The crate is not a model

Lesson 0008 said a plugin store is how a folder arrives. Lesson 0015 put Guide · Guard · Job in git. Tonight is the crate. A plugin packages files you already own so another machine can install them. It is not a new intelligence, and it does not retire hooks or evals.

What this is. Two boxes Cursor actually loads: Agent Plugins (open standard: plugin.json at the root, skills + MCP) and Cursor Plugins (.cursor-plugin/plugin.json, plus rules, agents, commands, hooks, variables). Install from Customize or a marketplace. Cursor · Plugins · Agent Plugins

What this is not. A second model. Re-teaching SKILL.md or hooks. A Slack zip as “governance.” Team SCIM, canvases, publishing checklists — parked. Not a ChatGPT menu named “Plugin.”

1 · BundleManifest + the folders. Same skills, MCP, hooks.
2 · ArriveInstall: user, project, or team marketplace.
3 · TrustReviewed marketplace ≠ a zip. Floor still on.

Escalate on the symptom (0016). If you only needed a Guide, do not crate it.

Loose folders for skills, hooks, MCP, and AGENTS.md going into one crate labeled plugin with plugin.json on the lid.

Two boxes

Agent Plugins is the portable floor: skills (agentskills.io) and MCP servers, one plugin.json with the standard schema. Cursor supports that spec so a conformant crate loads without rearrangement. Cursor Plugins add Cursor-only pieces — rules, custom agents, commands, hooks, variables — under .cursor-plugin/. Same docs · two formats

Left: Agent Plugins with root plugin.json, skills, mcp.json. Right: Cursor Plugins with .cursor-plugin/plugin.json plus rules, agents, hooks.

Billing floor · as a crate

# Agent Plugin — portable (skills + MCP)
billing-floor/
  plugin.json          # $schema agent-plugins.org
  skills/refund-policy/SKILL.md
  mcp.json             # Stripe-shaped tools — no secrets

# Cursor Plugin — same plus Guard
billing-floor/
  .cursor-plugin/plugin.json
  skills/refund-policy/SKILL.md
  agents/reviewer.md
  hooks/hooks.json     # deny stripe unless policy_ok
  mcp.json
  # variables: declare STRIPE_KEY name, not the value

# ARRIVE
Customize → Install → this project
# or ~/.cursor/plugins/local while developing

# NOT A PLUGIN
Slack: billing-plugin.zip
# TRUST: marketplace review is the gate, then still 0014/0015

What this shows. The graph in POST /assistant did not move. The crate is how a hire’s Cursor gets the same Job and Guard. Cursor: do not put secret values in the repo; variables are names, values live in the dashboard.

A crate of named kitchen stations arriving at a second kitchen. A random zip crate is crossed out.

Skill: name the crate

Folder is the floor you already have. Bundle adds a manifest. Arrive is install. Trust is review — then Guard and evals still run.

Same billing team, four looks

Always on after install

Developer

Install at project scope. Confirm skills and hooks actually loaded. You still do not merge your own PR without a stamp.

Team lead

Crate what must be shared. Required marketplace mode only for Guard you cannot opt out of. Do not crate a restated AGENTS.md.

Where this leads

Plugins are the first advanced topic: distribution. Next on the map: production traces, eval suites, agent security — still measure, then add.

Parked: canvases, SCIM group access, publishing to cursor.com/marketplace, Claude Code plugin format as a second crate. MCP install deeplinks wait. The advanced mission does not include training foundation models.

Check

Primary source. Cursor · Plugins (what a crate contains; two formats; install). Manifest and local test: Plugins reference. Portable spec: Agent Plugins. Skills inside the crate: Agent Skills.

Card: plugins. Floor: team floor. Folder: skills. Plug: tools / MCP. Ladder: stack choice.