> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.commanderplugin.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Claude Desktop: CC Commander as a Cowork Plugin

> Add CC Commander to Claude Desktop as a Cowork plugin. Get project management, knowledge base, infrastructure tools, and night mode — no CLI binary needed.

If you use Claude Desktop rather than the terminal `claude` CLI, you can run CC Commander entirely within the Claude Desktop UI as a Cowork plugin. There is no separate binary to install, no tmux required, and no shell environment to configure. You install the plugin once and invoke it by talking to Claude naturally.

## What you get

The Claude Desktop integration ships 7 Cowork skills that cover the most common CC Commander workflows:

| Skill            | Trigger phrases                                                                  | What it does                                             |
| ---------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| `/cc-commander`  | "start commander", "help me build", "what should I work on", "manage my project" | Full interactive project manager                         |
| `/cc-night-mode` | "night mode", "overnight build", "build while I sleep"                           | Autonomous overnight build with 10-question spec         |
| `/cc-knowledge`  | "what did we learn", "past lessons", "search knowledge"                          | Search your knowledge base for past lessons              |
| `/cc-plugins`    | "what plugins do I have", "show installed packages"                              | Detect installed packages and show orchestration plan    |
| `/cc-infra`      | "infrastructure", "fleet", "cost", "what services are running"                   | Probe local services and report status                   |
| `/cc-taskmaster` | "parse prd", "break down tasks", "project planning"                              | PRD-to-task decomposition and implementation pipeline    |
| `/cc-footer`     | "status bar", "footer", "show metrics"                                           | Live session status with context, cost, and token meters |

<Note>
  The Cowork plugin does not include the tmux split mode, daemon mode, or the
  full cockpit dashboard. Those features require the CLI path (Path A). If you
  need them, see the main quickstart.
</Note>

## How to install

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Claude Desktop">
    Launch Claude Desktop and start a new conversation.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the plugin from the marketplace">
    Type the following command in the Claude Desktop input:

    ```
    /plugin marketplace add KevinZai/cc-commander
    ```

    Claude Desktop will fetch the plugin manifest, confirm the install, and register all 7 Cowork skills.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Invoke CC Commander">
    In the same or any future conversation, say one of the trigger phrases:

    ```
    start commander
    ```

    or

    ```
    what should I work on
    ```

    The `cc-commander` skill activates and walks you through the guided project manager flow.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## How it differs from the CLI path

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Claude Desktop (Cowork plugin)">
    * Install via `/plugin marketplace add`
    * No binary, no shell environment needed
    * Works entirely within the Claude Desktop UI
    * 7 Cowork skills covering core workflows
    * Trigger by natural language phrases
    * No tmux, no daemon mode, no cockpit dashboard
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="CLI (Path A)">
    * Install via `curl | bash` or `npm install -g cc-commander`
    * Adds `ccc` binary to your PATH
    * Full TUI with arrow-key menus
    * Tmux split mode — each task gets its own window
    * Daemon mode for background task queuing
    * Cockpit dashboard with live meters
    * All 450+ skills and 80+ commands
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Using the skills

Once installed, you do not need to type slash commands explicitly. Claude Desktop matches your natural language to the appropriate skill. These phrases all work:

<CodeGroup>
  ```text Project management theme={null}
  start commander
  help me build a checkout page
  what should I work on today
  manage my project
  open commander
  ```

  ```text Night mode theme={null}
  night mode
  overnight build
  build while I sleep
  yolo mode
  autonomous build
  ```

  ```text Knowledge base theme={null}
  what did we learn last time
  search my knowledge base for auth errors
  what went wrong with the payment integration
  ```

  ```text Plugin detection theme={null}
  what plugins do I have installed
  show me the orchestration plan
  what packages are available
  ```
</CodeGroup>

<Tip>
  The plugin is spec-driven: before starting any build task, it asks clarifying
  questions to scope the work. It also auto-detects installed vendor packages
  (gstack, Compound Engineering, Superpowers) and sequences them for each
  phase.
</Tip>

## Knowledge compounding in Claude Desktop

The `cc-knowledge` skill reads from `~/.claude/commander/knowledge/` — the same knowledge base written by the CLI path. If you use both the CLI and the Cowork plugin, they share the same lesson store. Past sessions from terminal work inform Claude Desktop sessions and vice versa.

<Note>
  The Cowork plugin never modifies your `.claude/` directory. It reads from the
  knowledge base but does not write session data back to it. Full knowledge
  compounding (lesson extraction after every session) requires the CLI path.
</Note>