What’s included
For agent developers using the Arcade plugin, the package includes a connection to Arcade’s hosted gateway, two skills, three command shortcuts, and the arcade-operator subagent.
MCP server
The plugin registers an server named arcade at https://api.arcade.dev/mcp/arcade. The gateway provides for email, calendar, chat, issues, docs, and other apps.
Skills
try-arcadeguides selection, app sign-in, and tasks across connected apps.scale-arcadeguides gateway, selection, and end- identity decisions for a proven workflow.
Skills load when relevant to your request. In Codex and the ChatGPT local runtime, choose @Arcade or invoke $arcade:try-arcade or $arcade:scale-arcade. Codex does not expose these skills as slash commands.
Subagent
The arcade-operator subagent executes app tasks in a separate and returns the outcome. The try-arcade skill delegates to it when the client exposes arcade-operator.
The plugin’s subagent is not supported in every client.
Client support
Every plugin install includes the Arcade server and both skills. The clients below load those components. Subagent and command support varies by client.
| Client | Subagent | Commands |
|---|---|---|
| Cursor IDE and Cloud Agents | Yes | 3 (IDE: plugin page, not / menu) |
| Cursor CLI | Yes | 3 |
| Claude Code CLI and desktop Code tab | Yes | 3 (/arcade: prefix) |
| Claude Cowork No session-start text | Yes | 3 (/arcade: prefix) |
| GitHub Copilot CLI | Yes | None |
| VS Code | Yes | None |
| Codex / ChatGPT (local) No lifecycle hooks. | No | None |
| Claude Desktop Chat | No | None |
Routing details by client
- Cursor IDE and Cloud : the always-apply rule provides routing guidance; plugin hooks do not run.
- Cursor CLI: only the session hook runs; the always-apply rule does not load.
- Claude Code: the session, prompt, and subagent hooks run.
- Claude Cowork: prompt and subagent hooks run, but session-start text does not reach the main conversation.
- GitHub Copilot CLI: session and subagent hooks run; prompt-hook output from configuration files does not reach the model.
- VS Code: use
try-arcadefor app tasks andscale-arcadefor team or organization rollout. - Codex: does not run Plugins lifecycle hooks yet.
- Claude Desktop Chat: loads neither the rule nor hooks.
Commands
Claude Code and Cowork namespace the commands as /arcade:arcade-status, /arcade:arcade-connect, and /arcade:arcade-apps.
/arcade-status
Reports whether the gateway is reachable, whether you have signed in, and which apps you have authorized.
/arcade-connect <app>
Authorizes an app on demand, so you are not interrupted mid-task.
/arcade-apps
Lists the apps you have connected and lets you disconnect one.
Rule and hooks
The rule and hooks tell your when to use Arcade for app tasks.
The Agent Plugins 1.0 specification makes only skills and servers portable. Commands, subagents, hooks, and editor rules require client-specific support.
How Arcade chooses a connection
Arcade prefers the plugin’s gateway. If it cannot complete a task for a reason other than sign-in or permission denial, your agent may use another already-authorized connection within the task you approved. It checks the intended app before using another Arcade gateway. Sign-in and permission failures require your attention. The does not switch connections to get around them. The plugin instructs your agent to confirm the action and destination before changing something in an app.
arcade-operator falls back only to another authorized Arcade gateway. Fallback to any other tool belongs to the parent .
Privacy
The released plugin turns client-side usage telemetry off in code. No environment setting turns collection on. Requests you make through Arcade still go to its hosted gateway and the apps you authorize. See Arcade’s privacy policy .
Example requests
- “Send a summary of tomorrow’s calendar events to me on Slack.”
- “Read my Granola notes from last week, check them against Linear, and file anything I promised that is not a ticket yet. Wait for me before creating anything.”
- “Find unread mail that needs a reply. Look the sender up in HubSpot if you can, draft a response, and Slack me the draft before sending.”
- “Pull my open GitHub pull requests, my Linear issues, and tomorrow’s calendar. Write a standup update and send it to me on Slack.”
- “Search my Drive and Notion for the product spec my team uses, then drop a one-paragraph summary in Slack.”
Or ask “What can Arcade do?” and pick a workflow from the answer.
Next steps
- Install the Arcade agent plugin: client-native setup and gateway sign-in
- Integrations catalog: supported apps and toolkits