What is Cleo?
Cleo is an open-source package manager for Claude Code, described in its README as "the missing package manager for Claude," aimed at developers who extend Claude with rules, skills, agents, commands, hooks, and MCP servers. It works like npm, pip, or cargo but for the Claude ecosystem: you declare dependencies in a manifest and Cleo fetches and installs them. Concrete features include lock-file pinning by commit SHA for reproducible installs across machines, three scope buckets (project-wide, local/gitignored, and user-global), transitive dependency resolution so packages can declare their own dependencies, and parallel fetching via a --jobs flag for faster large installs. There is no central registry; packages resolve to GitHub URLs by default, and Cleo can migrate previously installed skills without reorganizing them. Core commands include cleo require, cleo install, cleo update, cleo remove, and cleo list. Written in Python 3.9+ (with git and PyYAML), it installs via pip (pip install ClaudeCleo), as a Claude Code plugin, or from source. Cleo is free and open source under the GPL-3.0-or-later license.
What is Cleo used for?
Developers use Cleo to install and version-pin Claude Code rules, skills, agents, and MCP servers from a single manifest.
How much does Cleo cost?
Pros and cons
Pros
- Lock-file pinning by commit SHA for reproducible installs across teams
- Three scope buckets: project-wide, local/gitignored, and user-global
- Transitive dependency resolution and parallel fetching via --jobs
- Free and open source under GPL-3.0; installs via pip or Claude Code plugin
Cons
- Only useful within the Claude Code ecosystem
- Requires Python 3.9+, git, and command-line familiarity
- No central registry; relies on GitHub URLs for resolution
Questions about Cleo
What is Cleo used for?
Cleo is a package manager for Claude Code used to install and version-pin rules, skills, agents, commands, hooks, and MCP servers from a single manifest, the way npm or pip manages code dependencies.
Is Cleo free?
Yes. Cleo is free and open source under the GPL-3.0-or-later license. You can install it with pip install ClaudeCleo, as a Claude Code plugin, or from source.
How do you install packages with Cleo?
Use commands like cleo require vendor/pkg to add a package, cleo install to install from the manifest, cleo update to resolve latest versions, and cleo remove to uninstall.
What does Cleo require to run?
Cleo needs Python 3.9 or later, git, and PyYAML. Packages resolve to GitHub URLs by default since there is no central registry.
What are the best alternatives to Cleo?
Reviews
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