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Get StartedAgent PluginOverview

Install the Arcade agent plugin

This guide is for agent developers who want to use Arcade in their own coding agent or desktop client. Install the plugin, sign in, and run a task across your apps without creating or configuring a gateway.

The plugin bundles a connection to Arcade’s hosted gateway with two skills, three commands, and the arcade-operator subagent. The gateway provides tools for email, calendar, chat, issues, docs, and other apps. The skills and other components help your choose and use those . Each client loads the components it supports, as shown in the support table.

Outcomes

Install the Arcade plugin in your agent and run your first task against a connected app.

Prerequisites

  1. A supported client: Cursor, Claude Code, VS Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, Codex, or Claude Desktop
  2. An Arcade
  3. For Claude Code, Claude Cowork, Cursor CLI, and GitHub Copilot CLI: Node.js  on the PATH of the host that launches their routing hooks. Those hooks run node. Cursor IDE, VS Code, Codex, and Claude Desktop Chat do not need Node.js.

Install

Each client installs plugins differently. Use the path for yours.

The cross-client npx plugins add command does not finish every client install. Use the client-native steps below so the gateway and every supported plugin component load together. The install commands below use the plugin repository and are not pinned to a release.

  1. Add the Arcade marketplace and install the plugin:

    Terminal
    claude plugin marketplace add ArcadeAI/arcade-plugin
claude plugin install arcade@arcade

  2. Run /reload-plugins if Claude Code is already open.

  3. Verify the install with claude plugin list or /plugin.

Claude Code runs its routing hooks with node. The host that launches Claude Code must be able to find Node.js on its PATH.

After installation, reload your or start a new session.

Sign in

Authentication happens in two layers:

  1. Into the gateway. Your client will ask you to authenticate when it first connects. You sign in to Arcade in the browser, and the client can reach the gateway from then on.
  2. Into each app. When a task needs an app, your gives you a browser sign-in link for the required permissions. After approval, Arcade stores the authorization. You may need to reconnect if the connection expires or a later task needs additional permissions.

After you finish in the browser, return to your and continue the original task. Arcade does not resume it for you.

You never give your agent an or a password for either layer. To check or manage connections, ask your to “Check my Arcade connection,” “Show my connected apps,” or “Connect Google.” You can connect an app before you need it. Clients that support Arcade commands also provide the shortcuts listed below.

Arcade uses the app connections authorized for your signed-in identity. Authorize only the you intend the to use.

Privacy

The released plugin turns client-side usage telemetry off in code. No environment setting turns collection on. Requests you make through Arcade still go to its hosted gateway and the apps you authorize. See Arcade’s privacy policy .

Gateway sign-in and app authorization stay separate on every Arcade gateway, including the one in the plugin. Server-level and tool-level authorization goes deeper on the split.

What you get in each agent

Every install connects to the same Arcade gateway and gets the same tools. What differs is how much of the rest of the plugin each can load.

AgentToolsSkillsSubagentCommandsRuleHooks
Cursor IDE and Cloud Agents✅2✅3¹✅—²
Cursor CLI✅2✅3—✅³
Claude Code✅2✅3—✅
Claude Cowork✅2✅3—partial⁴
GitHub Copilot CLI✅2✅——✅⁵
VS Code✅2✅———⁶
Codex and ChatGPT local runtime✅2————⁷
Claude Desktop Chat✅2————
  • ¹ Cursor IDE lists the commands on the plugin page but does not show them in the / menu.
  • ² Cursor IDE and Cloud do not run plugin hooks. The always-apply rule carries the routing guidance instead.
  • ³ Cursor CLI runs the session hook but does not load the always-apply rule.
  • ⁴ Cowork runs the prompt and subagent hooks but does not add the session-start text to the main conversation.
  • ⁵ Copilot CLI runs session and subagent hooks, but drops prompt-hook output from configuration files.
  • ⁶ VS Code reads the Copilot hook file but cannot run its Plugins hook commands yet.
  • ⁷ Codex does not run Plugins lifecycle hooks yet.

Commands

Cursor, Claude Code, and Cowork load all three commands. Claude Code and Cowork namespace them as /arcade:arcade-status, /arcade:arcade-connect, and /arcade:arcade-apps.

/arcade-status

Reports whether the gateway is reachable, whether you have signed in, and which apps you have authorized.

/arcade-connect <app>

Authorizes an app on demand, so you are not interrupted mid-task.

/arcade-apps

Lists the apps you have connected and lets you disconnect one.

Skills

Skills are instructions your reads when relevant to a request:

  • try-arcade guides tasks across your connected apps, such as replying to a thread or checking your calendar.
  • scale-arcade guides decisions about using a workflow with a team, including gateway setup, selection, and end- identity.

Subagent

The arcade-operator subagent runs an app task in its own and reports the result. It keeps searches and intermediate results out of your main conversation. Cursor, Claude Code, Cowork, Copilot CLI, and VS Code load it. Codex and Claude Desktop Chat do not.

Rule and hooks

The rule and hooks tell your when to use Arcade for app tasks. Cursor IDE and Cloud Agents use an always-apply rule. Cursor CLI, Claude Code, Cowork, and Copilot CLI run the hooks their hosts support. Those hooks run node. The host that launches them must be able to find Node.js on its PATH.

The columns thin out because the Agent Plugins  1.0 specification only makes skills and servers portable. Commands, subagents, hooks, and editor rules are specific to each , so the plugin ships them where the agents that support them will find them.

How Arcade chooses a connection

Arcade prefers the plugin’s gateway. If it cannot complete a task for a reason other than sign-in or permission denial, your agent may use another already-authorized connection within the task you approved. It checks the intended app before using another Arcade gateway. Sign-in and permission failures require your attention. The does not switch connections to get around them. The plugin instructs your agent to confirm the action and destination before changing something in an app.

arcade-operator falls back only to another authorized Arcade gateway. Fallback to any other tool belongs to the parent .

Try it

This gateway includes every optimized toolkit in the catalog. Try asking your :

  • “Send a summary of tomorrow’s calendar events to me on Slack.”
  • “Read my Granola notes from last week, check them against Linear, and file anything I promised that is not a ticket yet. Wait for me before creating anything.”
  • “Find unread mail that needs a reply. Look the sender up in HubSpot if you can, draft a response, and Slack me the draft before sending.”
  • “Pull my open GitHub pull requests, my Linear issues, and tomorrow’s calendar. Write a standup update and send it to me on Slack.”
  • “Search my Drive and Notion for the product spec my team uses, then drop a one-paragraph summary in Slack.”

Or ask “What can Arcade do?” and pick a workflow from the answer.

Next steps

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