FAQ

The update chain, in order. The report from step 1 lists the next steps:

If the skill is unavailable (very old install, plugin not yet installed, or Claude refuses to invoke it), paste the prompt below directly into the chat. It starts with a check that Claude Code is 2.1.301 or newer (the mods need it) and stops with an instruction if it is not; otherwise Claude Code runs every command for you:

First run `claude --version`. The mods need Claude Code 2.1.301 or newer. If it is lower, stop and tell me to run `claude update`, restart Claude Code (type `exit`, then run `claude`) and paste this prompt again.

Execute these commands in this Claude Code session, one by one, show full output for each, do not skip any, do not summarize:

1. claude plugin marketplace update claude-brewcode
2. claude plugin update brewmod-placeholders@claude-brewcode
3. claude plugin update brewmod-plan-effort@claude-brewcode
4. claude plugin update brewmod-reminders@claude-brewcode
5. claude plugin update brewcode@claude-brewcode
6. claude plugin update brewdoc@claude-brewcode
7. claude plugin update brewtools@claude-brewcode
8. claude plugin update brewui@claude-brewcode

If a command fails because that plugin is not installed, say so, treat it as done and continue with the next one.

After all commands succeed, run `/reload-plugins`. If `/reload-plugins` is unavailable, tell me to type `exit` and run `claude` again. Then, if brewcode is installed, tell me to run `/brewcode:setup-status upgrade` in this project and in each other project that uses brewcode. It upgrades the stale setups. Do not run it yourself: I type it. Run the commands now.

After all commands succeed, run /reload-plugins inside your Claude Code session, then continue with step 3 above. If /reload-plugins is unavailable, or you ran claude update, type exit and run claude again.

If /brewtools:plugin-update is missing (very old or partial install), paste the update prompt from How do I update brewcode plugins?. It runs the marketplace update and every plugin update, no skill required. Afterwards the skill is available for all future updates.

Paste the update prompt from How do I update brewcode plugins? into the chat. Its coercive phrasing is intentional: it stops Claude from summarizing or skipping steps.

Once an update has succeeded, switch to /brewtools:plugin-update: the skill runs the same claude plugin commands itself, so there is nothing to paste.

All seven install from the same claude-brewcode marketplace on GitHub. The four plugins total 27 skills, 10 agents and 3 registered plugin hooks; optional setup-installed hooks are separate. Mods are covered in Brewcode mods.

Mods are plugins that change how Claude Code itself behaves, through the hooks module API. There are three. brewmod-placeholders expands tokens such as ++r into instruction blocks and is the only provider of the codewords ++m, ++a, ++r, ++rr and +++. brewmod-plan-effort raises the effort of the main loop while Claude plans. brewmod-reminders keeps reminders as Markdown files in the repo and shows the due ones at the start of a session.

They are separate from the four suite plugins, and the recommended install adds all three: claude plugin install brewmod-placeholders@claude-brewcode, then claude plugin install brewmod-plan-effort@claude-brewcode and claude plugin install brewmod-reminders@claude-brewcode. /brewtools:plugin-update updates them once installed and offers a missing mod in one question, placeholders first. Details: Brewcode mods.

A -setup suffix marks a skill that installs a mechanism into the project: agents, hooks, a generated skill, a board. After it runs you use the installed thing, not the skill. Skills without the suffix are recurring tools: running them repeatedly is the intended usage.

There are eleven -setup skills. All share one mode vocabulary, status | install | upgrade | enable | disable | uninstall | purge; skill-specific verbs come after it. A bare call picks its own default: convention-setup runs install; semble-setup, manager-setup, agent-deadline-setup, agent-return-setup and agent-router-setup run status; the other five run status when installed and install when absent. Use explicit modes. Enable and disable work through a live config flag (semble, agent-deadline, agent-return, agent-router, manager, docsync) or entry-file parking, renaming the discovery file to <name>.disabled (teams, superreview, task-board, convention, memory-sync).

Ten of the eleven accept --unattended, which /brewcode:setup-status upgrade sets so a setup upgrades without asking questions (details); convention-setup does not take it, its interview stays with you.

By design. 24 of the 27 skills are user-invoked only: they carry user-invocable: true and disable-model-invocation: true. The model never sees their descriptions and never auto-activates one; they run only when you type /plugin:skill.

Three skills are the exception (disable-model-invocation: false): /brewdoc:publish, /brewtools:text-optimize and /brewtools:text-human. Claude can run them mid-task: publishing returns a shareable URL, and the text skills are leaf edits on files you name. Other suite skills also call text-optimize through Skill.

The other 24 keep installation and scope decisions with you. The eleven -setup skills write real files into your repo, and recurring tools such as rules, e2e, secrets-scan, deploy and ssh run when and where you choose.

So “can you sync my docs?” will not trigger /brewdoc:docsync-setup; type the command. “Publish this” or “humanize this README” can trigger the three exceptions. Tab completion after / lists everything installed.

Yes. Plugin changes only take effect after a reload, and a new Claude Code version (claude update) needs a restart.

Reload before anything else: the order of the commands after an update is on the Plugin Update page.

Paste the prompt below into any Claude Code session. Claude checks that Claude Code is 2.1.301 or newer, adds the marketplace and installs the three mods and all four plugins for you:

First run `claude --version`. The mods need Claude Code 2.1.301 or newer. If it is lower, stop and tell me to run `claude update`, restart Claude Code (type `exit`, then run `claude`) and paste this prompt again.

Execute these commands in this Claude Code session, one by one, show full output for each, do not skip any, do not summarize:

1. claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/kochetkov-ma/claude-brewcode
2. claude plugin install brewmod-placeholders@claude-brewcode
3. claude plugin install brewmod-plan-effort@claude-brewcode
4. claude plugin install brewmod-reminders@claude-brewcode
5. claude plugin install brewcode@claude-brewcode
6. claude plugin install brewdoc@claude-brewcode
7. claude plugin install brewtools@claude-brewcode
8. claude plugin install brewui@claude-brewcode

After all commands succeed, run `/reload-plugins`. If `/reload-plugins` is unavailable, tell me to type `exit` and run `claude` again. Run the commands now.

With brewtools already installed, /brewtools:plugin-update offers the missing mods and plugins in one question instead (mods need Claude Code 2.1.301 or newer), and runs every later update.

Plugins are stored locally after installation:

~/.claude/plugins/cache/<marketplace>/<plugin>/<version>/

For example ~/.claude/plugins/cache/claude-brewcode/brewcode/<version>/. Marketplace metadata lives in ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/.

Run /brewtools:plugin-update check in a session: it lists the installed and latest version per plugin and mod and changes nothing. A bare /brewtools:plugin-update updates every outdated plugin and mod without asking, then reports versions before and after.