sdd vs essentials
sdd is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by applica-software-guru. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Claude Code: claude-plugins-community). essentials is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by Dhruv Baldawa. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-18. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |  sdd | |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-community | Listed Version: 1.9.0 Forks (GitHub): 1 Stars (GitHub): 14 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Community marketplace dhruvbaldawa/ccconfigs | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.13.0 Forks (GitHub): 3 Stars (GitHub): 31 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | sdd | essentials |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 14 (worse) | 31 (better) |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 1 (worse) | 3 (better) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs | Installs as a plugin bundle | Installs as a plugin bundle |
| Transport | Not stated | Not stated |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for | Not published | Not published |
| Hooks it runs (differs) | 1 | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | 9 | 31 |
| Licence (differs) | MIT | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/applica-software-guru/sdd | github.com/dhruvbaldawa/ccconfigs |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 0 | 2 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-16 |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
sdd
Story Driven Development workflow for Claude Code. Keeps your documentation and code in sync via status tracking and git-diff-based prompts.
essentials
My absolute essentials to work with Claude Code
How to run each
sdd As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community
/plugin install sdd@claude-communityessentials As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add dhruvbaldawa/ccconfigs
/plugin install essentials@ccconfigsCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
Neither one's marketplaces publish a list of tools, so there is nothing to compare.
Settings each asks for
Neither one's marketplaces publish the settings it asks for.
What it can do: sdd · What it can do: essentials · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-community/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.