Plugins extend simse with new capabilities — additional AI models, external tools, structured workflows, and event-driven automation. The plugin system is designed around four types, each serving a distinct role.
ACP (Agent Client Protocol) plugins connect simse to different AI model providers. Each ACP plugin exposes one or more models that simse can route prompts to.
First-party ACP plugins (ship with the CLI):
@google/genai SDK.You can switch providers per-session or set a default in your configuration.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) plugins add tools and resources that the model can invoke during a session. These expand what simse can do beyond conversation — reading files, calling APIs, querying databases, and more.
First-party MCP plugins (ship with the CLI):
MCP plugins declare their capabilities through a standard schema, so simse knows what tools are available and how to call them.
Skills are structured prompts packaged as plugins. They encode specific workflows — a defined sequence of steps, constraints, and output formats that guide the model through a task.
First-party skill: code-review — a structured code review workflow that examines changes for bugs, style issues, and architectural concerns, then produces a formatted review with actionable feedback.
Skills are useful when you want consistent, repeatable output for a specific type of work.
Hooks are event-triggered automations that run before or after key events in a session. They let you wire up actions that happen automatically — formatting code after a file write, running linters before a prompt completes, or logging session activity.
First-party hook: format-on-save — auto-formats files after tool writes.
For a detailed guide on hooks, see the hooks documentation.
List all installed plugins:
/plugins list
Filter by type:
/plugins list --type skill
/plugins list --type acp
/plugins list --type mcp
/plugins list --type hook
The /plugins command only lists installed plugins. To install or remove plugins, use the plugin marketplace in the simse web app (see the Marketplace section below). Installed plugins live in your local plugins directory, described in Plugin directory.
Plugins are stored locally in your simse configuration directory:
~/.config/simse/plugins/<name>/plugin.json
Each plugin has a plugin.json manifest that declares its type, version, capabilities, and any configuration it needs. simse reads these manifests at startup and makes the plugins available in your sessions.
The simse web app includes a plugin marketplace where you can browse community and official plugins. Plugins are organized by category — ACP providers, MCP tools, skills, and hooks — so you can find what you need without scrolling through an unsorted list.
To install a plugin from the marketplace, click Install on its listing page. The plugin is downloaded to your local ~/.config/simse/plugins/ directory and synced across your connected devices. Restart simse (or start a new session) to activate newly installed plugins.
You can also publish your own plugins to the marketplace to share with the community. See the plugin manifest format in the plugin directory section above for the required plugin.json structure.