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Document plugin formats and environment variables #9634

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15 changes: 15 additions & 0 deletions docs/copilot/customization/agent-plugins.md
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Expand Up @@ -56,6 +56,21 @@ Once installed, plugin-provided customizations appear alongside your locally def
> [!CAUTION]
> Plugins can include hooks and MCP servers that run code on your machine. Review the plugin contents and publisher before installing, especially for plugins from community marketplaces.

## Plugin Formats
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Copilot AI Apr 8, 2026

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Use sentence-style capitalization for headings to match the rest of this doc. For example, change ## Plugin Formats to ## Plugin formats (and keep a blank line after the heading for consistency with other sections).

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## Plugin Formats
## Plugin formats

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The plugin format is auto-selected based on the plugin file path (relative to the plugin root).
| Plugin format | Plugin file path(s) |
|---------------|------------------|
| Claude | `.claude-plugin/plugin.json` |
| Copilot | `plugin.json`, `.github/plugin/plugin.json` |
| OpenPlugin | `.plugin/plugin.json` |

### Plugin Environment Variables
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Copilot AI Apr 8, 2026

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This heading should also use sentence-style capitalization (for example, ### Plugin environment variables) and include a blank line after the heading, consistent with other sections in this file.

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### Plugin Environment Variables
### Plugin environment variables

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| Plugin format | Plugin root |
|---------------|------------------|
| Claude | `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}` |
| Copilot | (Not Defined) |
Comment on lines +67 to +71
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Copilot AI Apr 8, 2026

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The table under "Plugin environment variables" lists values like ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} / ${PLUGIN_ROOT}, which reads like a configuration token, not an environment variable name. Consider either (1) listing the actual env var names (CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT, PLUGIN_ROOT) or (2) renaming the column/section to explicitly describe tokens vs injected environment variables, so readers know what to use in JSON vs in a shell script.

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### Plugin Environment Variables
| Plugin format | Plugin root |
|---------------|------------------|
| Claude | `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}` |
| Copilot | (Not Defined) |
### Plugin root tokens
| Plugin format | Plugin root token |
|---------------|-------------------|
| Claude | `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}` |
| Copilot | (Not defined) |

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| OpenPlugin | `${PLUGIN_ROOT}` |
Comment on lines +61 to +72
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Copilot AI Apr 8, 2026

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This section introduces an OpenPlugin format and a ${PLUGIN_ROOT} root token, but later sections in this article only document Claude/Copilot paths and only describe ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} for hooks and MCP servers. Either add OpenPlugin-specific details in those later sections (hook file location, path tokens for hooks/MCP), or explicitly state here that OpenPlugin-format plugins are not supported for hooks/MCP in VS Code (if that's the case).

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## Hooks in plugins

Plugins can include [hooks](/docs/copilot/customization/hooks.md) that run shell commands at agent lifecycle points. Plugin hooks work alongside your workspace and user-level hooks. When a plugin is enabled, its hooks fire in addition to any other hooks configured for the same event.
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