Amazon, Cursor, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Vercel have teamed up to create Agent Plugins, an open standard for AI agent extensions. It defines a single package format that lets developers bundle and reuse extensions across platforms. Until now, every product has relied on its own formats, folder structures, and setup processes, forcing developers to rebuild their work for each one.

The standard boils down to a directory with a manifest file called plugin.json. Version 1.0.0 supports two components. Agent Skills handle reusable instructions and workflows. MCP servers connect agents to tools and data.

The standard only covers packaging and discoverability. It doesn't touch marketplaces, permissions, or runtime environments. The spec is being developed in the open on GitHub.

One notable absence from the group is Anthropic. The company created both the Model Context Protocol and Agent Skills as open standards and recently added its own plugin system to Cowork, its desktop tool for agentic knowledge work. Yet it isn't part of the Agent Plugins effort.

Agent Plugins