Each component in the Claude Code environment, including instructions files, settings, skills, agents, hooks and MCP servers, shapes how the model interprets intent, chooses tools, and produces output. Plugins sit alongside these as a packaging layer: a plugin bundles skills, subagents, hooks, and MCP servers into one installable unit, distributed through marketplaces. Plugin-provided components participate in the same precedence chains as user/project equivalents (with plugin skills namespaced like /<plugin>:<skill>). This visualisation distills content/tips/suggestions from Claude Code Docs, which serves as the more comprehensive reference on this subject.