Stackable's AI-native messaging experience platform streamlines extension development across four complementary surfaces, each optimized for different workflows and use cases. Whether you're prototyping in the browser or building production systems with your own tooling, you can move from concept to deployed code in minutes.

Surface	Best for	Install
AI Extension Studio	First extensions, prototyping, in-browser builds	Open the admin dashboard
Agent Skills	Any AI coding assistant	`pnpm dlx skills add stackable-labs/skills` (auto-bundled in scaffolds)
Live MCP Server	AI clients that speak MCP	Add to your client's MCP config
Claude Code Plugin	Claude Code users (bundles Skills + MCP)	`/plugin marketplace add stackable-labs/claude-plugins`

AI Extension Studio

AI Extension Studio is more than just another AI App builder (Lovable, v0, Bolt, Replit, etc.). It's an in-browser companion trained specifically to conceptualize and build experiences for the Stackable framework that are secure, look great, and are production ready in minutes!

The 3-pane workspace (component palette, live preview, agentic chat) takes you from idea to shipped code in moments. The agentic chat ("Sidekick") writes and modifies code, updates your manifest, looks up SDK reference on demand, and suggests next steps as you work. No installs, no Node version to manage, no tunnel — open the admin dashboard and you're building.

Best for: first extensions, prototyping, non-developers, and quick experiments.

When to move to the CLI: Studio produces a simple single-file project. When you need multi-file structure, custom dependencies, your own build pipeline, or git-based version control, you can transition seamlessly. Either download your Studio project as a ZIP from the export menu, or pull it directly via the CLI. Either path produces a fully-structured local project ready for production build and deployment.

For full Studio details, see AI Extension Studio.

AI Agentic Skills

Agent Skills is an open standard for publishing machine-readable knowledge that AI coding assistants can pull on demand instead of crawling your docs. Stackable publishes the core SDK concepts (surfaces, capabilities, components, hooks, patterns, recipes, and more) as Agent Skills, so any compatible assistant has just-in-time access to exactly the surface area it needs.

How to install

Bundled automatically when you scaffold — @stackable-labs/cli-app-extension create writes the Stackable Skills into your project's .claude/, .cursor/, .windsurf/, and equivalent directories. No extra setup.
Standalone install — for an existing project, or to update to the latest skills, run:
```
pnpm dlx skills add stackable-labs/skills
```
This is powered by Vercel's open skills CLI.

Compatible assistants

Agent Skills work with any tool that supports the format — Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex, VS Code (with MCP-aware extensions), Continue, Zed, and 40+ others listed on agentskills.io. Stackable's Claude Code plugin (below) bundles + auto-updates these skills for Claude Code users.

Live MCP Server

The Stackable platform exposes a hosted MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that any compatible AI client can connect to for live access to your account's apps, extensions, and platform metadata.

Endpoint: https://mcp.stackablelabs.io/app-extension

Available tools (snapshot)

Tool	What it does
`list_apps`	List apps in your account
`list_extensions`	List extensions for a given app
`list_instances`	List deployed instances of an extension
`list_skills`	List available SDK skills
`lookup_skill`	Fetch a specific SDK skill's content on demand
`get_extension`	Fetch full details for a single extension
`validate_manifest`	Validate an extension manifest against the platform
`validate_permissions`	Validate manifest permissions

Compatible clients

Claude Desktop, VS Code, Cursor, Codex, Antigravity, Windsurf, and any other MCP-compatible AI tool. Each client has its own way to register MCP servers — see your client's docs for the exact config syntax.

Authentication uses standard OAuth2 — your client will prompt you to sign in on first use.

Claude Code Plugin

For Claude Code users, the Stackable Claude Code plugin bundles the Skills and pre-configures the MCP server in one install.

Install:

# Add marketplace
/plugin marketplace add stackable-labs/claude-plugins

# Install plugin
/plugin install stackable-extension-dev@stackable-claude-plugins

What it includes:

Latest Stackable Agent Skills (auto-updated)
The Stackable MCP server pre-configured
Slash commands and workflows tailored for extension development

After install, Claude Code can scaffold, validate, and inspect your Stackable extensions directly from your editor without any extra config.

Choosing your tools

Just starting? Open AI Extension Studio in the admin dashboard. No installs, no decisions — get started on your first extension right in the browser.
Want more control, or preparing for release? Use the CLI for a full local TypeScript project: multi-file structure, your own dependencies, git-based version control, and your own build pipeline.
Building from scratch with your own AI workflow? Wire up your editor with Agent Skills, the Live MCP Server, or both — or use the Claude Code Plugin for Claude Code users, which auto-bundles Skills and pre-configures the MCP server in one install.