// The 80% Starter Pack

Three MCPs that cover the majority of typical Claude Code workflows. Start here, add everything else later.

~/$ ls

Curated Lists

5 repos

The "yellow pages" — master directories that point at everything else. Start here if you're lost.

canonical

The hand-curated, canonical master index of skills, hooks, slash commands, agent orchestrators, apps, and plugins. The one list to rule them all.

ELI5 »The Wikipedia of Claude Code tools. If it exists and matters, it's linked here.

A second curated catalog focusing on IDE integrations and frameworks. Good cross-reference when the main list isn't giving you what you need.

ELI5 »The B-side vinyl. Different curation angle, useful for double-checking.

Specifically focused on the plugin system — the official extension format that bundles commands, agents, hooks, and MCPs together into one installable unit.

ELI5 »The plugin-specific directory. Go here when you want something you can install in one command.

A robot-built list that tracks which plugins are actually being adopted in real repos. Useful for "what's actually popular right now" rather than what someone thought was cool.

ELI5 »Popularity-ranked plugin index. Sorted by what devs actually use, not what they star.

100+ specialized "subagents" — mini-Claudes pre-loaded with personalities like "security reviewer," "test writer," or "docs generator."

ELI5 »A rolodex of expert Claude personas you can summon on demand.
~/$ recall --all

Memory & Code Understanding

3 repos

Tools that prevent Claude from forgetting what it's doing, losing the plot mid-session, or misunderstanding your codebase.

top pick

Plugs Claude into real language servers (LSP) so it understands code the way an IDE does — jump-to-definition, find-all-references, rename symbols. Best for large codebases.

ELI5 »Gives Claude IDE-quality vision for your project instead of just reading text files blindly.

Stores your whole codebase in a vector database and only feeds Claude the relevant chunks on demand, saving tokens and money on large projects.

ELI5 »Instead of dumping the whole library on Claude's desk, it hands Claude just the right pages.

Recaps each session, compresses the history, and re-injects relevant memory on next run. Claude remembers decisions made in previous sessions.

ELI5 »Gives Claude a long-term diary, so it remembers "we already tried that" between sessions.
~/$ open --gui

GUI & Mobile Wrappers

5 repos

You don't have to live in the terminal. These wrappers bring Claude Code into desktop apps, mobile, and your existing IDE.

fan favorite

A desktop app (Tauri/React) wrapping Claude Code with session history, checkpoints/timeline, custom agent designer, MCP manager, and usage dashboard.

ELI5 »Makes Claude Code feel like a normal Mac/Windows app instead of a black terminal box.
deprecated → migrated

Crystal is now Nimbalyst. Runs multiple Claude Code sessions side-by-side in separate git worktrees so you can try three approaches to the same task simultaneously.

ELI5 »Fork three Claudes, let them race to solve your problem, pick the winner.

Mobile + web client for Claude Code with end-to-end encryption, push notifications, and voice input. Also available as happy-cli.

ELI5 »Control Claude from your phone while you're on the bus. Seriously.
popular

A web kanban board where each card is a task being worked on by a coding agent (Claude, Codex, Gemini, etc.) running in parallel.

ELI5 »Trello, except every card has a robot doing the work.

Community plugin bringing Claude Code into JetBrains IDEs — IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm. For those who don't live in VS Code.

ELI5 »If your IDE is a JetBrains product, this is the missing bridge to Claude Code.
~/$ spawn --count=50

Multi-Agent Orchestration

6 repos

Running many Claudes at once, coordinating them, and keeping them from stepping on each other.

Runs 20–50 Claude Code sessions in parallel with lock-based coordination and a tmux monitoring dashboard.

ELI5 »A factory floor of Claudes, each fixing a different bug simultaneously.

Lightweight terminal app juggling multiple AI agents — Claude Code, Codex, Aider, OpenCode — in separate isolated workspaces.

ELI5 »Tabbed terminals, one per AI assistant. Switch between them like browser tabs.
enterprise-grade

Enterprise orchestration platform with a "queen + worker" hive-mind topology, self-learning memory, federated comms, and 314 MCP tools. Formerly claude-flow.

ELI5 »An org chart of Claudes, with a manager Claude assigning subtasks to worker Claudes.

Decomposes a task into a dependency graph and runs independent pieces simultaneously, visualized in a TUI.

ELI5 »Breaks a job into LEGO bricks and assembles them in parallel.

Production-grade kit with 185 agents, 16 workflow orchestrators, and 100 commands. Pre-built Claude team rosters for common dev situations.

ELI5 »Pre-assembled Claude team lineups. Pick the roster that matches your project type.

Plugin that hooks into plan mode to auto-decompose tasks and delegate pieces to specialized agents.

ELI5 »Auto-generates the task breakdown so you don't have to do it manually.
~/$ hook --on-action

Hooks

2 repos

Rules that fire automatically during a Claude Code session — guardrails that don't require babysitting.

Watches what Claude is doing and blocks it from skipping tests or over-implementing. Enforces test-driven development automatically.

