Cowork Plugin Customization

Customize a plugin for a specific organization — either by setting up a generic plugin template for the first time, or by tweaking and refining an already-configured plugin.

Finding the plugin: To find the plugin's source files, run find mnt/.local-plugins mnt/.plugins -type d -name "*<plugin-name>*" to locate the plugin directory, then read its files to understand its structure before making changes. If you cannot find the plugin directory, the user is likely running this conversation in a remote container. Abort and let them know: "Customizing plugins is currently only available in the desktop app's Cowork mode."

Determining the Customization Mode

After locating the plugin, check for ~~-prefixed placeholders: grep -rn '~~\w' /path/to/plugin --include='*.md' --include='*.json'

Default rule: If ~~ placeholders exist, default to Generic plugin setup unless the user explicitly asks to customize a specific part of the plugin.

1. Generic plugin setup — The plugin contains ~~-prefixed placeholders. These are customization points in a template that need to be replaced with real values (e.g., ~~Jira → Asana, ~~your-team-channel → #engineering).

2. Scoped customization — No ~~ placeholders exist, and the user asked to customize a specific part of the plugin (e.g., "customize the connectors", "update the standup skill", "change the ticket tool"). Read the plugin files to find the relevant section(s) and focus only on those. Do not scan the entire plugin or present unrelated customization items.

Legacy commands/ directories: Some plugins include a commands/ directory. The Cowork UI now presents these alongside skills as a single "Skills" concept, so treat commands/*.md files the same way you would skills/*/SKILL.md files when customizing.

3. General customization — No ~~ placeholders exist, and the user wants to modify the plugin broadly. Read the plugin's files to understand its current configuration, then ask the user what they'd like to change.