By Anthropic launched its Claude plugin directory submission portal on September 25, 2026. If you have built an MCP server, you can now submit it to an official catalog that reaches users across Claude web, desktop, mobile, Cowork, and Claude Code from a single listing. The timing is not incidental: MCP usage across Claude products has grown 110x in 2026. The ecosystem is real, the users are there, and Anthropic just opened the front door.
Two Paths to Listing Your Plugin
Before you head to claude.ai/directory/manage, you need to know which submission path applies to you. Anthropic offers two, and they are not interchangeable.
Single MCP Connector is for developers running a remote MCP server they want to expose. You submit a URL — no GitHub repository required. Connectors are auto-listed under the Community tier after an automated policy scan. This path makes sense if you are offering one focused integration: a database, a specific API, a data source.
Plugin Bundle is the heavier option. You host the bundle on a public GitHub repository and submit the repository. Bundles can combine MCP servers, Agent Skills, and — for Claude Code specifically — commands, hooks, agents, and language-server integrations. Every version gets automated validation, a security scan, and a human review before it goes live. If you are building a comprehensive developer toolset rather than a single endpoint, this is your path.
The decision is straightforward: one tool, one data source — go connector. Cohesive multi-component integration — go bundle. Both get their own listing page, install analytics, and search placement in the directory.
Who Can Submit and How
The portal requires a paid Claude plan: Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise. Free accounts cannot submit. On Pro and Max, any user can submit. On Team and Enterprise accounts, you need Owner status or a custom “Directory” permission granted through Organization settings.
One detail worth noting: the first organization to submit a given GitHub repository folder owns that listing. If you have been sitting on a public MCP server and waiting, someone else could claim priority. First-mover advantage is real here.
The submission flow is direct. Go to claude.ai/directory/manage, select “Submit new,” choose your submission type, and complete the checklist. For bundles, Anthropic’s tooling integrates into Claude Code: claude plugin validate and claude plugin eval let you test your bundle before submission.
Governance Is Active, Not Passive
This is not a rubber-stamp marketplace. Plugin bundles require a human review before they go live. Connectors get automated policy scans. After publication, Anthropic conducts ongoing compliance reviews — approval is not a permanent state. Developers must provide privacy policies for any remote service and cannot collect unnecessary conversation data.
That means your listing can be pulled. The upside is that this keeps the directory credible and protects your installs from being buried in noise. The downside is that you are operating on Anthropic’s terms, and those terms include ongoing scrutiny. Read the official submission guide before you build your production submission.
What You Get After Publishing
The developer portal provides install metrics broken down by Claude product surface and plugin version, so you can see whether your plugin is being used in Claude web versus Claude Code. Discovery analytics show listing views and the search terms that led users to you. Version management for bundles is tied to Git commits — push a new commit, and the directory scans and updates automatically.
Anthropic has also signaled that unified plugin discovery across Claude and Claude Code is coming in the next few weeks, and that developers will eventually be able to upgrade connector listings into full plugin bundles without losing their listing history.
MCP 2.0 Is the Foundation Underneath All of This
The directory is built on the MCP 2026-07-28 specification, which Anthropic refers to informally as MCP 2.0. The headline change is a stateless core: the protocol dropped the initialization handshake and session state, making every request self-contained. That enables MCP servers to run on serverless and edge infrastructure and to scale horizontally behind load balancers — something that was painful with the stateful original. Apple followed suit when Safari 27 shipped a native MCP server, signaling how broadly the protocol is now being adopted.
Two optional extensions matter for enterprise developers. MCP Apps lets plugins surface interactive UI inside Claude’s chat interface, not just tool call results. Enterprise Managed Auth (EMA) handles zero-touch OAuth for enterprise organizations using Okta: admins provision access once, users inherit it through existing IdP groups, and authentication happens via a signed JWT with no browser redirect or per-connector consent page. If you are building for enterprise customers, the EMA documentation is worth reading before you design your auth flow. If you are already building Claude API integrations, see how inline tool additions work mid-conversation — that context matters for plugin design.
Submit Now or Let Others Define the Space
The directory launched with 2,000 plugins already listed and 380,000 developers visiting monthly. The best slots in search and featured placement will go to early movers who build quality listings with strong analytics. MCP grew 110x this year because developers kept building — and with the 2026-07-28 MCP specification now underpinning the directory, the infrastructure can actually handle that scale. Anthropic just gave that ecosystem a front door. Whether your plugin is behind it when users go looking is your call.