ELI5 »A hall monitor that slaps Claude's wrist when it tries to skip writing tests.

macOS desktop notifications when Claude finishes a task or needs your input. Clicking the notification jumps you back to the right project in VS Code.

ELI5 »Pings you so you don't have to babysit the terminal waiting for Claude to finish.
~/$ status --live

Statuslines

4 repos

The little info bar at the bottom of your terminal — turned into a live dashboard showing model, branch, token spend, and time until rate limit.

Highly customizable statusline with powerline support, multiple themes, model/git/token info display.

ELI5 »The OG statusline. Customizable, powerline-compatible, pretty.

Same concept as ccstatusline but written in Rust for speed, with a TUI configurator for easy setup.

ELI5 »The Rust-rewrite version. Faster, with an interactive setup wizard.

One-line rate-limit and usage bar with themes and a daemon mode for always-on monitoring.

ELI5 »Minimal one-liner that tells you exactly how close you are to the rate limit.

Another themed statusline alternative. Good option if the others don't fit your terminal setup.

ELI5 »Alternative option. Try it if the others don't play nice with your terminal.
~/$ budget --check

Usage & Cost Trackers

5 repos

Token budgets are real. These tools tell you where your money went, how fast it's going, and warn you before you hit the wall.

most complete

CLI that reads local logs and reports tokens + cost by day, month, session, or 5-hour billing block. Works for Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Amp.

ELI5 »Your Claude monthly bill, broken down to the session level.

Real-time terminal monitor with ML predictions for when you'll hit your rate limit.

ELI5 »A fuel gauge with a "you'll run out by 4pm" ML warning.

Hooks Node's fetch() to intercept actual API calls for the most precise cost data possible — straight from the wire.

ELI5 »A wiretap on Claude's API line. Most accurate cost tracking available.

macOS menu bar app showing live usage limits as a small icon. Glanceable at all times.

ELI5 »A little menu bar icon that says "65% used." Never get surprised by a limit hit.

Local web dashboard for token spend and session history. More visual than CLI-only trackers.

ELI5 »A browser-based spend dashboard. If you prefer charts over terminal tables.
~/$ route --smart

Routing to Other Models

3 repos

Use cheaper models for boring work, Claude for the hard stuff. Automatic dispatching by task complexity.

recommended

Lets Claude Code talk to other models (OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Ollama, Gemini) and route tasks by type — cheap models for boilerplate, Claude for hard reasoning.

ELI5 »A smart dispatcher that picks the right AI for each task. Saves serious money.

Lighter-weight variant that translates Claude's API format into OpenAI-compatible format to unlock OpenRouter's free tier.

ELI5 »Translator layer. Makes Claude Code speak OpenAI so you can use cheaper models.

Another lighter router variant specifically targeting OpenRouter integration for access to that ecosystem's free tier models.

ELI5 »Direct OpenRouter bridge. Simpler than the full router if OpenRouter is all you need.
~/$ install --mega

Frameworks & Mega-Collections

4 repos

Drop these in and Claude Code transforms. Big opinionated configurations that give you commands, personas, and workflows out of the box.

popular

Drops a ~/.claude/ config with 30 specialized commands and 9 "cognitive personas" — architect, security, QA, mentor, and more.

ELI5 »A costume rack of expert hats Claude can put on. One install, nine expert modes.
massive

CLI + web catalog of 600+ agents, 200+ commands, 55+ MCPs, 60+ settings, 39+ hooks, and 14 templates. The App Store for Claude Code config.

ELI5 »An app store for Claude Code config pieces. If you want it, it's probably in here.

Time-saving plugin pack built by working developers — practical stuff that solves real workflow problems.

ELI5 »Practical plugin pack by devs who actually use this stuff daily.

425 plugins / 2,810 skills / 200 agents bundled into an open marketplace with a ccpi CLI package manager for easy installs.

ELI5 »The monorepo of everything, with its own package manager to install pieces of it.
~/$ mcp --plug-in

MCP Servers

5 servers

MCPs are USB ports for Claude — each one connects it to a new app or service. These are the essential ones.

official

The official reference MCP servers from Anthropic: filesystem, fetch, git, and other foundational tools. Boring but essential.

ELI5 »The stock USB cables. Not glamorous, but you need them as a foundation.
official

Full GitHub API access — read repos, open PRs, manage issues, browse code. Claude gets a full GitHub login.

ELI5 »Gives Claude a GitHub account. It can now open PRs and manage issues autonomously.
starter pack

Browser automation — open pages, click buttons, fill forms, scrape content. Claude gets a fully controllable web browser.

ELI5 »Gives Claude a web browser it can drive. Websites are now tools.
official

Lets Claude inspect a live Chrome browser with full DevTools access — network tab, performance panel, console, everything.

ELI5 »Claude can debug a webpage like a human dev with the F12 panel open. For real.
starter pack

Pulls up-to-date, version-specific library docs into Claude's context on demand. Claude reads the current README instead of guessing from training data.

ELI5 »Stops Claude from hallucinating outdated APIs. It looks up docs in real time.