder and buyer checks
A builder should submit the smallest useful scope, resolve every scan finding, publish a readable permission and data-use statement, sign releases where possible and maintain a tested rollback path. A buyer should begin with a test workspace, a least-privilege account and read-only tasks. Record requested scopes, outbound domains, tool calls, source citations, errors, human corrections, version changes and removal behaviour before allowing sensitive data or write actions.
Plans, UK access and complete cost
The portal announcement requires a paid Claude plan but does not state a separate universal submission fee, paid-placement rule or revenue-share schedule. The broader Marketplace includes several partner and procurement routes, so a directory listing does not prove that a plugin is included in a Claude subscription. UK teams should verify the signed-in plan, third-party licence, hosting and support costs, data terms, OAuth configuration and implementation effort before comparing complete cost.
HubAI buyer verdict
The new portal is a meaningful ecosystem improvement for builders and a useful evidence source for buyers. It should reduce opaque submission handling and make version-level adoption visible. It does not remove vendor due diligence: directory approval is not a security certificate, compliance decision or independent proof of reliable results. Claude remains Test pending with no HubAI Score; shortlist a plugin only after a permission review and a bounded same-work pilot.
Evidence limits and editorial disclosure
Independent editorial coverage; not sponsored. Portal, scan, analytics, MCP and rollout statements come from Anthropic's 25 September announcement. Marketplace catalogue and committed-spend statements come from Anthropic's 23 September launch. HubAI has not submitted a plugin, reproduced the safety scan or tested a directory listing. The visible UK Google Trends first 25 contained no directly relevant query, so no search-volume claim is made. The cover is an original conceptual illustration, not a Claude interface, logo or certification mark.
HUBAI VIEWBuilders should treat the portal as a distribution and quality-control route. Buyers should still inspect source, permissions, data paths, maintainer evidence, rollback and the exact result of a bounded deployment test.
Buyer decision signal: Paid developer portal · scan, review and directory listing
What to verify next
1Confirm whether the item is a connector, plugin bundle, paid product or service partner—and identify every separate contract
2Inspect requested scopes, OAuth identity, outbound domains, hosting region, retention and model-training terms
3Read the source or obtain equivalent supplier evidence, including maintainer identity, security contact and version support
4Ask for the actual scan and review findings; do not treat directory approval as a security or compliance certificate
5Install first in a test workspace with least privilege, read-only tasks and no sensitive production data
6Record tool calls, citations, errors, human corrections, version changes, revocation and rollback behaviour
7Calculate the Claude plan, third-party licence, hosting, implementation, monitoring and human-review cost together
Read the evidence
Capabilities, availability and prices can change. HubAI keeps analysis separate from the underlying official material.
01Anthropic: Build plugins for Claude — 25 September 2026Open source ↗02Anthropic: Claude Marketplace launch — 23 September 2026Open source ↗03Anthropic: Claude plan pricingOpen source ↗04Model Context Protocol: MCP Apps extensionOpen source ↗
Products
Products
Products
Products