What is a Plugin?
Claude plugins are file-based extensions that add skills, workflows, and tool instructions to Claude. They work in both Claude Cowork (desktop) and Claude Code (CLI). You do not need to write code, just markdown instructions and JSON config.
The Cartographer plugin connects to your account through the MCP server. On top of that it adds story mapping knowledge: the 3-tier hierarchy, what each card type means, how to follow the methodology, and workflows that build an entire project from a brief.
Install
The plugin is distributed as a zip file. Download it and follow the steps for your client.
Claude Cowork
Download the plugin
Download cartographer.zip using the button above.
Open Cowork and add a plugin
Click the + button next to the input field and select Add plugins... from the menu.
Go to Personal and upload
In the Browse plugins panel, click the Personal tab, then click the + button next to Local uploads and select Upload plugin.
Upload the file
Drag and drop the cartographer.zip file into the upload dialog, or click Browse files to select it. Then click Upload.
Review and enable
Cowork shows the plugin contents: skills, commands, connectors, and agents. Make sure the Customize toggle is on, then you are ready to go.
Get to work with Cartographer
Back on the home screen, you will see Cartographer suggestions ready to go. Pick a task or type your own prompt. The plugin handles the rest.
Claude Code
Download the plugin
Download cartographer.zip using the button above, or clone the 3p-plugins/claude/ directory from the Cartographer repo.
Install from the CLI
Run the install command, pointing to the plugin file or directory:
claude plugin install ./cartographer.zipAuthorize
On first use, Claude Code will prompt you to authorize via your browser. After that, the connection persists across sessions. No API keys or environment variables needed.
Included in the Plugin
Skills
Skills activate automatically when your request matches. The main one, story-mapping, loads whenever you work on a board. It teaches Claude:
- The 3-tier hierarchy: Journeys, Steps, and Story Cards
- Card type meanings: when to use objectives, risks, questions, knowledge gaps, learnings, pain points, and opportunities
- Tool order: the right order for creating projects, journeys, steps, and cards
- Story mapping method: walking through the user experience, slicing for releases, and surfacing unknowns
- Common mistakes: skipping steps, too many journeys, missing card types, color overload
The skill includes reference docs on card types, the hierarchy, and board patterns, plus two example boards (SaaS onboarding and feature discovery).
The plugin also includes 10 workflow skills for the jobs around a map:
- User Story Mapping: build a story map from a brief, PRD or idea, with Jeff Patton's method.
- Interview to Story Map: turn interview transcripts into an evidence-backed map, with a snapshot per participant.
- Feedback to Story Map: theme support tickets, NPS comments and feature requests onto the journey.
- MVP Slicing: find the walking skeleton, cut release slices with outcomes, and plan Now / Next / Later.
- Story Splitting: split big stories into small vertical ones with SPIDR, checked against INVEST.
- Story Map Review: review a map's structure, balance and hidden assumptions, and get the top three fixes.
- Story Map to Backlog: write tickets with Given/When/Then acceptance criteria from a release slice.
- Sales Discovery Map: map a prospect's workflow and pains from discovery calls, with a MEDDICC check.
- Mutual Action Plan: a shared buyer and seller plan from evaluation to go-live and first value.
- Sales Playbook Map: a sales or CS playbook along the customer journey, tailored to each buyer role.
These are also a free download on their own, for ChatGPT, Codex, and other agents, or for anyone who isn’t using Cartographer yet.
Slash Commands
/create-project
Create a story map from a product brief or feature description. Parses your brief, identifies journeys and steps, and populates the project with typed story cards.
/map-journey
Walk through a user journey step by step. Claude asks questions at each step and builds the map with you, like running a story mapping workshop.
/project-review
Analyze an existing project's structure and suggest improvements. Checks journey count, step balance, card type distribution, milestone usage, and narrative flow.
/import-research
Parse research notes, interview transcripts, or survey results and turn them into typed story cards. Extracts insights, questions, risks, and knowledge gaps automatically.
Agent: Board Builder
An autonomous agent that builds an entire story map project from a product brief, PRD, or research document without step-by-step prompting. Give it a document and it:
- Analyzes the input to identify users, goals, and activities
- Designs the project structure (3-6 journeys, 2-5 steps each)
- Creates milestones if timeline info is present
- Populates story cards with the right types: objectives, risks, questions, and learnings
- Presents a summary and asks for feedback
How It Works
The plugin connects to Cartographer’s MCP server at cartographer.studio/mcp and authenticates via OAuth. Once connected, Claude has access to all the tools it needs to read, create, and modify your story maps.
A raw MCP connection only gives Claude the tools. What the plugin adds is guidance. The skill, commands, and agent teach Claude how to think about story mapping, not just which tool to call, but when to create a journey vs. a step, which card type to use, how to structure a board for discovery vs. planning, and which mistakes to avoid.
3-Tier Hierarchy
Every Cartographer project uses a fixed 3-tier card hierarchy:
Journeys are the “big things” users do, read left-to-right as a narrative. Steps break each journey into phases. Story cards are the actual items the team works on. The plugin keeps Claude inside this hierarchy. It does not skip the step layer or create cards at the wrong tier.
Card Types
Story cards have a type that shows what the card is for:
| Type | When to use |
|---|---|
| None | Generic story card: a task or user story |
| Objective | A goal or desired outcome |
| Risk | A threat, concern, or uncertainty |
| Question | An open question to resolve |
| Knowledge Gap | Something the team needs to learn |
| Learning | A validated insight or learning |
| Pain Point | A user frustration or problem, ideally with evidence |
| Opportunity | A possible improvement that answers a pain or goal |
The plugin teaches Claude to use typed cards, not just generic ones. A step with only generic cards leaves out the risks, questions, and goals it could show.
Available MCP Tools
The plugin connects to the same MCP server used by direct integrations, so Claude has access to all available tools. The skill and commands call these tools in the right order, so you do not need to think about individual API calls.
Spaces
spaces_listspaces_createspaces_projects_listspaces_statuses_listProjects
projects_listfind_project_by_nameprojects_createprojects_updateprojects_list_backboneprojects_list_all_cardsprojects_get_card_detailsCards
journeys_createsteps_createstory_cards_createcards_createcards_updatecards_movecards_deleteMilestones & Comments
milestones_listmilestones_createmilestones_updatecomments_createExamples
Create a project from a brief
/create-project We're building a collaborative document editor.
Users need to create, edit, share, and collaborate on documents in real time.Map a journey interactively
/map-journey user onboardingReview an existing project
/project-review Billing SystemImport research findings
/import-research We interviewed 12 users about their onboarding
experience. Key findings: 8/12 were confused by the workspace setup
step, 10/12 wanted to invite teammates earlier in the flow.Autonomous project building
Here's our PRD for the new billing system.
Can you create a full story map from this?The board-builder agent reads the document, designs the project structure, and fills it with typed cards. No step-by-step prompting needed.
