> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://differentai-docs-retire-unsold-and-stale-pages.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Skills, plugins, and MCP

> Choose the right OpenWork building block for a reusable setup

MCP, skills, and plugins solve different parts of the same setup.

## Choose the right unit

| Use    | Means                                                     | Reach for it when                      |
| ------ | --------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| MCP    | The connector to a system like mail, ticketing, or CRM.   | The agent needs to call that system.   |
| Skill  | Written instructions the agent loads when a task matches. | One workflow should become repeatable. |
| Plugin | The package a marketplace distributes.                    | Related skills should travel together. |

1. Keep using connectors for MCPs. An MCP is the system connection, not the playbook.
2. Create a skill when one set of instructions is enough. Creating a skill already creates a single-skill plugin for you.
3. Use a multi-skill plugin when several skills make one system usable, such as ticketing skills that fill gaps around a thin MCP.
4. Keep those system skills together because they depend on the system's capabilities, not one person's workflow.