Plugin Settings for Claude Code

Plugin Settings for Claude Code is an official skill from Anthropic's claude-plugins-official repository. It documents a small project-specific pattern for storing configurable plugin settings and managed state. The central file lives in the project directory under .claude and uses the plugin name with a .local.md suffix. YAML frontmatter carries structured values, while the Markdown body can hold additional context. This makes the skill useful for developers, maintainers, and coding agents that need plugin behavior to adapt to a project without mixing personal or local values into the plugin's shared source files.

Purpose and scope

The skill is documentation for a configuration pattern, not an executable plugin or a standalone agent. It does not install an extension and it does not replace Claude Code or a security review. According to the provider, hooks, commands, and agents can read the local file and use its values to shape their behavior. A missing settings document should be treated as a normal state, allowing a plugin to use sensible defaults or skip an optional feature. Separating defaults from local configuration supports reproducible projects and prevents one workstation's state from silently becoming a team-wide convention.

File structure and consumption

The frontmatter is written between two delimiter lines containing three hyphens. It can hold activation flags, modes, numeric values, strings, or simple lists. After the closing delimiter, the Markdown body can contain task context, project notes, or further instructions. The skill explains how hooks and other plugin components can first check whether the file exists, then read the frontmatter, and finally validate individual values. Commands and agents can use the same pattern as an explicit workflow: inspect the file, accept only expected settings, and apply them at the appropriate point. A plugin should not assume that every file exists, is complete, or is valid.

Portability and lifecycle

The file is intended for one project and should normally stay out of Git. According to the provider, the .local.md suffix is part of the convention, and matching entries in .gitignore help prevent local values from being shared accidentally. The skill also recommends avoiding hardcoded paths and using the CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT variable when accessing resources owned by the plugin. After settings change, Claude Code must be restarted so hooks recognize the new values. This is an intentional boundary: the pattern is not a hot-swappable session configuration.

Validation and security

Configuration values must be treated as input. A plugin should compare boolean values strictly, validate numeric ranges, and protect file paths against traversal and unintended targets. When values are written from user input, quotes and line breaks must be handled safely. The file should be readable only by the responsible user where the local environment permits that. Careful review of hooks, shell scripts, network access, and write operations is especially important because the settings format grants no permissions and proves no trustworthiness. The skill is therefore a practical architecture aid for configurable plugins, not approval for risky automation.

Appropriate boundaries

The pattern suits per-project preferences, temporarily enabled hooks, agent state, and supplementary Markdown context. It is not a replacement for centralized secret management, shared storage for sensitive team data, or justification for uncontrolled external actions. Teams should document the schema, defaults, allowed values, runtime dependencies, and restart behavior in the plugin. Skill Road lists this resource as an external, verified Anthropic skill and does not state concrete prices. Availability and current terms for Claude Code, models, and connected services should be checked separately with the provider.