DunnLab Code
This repo has two purposes:
- Documenting our best practices, onboarding, and instruction on using AI in our research.
- Shared skills, hooks, and commands for the Dunn Lab. The focus is in Claude Code.
View the full documentation site
Installation
Option A: Install from the marketplace (recommended)
Register the repo as a marketplace, then install the plugin:
claude plugin marketplace add caseywdunn/dunnlab_code
claude plugin install dunnlab-code
This pulls the plugin from GitHub and caches it locally. Works anywhere — including inside dev containers. To update after changes are pushed, run claude plugin update dunnlab-code.
Option B: Per-session loading with --plugin-dir
If you want to load the plugin for a single session without installing it permanently (useful during development or testing):
git clone https://github.com/caseywdunn/dunnlab_code.git ~/repos/dunnlab_code
claude --plugin-dir ~/repos/dunnlab_code
This loads the plugin for that session alongside any other installed plugins — it does not replace them. The flag is repeatable, so you can load multiple plugin directories at once (e.g., --plugin-dir ~/pluginA --plugin-dir ~/pluginB). If a --plugin-dir plugin shares a name with an installed marketplace plugin, the local copy takes precedence for that session.
There is no way to specify --plugin-dir for the Claude VS Code extension. But you can run claude --plugin-dir within the VS Code terminal to use the plugin there.
Because --plugin-dir reads directly from the directory, changes take effect immediately on the next session — no update command needed.
Using skills and commands
Once the plugin is installed, everything is available automatically — no extra activation steps.
- Skills load based on context. For example, the
dunnlab-defaults skill activates when you start a new analysis script or set up a project. You can also invoke skills explicitly as /dunnlab-code:dunnlab-defaults.
- Slash commands are available immediately. Try
/dunnlab-check to verify the plugin is working.
- Hooks run automatically in response to events (once configured).
To see what's available, run:
/dunnlab-check
You can disable the plugin without uninstalling it:
/plugin disable dunnlab-code
/plugin enable dunnlab-code
Updating the plugin
How you update depends on how you installed it.
Marketplace installs
If you installed via a marketplace, update from within Claude Code:
/plugin update dunnlab-code@dunnlab
Marketplaces auto-update by default, so in most cases you don't need to do anything — new versions are picked up automatically.
Persistent local installs (plugin add)
Pull the latest changes, then re-register the plugin to update the cache:
cd ~/repos/dunnlab_code
git pull
claude plugin add ~/repos/dunnlab_code
Per-session installs (--plugin-dir)
Pull the latest changes and restart Claude Code:
cd ~/repos/dunnlab_code
git pull
Changes are picked up on the next session automatically — no separate update command needed.
What's included
| Directory | Contents |
|---|
skills/ | Reusable Claude Code skills for lab workflows |
commands/ | Slash commands for common tasks |
hooks/ | Event-driven automation hooks |
docs/ | GitHub Pages site with setup guides and lab practices |
Skills
- dunnlab-defaults — Lab-wide coding conventions: preferred languages, file naming, project structure
- dunnlab-devcontainer — Add a
.devcontainer/ configuration for secure, reproducible Claude Code development environments
- example-skill — A template to copy when creating new skills
Commands
- /dunnlab-check — Verifies the plugin is loaded and lists available skills
Full documentation, including onboarding instructions and lab conventions, is available on the Pages site.
