Cursor Rules
Cursor Marketplace and Plugins
Cursor's marketplace is where you install plugins that extend the agent. A single plugin can bundle all six customization types at once: rules, skills, sub-agents, commands, MCP servers and hooks. Third-party plugins are reviewed by Cursor, and organisations can publish their own private catalogue for internal distribution.
On this page
What is the Cursor marketplace?
The marketplace is the install surface for everything that customises Cursor. Instead of hand-copying a rule file or wiring an MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. server by hand, you browse, install with a click, and the pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition.'s pieces land in the right places.
- Rules: conventions the agent follows.
- Skills: packaged know-how the agent loads when relevant.
- Sub-agents: roles that run in parallel.
- Commands: slash-menu jobs.
- MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. servers: connections to outside systems.
- Hooks: scripts that fire at lifecycle points.
The marketplace and the extension registry are separate catalogues, and conflating them is, I think, the easiest mistake to make here. Editor extensions and themes still come from Open VSX (migrating from VS Code covers what that changes); the marketplace installs agent configuration. What a pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition. drops into your setup is MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. servers, skill files and config, so one click can bring in more than it appears to.
This is covered hands-on in Rules, Skills, Hooks and Subagents — 6 short modules, free to read.
What can a single plugin contain?
A pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition. is a bundle. One install can ship any mix of the six customization types, so a team's whole working setup, rules plus skills plus the commands and MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. connections they depend on, travels as a single unit.
If the six-type list feels abstract, here's the field shorthand for what most plugins actually are.
A pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition. is basically MCPs and skills put together. Sometimes you'll see some sub-agents and hooks in there, but for the most part it's just a combination of MCPs and skills.
You can open and inspect a pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition.'s rules, skills, commands and hooks before trusting them, which makes the marketplace a good place to learn from well-written examples. Named community bundles like "superpowers" and "Continual Learning" are worth reading even if you don't install them.
What are some real plugins worth knowing?
The catalogue is easier to grasp through named examples than through the abstract six-type list. A few are first-party or Cursor-authored, which makes them good reference material as well as useful installs.
The Figma team approached Cursor to publish this one, so designers working inside Cursor get a first-class experience. It bundles skills for generating design-system documentation, generating design-system libraries, and creating design-system rules from what you already have. It's a named first-party integration, not a community MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition..
Cursor open-sources its own internal sub-agents, skills and rules as a pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition. you can search for by name. It's a real look at how Cursor's engineers write short rules and structure their skills and sub-agents, which makes it a copyable starting point if you're unsure how to shape your own primitives.
Plugins also do useful plumbing. A custom IDE pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition. can wire in the MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. client definitions for a set of servers automatically, then ship a bundle of skills that steer the agent to use those MCP tools effectively. One install gets you the servers and the skills that know how to drive them.
This IntelliJ pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition. wires in the MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. client definitions for the servers we just added automatically. And then it also has a bunch of skills that I added that help steer and guide Cursor to use those MCP tools effectively.
Not every connector is built into Cursor. For some, like Jira, the MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. directory on Cursor's website offers a one-click install: you add the server to your MCP setup in a click, then query that knowledge base from Ask modeA read-only mode for asking questions about a codebase without changing files; the safe way to explore unfamiliar or legacy code. Press Enter for the full definition.. Coverage is uneven, though. Jira has a one-click entry; Confluence, for example, did not at the time of writing, so you'd wire it up the manual way.
Are marketplace plugins safe to install?
Third-party plugins are reviewed by Cursor before they're listed, and because most of a pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition. is plain text you can read, you can audit what it does before installing. The exception is an MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. server, which is code that runs and reaches external systems, so review what it connects to and what permissions it asks for.
Treat an MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. server in a pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition. like any other integration: confirm which systems it talks to and prefer least-privilege access (for example a read-only database connection) before you approve it.
That leaves hooks, which sit in the readable half of the bundle and are easier to skip past for exactly that reason. A command hook, the default kind, is a shell script Cursor runs when the agent hits a lifecycle point, so installing a bundle that ships one means agreeing to run someone else's script at that point.
Being able to read a pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition. is genuinely useful for learning from it, and I would not count it as a review: the hook and the server are what change your exposure.
