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Field Guide · level 3 · Power features

What are plugins and extensions, and which ones should you add?

Add only what a job needs, read what's inside, keep changes on ask first.

5 min · try it 10 min · as of Oct 2026
Bring this to your team · AI implementationChoose your team's plugins with your admin, and keep changes behind an approval. Get in touch
01

One click, a whole kit

One click adds a plugin: a whole job's kit, in one box.

02

Connectors and skills, in one box

A connector links one app. A skill is a how-to. A plugin packs both. Made up here: a deal review plugin.

03

Every connector is a door

Each connector inside can open a door into one of your apps. Add one for a real job, not just in case.

04

Four checks before you add one

A real job, not “might be handy”. On your approved list. A maker you trust. What each connector can read and change.

05

Changes wait for your yes

Mark each connector: reads, or changes. Set sending, editing and deleting to ask first. Left untouched, ChatGPT allows low-risk actions.

06

An extension sits beside the page

An extension puts your AI beside the page. Claude in Chrome's new side panel (rolling out by plan) starts on Automatically approve. Pick Manually approve.

07

Keep only what gets used

After the first run, look where it acted: sent items, files, records. Remove what nobody used this month.

Try it · 10 minutes · on your own work

Read one before you add it

Settings only: nothing added, nothing pasted.

  1. Open your assistant's plugin directory.2 min
  2. Pick one. Note what's inside, what it reads, what it changes.4 min
  3. Check who made it.2 min
  4. Decide: add, add with ask first, or skip.2 min

Your note, on paper or in a doc of your own

Plugin:
Made by:                 Verified? yes / no
Skills inside:
Connectors inside:
  1. App:       reads / reads and changes
  2. App:       reads / reads and changes
For which job:
Decision:  add / add with ask first / skip

Good looks likeYou know what it reads and changes before anything is connected.

In your assistant · as of Oct 2026 · Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini

Add one safely, in your assistant

Menus move often. Missing something? A rollout, your plan, your country or an admin setting may be why.

  • CheckA real job
  • CheckOn the approved list
  • CheckWho made it

My pickClaude first, ChatGPT second, Gemini third. Claude makes the careful start easy: a directory Anthropic reviews, and each connector tool can wait for your yes. ChatGPT's directory is on every plan, but I'd set it to Always ask. On Google Workspace, Gemini's own apps need no plugin.

Work account, approved list, ask first for changes. A verified badge doesn't replace your company's own security review.

Claude

Calls it a plugin.

Add
CustomizethenPluginsthenDiscover

Open one and read its tabs, then select Add. That signs you in to nothing.

Connect

On its Connectors tab, connect only what you need.

Brake
Always allowNeeds approvalBlocked

In Customize > Connectors, set write tools to Needs approval. In chat, choose Allow once.

Directory plugins on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise, reviewed by Anthropic; on Team and Enterprise an Owner decides what you see. Claude in Chrome (Pro and up, beta): its new side panel, rolling out by plan, starts on Automatically approve; pick Manually approve while you learn.

ChatGPT

Calls it a plugin. The Plugin Directory is under Plugins in the sidebar.

Add
PluginsthenInstall pluginthenConnect

In the sidebar, or Settings > Plugins. Review its skills and apps, look for OpenAI Verified, connect with your work account, review the permissions.

Brake
Always askAllow read actionsAllow low-risk actions

In Settings > Plugins > Permissions (personal accounts). Untouched, it's Allow low-risk actions.

The directory is on every plan; each plugin depends on plan, region and, at work, your admin. The browser extension asks before each new site: avoid Allow for all sites.

Gemini

No plugins by that name, as of 16 Oct 2026: you add apps one by one.

Add
CustomizethenConnectors

Click an app to read its supported and unsupported actions, then click Add.

Use
@

Type @ and pick the app.

Remove
More optionsthenDisconnect

Those steps are for a personal account. On a work account, your admin turns apps on; you type @. Gemini in Chrome is built in (Ask Gemini) and reads your current tab by default.

Quick check · three questions

Did it stick?

  1. 1What is a plugin?

    The answer: B A connector links one app; a browser extension sits beside the web page.

  2. 2You add a plugin in Claude. Are its apps connected?

    The answer: C Adding a plugin signs you in to nothing. You connect each app from its Connectors tab.

  3. 3You never touched ChatGPT's plugin permissions. What applies?

    The answer: A OpenAI's release notes of 14 Sep 2026 name Allow low-risk actions as the default if you change nothing.
0 of 3 answered
The words, in plain termsSide note
Connector, app or connected app: a signed-in link to one app (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini). Plugin: a box of connectors and skills. Extension: the AI beside the web page.
Trusting the badgeSide note
OpenAI says its Verified badge doesn't replace your own security review. Anthropic reviews its directory only, not plugins added from a link or a file.
They change by themselvesSide note
Claude's directory plugins update themselves, with nothing to accept. Recheck one after a big change.
Sources, checked 16 Oct 2026Source

Product details as of Oct 2026, each checked on the vendor's own page on 16 Oct 2026. Recheck by 16 Nov 2026. The examples in the pictures are made up for this lesson.

Free kitThe Agent PlaybookBring this to your teamAI implementation · Get in touchBack to level 3, Power features

Add for a job. Keep changes on ask first.

Next lesson · 15 minWhen should you use deep research, and how do you check its report?