What you need

Claude Code 2.1.269 or later. Check with claude --version. Function hooks exist from 2.1.260, but nothing draws above the prompt before 2.1.269.
An interactive terminal session. Mods that draw do nothing in claude -p, and the desktop and mobile apps do not draw the band above the prompt yet.
For mods with boards and buttons, a terminal that reports the mouse. A click is what gives a board the keyboard.

1. Enable function hooks

Function hooks are early access and off by default. Put the switch in the env block of~/.claude/settings.json, so every session sees it. Create the file if it does not exist, or merge the env key into what is there.

{
  "env": {
    "CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_FUNCTION_HOOKS": "1"
  }
}

To try it in one session instead, set the variable in the shell that starts Claude Code:

CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_FUNCTION_HOOKS=1 claude

On Windows PowerShell:

$env:CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_FUNCTION_HOOKS = "1"; claude

The switch loads the hooks module of every installed plugin that ships one, not only the mod you are about to install. Without it, a mod installs fine and does nothing.

2. Install the mod

Most mods publish their own repository as a plugin marketplace. Add it once, then install the mod from it. Each listing on this site shows the exact pair of commands, with a copy button.

claude plugin marketplace add <owner>/<repo>
claude plugin install <mod>@<marketplace>

The marketplace name after @ comes from the repository's .claude-plugin/marketplace.json. It is often the same as the mod, and sometimes not: secret-redactor@awesome-claude-code-function-hooksis one mod inside a marketplace of several.

3. Load it

Start claude, or run /reload-plugins in an open session. Then run the mod's own command, such as /arcade or /cctop-pane, or do whatever the listing says starts it./plugin lists what is installed.

Try a mod without installing it

Clone the repository and load it for one session. Edits to the hooks module reload while the session runs.

git clone https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>
claude --plugin-dir ./<repo>

Update or remove

claude plugin marketplace update <marketplace>
claude plugin update <mod>@<marketplace>

claude plugin uninstall <mod>
claude plugin marketplace remove <marketplace>

Troubleshooting

The mod's command is unknown. Function hooks are off. Check the env block in ~/.claude/settings.json, restart Claude Code, and check the plugin is listed under /plugin.
Keys go to the prompt instead of the mod. Click the board first. Esc always hands the keyboard back to the prompt.
Nothing happens when you click. Your terminal does not report the mouse. The mod's slash commands still work.
The band above the prompt is small. Claude Code gives plugins about half the terminal height there. Make the terminal taller.
A mod broke after a Claude Code update. The API is early access and changes between releases. Update the mod, and if it still fails, check its repository for an issue.

For mod authors

Inside a session with the switch on, /plugin-types writes the API's TypeScript declarations for your build, and claude plugin validate <dir> lists the events a plugin hooks and the calls it makes. The design discussion and the community feedback live inanthropics/claude-code#91870; Anthropic's three built-in mods are published as source in themods folder of the same repository.