How do teams distribute their own plugins?
Organisations can run a private marketplace: you publish an internal catalogue from an uploaded manifest, and developers install the team's approved rules, skills, commands, MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. servers and hooks from one place. Configuration distributes at three scopes: per user, per repository, and across the whole team, so admins can standardise once and let individuals add their own on top.
Plugins reach people through two kinds of marketplace. The first-party marketplace is the public catalogue Cursor lists; a private team marketplace is one your organisation runs for internal use. You stand up the private catalogue once from a manifest; after that it's a GitHub repository, so adding or updating a pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition. is a commit and pull request rather than a separate publishing console.
- User
- Personal rules, skills and commands that travel with you.
- Repository
- Committed config every collaborator on the repo inherits.
- Team
- Centrally pushed catalogue and defaults for the whole organisation.
Standardise at the team scope; let people extend at the user scope.
Which scope you standardise at is mostly a question of headcount. For a handful of people the committed repo config covers it, and a private catalogue is machinery you would be maintaining for its own sake. The manifest earns its keep once asking everyone to wire the same thing up stops working. Even then, less should go team-wide than the scope list implies: push what causes a problem when it differs between people, and leave preferences at user scope.
Some governance needs have no built-in feature, and that's where authoring your own pluginA Cursor marketplace package that bundles MCP servers and skills (sometimes sub-agents and hooks); one click installs all of it into your Cursor instance. Press Enter for the full definition. pays off. To keep a shipped app compliant with App Store and Play Store rules, for instance, code transparency, user-safety, native-permission policies, you can build a plugin of skills and rules that guide the agent to follow those policies and check the code as it's written. It still takes real work to encode, and it isn't a magic switch, but it turns a manual review burden into a reusable, distributable check.
Today most skills travel per repo or per team. Cursor has teased a near-future way to make skills and integrations broadly shareable, which would push distribution beyond the per-repo and team-catalogue model. Treat it as a signaled direction, not a feature you can rely on yet.
How do Customize and deeplinks fit into plugin rollout?
The Customize page is the install and management surface for plugins, skills and MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. servers. Deeplinks are the sharing layer: they let a team hand someone a prompt, command or rule link that opens through Cursor or cursor.com. Use Customize for durable installs; use deeplinks for sharing a specific working pattern.
- Surface
- Customize
- Use it for
- Adding and managing plugins, skills and MCPs at user, team or workspace scope.
- Surface
- Plugins
- Use it for
- Packaging rules, skills, agents, commands, MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. servers and hooks into one distributable bundle.
- Surface
- Deeplinks
- Use it for
- Sharing prompts, commands and rules so another developer can open the same workflow quickly.
| Surface | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Customize | Adding and managing plugins, skills and MCPs at user, team or workspace scope. |
| Plugins | Packaging rules, skills, agents, commands, MCPModel Context Protocol. A standard that lets an AI agent pull in context from outside the repo, like Jira tickets or internal docs. Press Enter for the full definition. servers and hooks into one distributable bundle. |
| Deeplinks | Sharing prompts, commands and rules so another developer can open the same workflow quickly. |
Customize is where the bundle lands; deeplinks are how a specific workflow travels.
Frequently asked questions
What can a Cursor plugin contain?
Any mix of the six customization types: rules, skills, sub-agents, commands, MCP servers and hooks. One install can set up a team's entire working configuration. In practice most plugins are a combination of MCP servers and skills, sometimes with a few sub-agents and hooks.
Are there any first-party or Cursor-authored plugins?
Yes. The Figma plugin is published by the Figma team and bundles skills for design-system docs, libraries and rules. Cursor also open-sources its own sub-agents, skills and rules as the searchable 'Cursor team kit', which doubles as a reference for how to write your own primitives.
Are third-party plugins reviewed?
Yes. Cursor reviews third-party plugins before listing them, and because most of a plugin is readable text you can inspect rules, skills, commands and hooks yourself before installing.
Can I publish a private plugin for my team?
Yes. Organisations can publish an internal catalogue from an uploaded manifest so developers install the team's approved configuration from one place.
Sources & last verified
Cursor ships frequently. Last updated July 28, 2026.
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