explanatory-output-style

What it is

The explanatory-output-style plugin (version 1.0.0, authored by Anthropic) recreates the deprecated "Explanatory" output style as a SessionStart hook. When enabled, it automatically adds instructions at the start of each session. These instructions encourage Claude to provide educational insights about implementation choices, explain codebase patterns and decisions, and balance task completion with learning opportunities. The plugin uses a SessionStart hook to inject additional context into every session. That context tells Claude to give brief educational explanations before and after writing code. Each explanation uses a distinctive "★ Insight" block containing 2-3 key educational points. The insights focus on specific implementation choices for your codebase, patterns and conventions in your code, and trade-offs and design decisions. They favor codebase-specific details over general programming concepts. The plugin replaces the deprecated "outputStyle": "Explanatory" setting. The README notes that this SessionStart hook pattern is roughly equivalent to CLAUDE.md, but it is more flexible and can be distributed through plugins. It also points out that output styles for tasks other than software development are better expressed as subagents, because subagents change the system prompt while SessionStart hooks add to the default system prompt. The README includes a warning: do not install this plugin unless you accept the token cost of its additional instructions and output. You can disable the plugin and keep the code installed, uninstall it to remove the code from your device, or create a local copy to personalize it.

Who it's for

• Users who previously relied on the deprecated "Explanatory" output style setting
• Developers who want Claude to explain implementation choices, codebase patterns and trade-offs while working
• Learners who want task completion balanced with learning opportunities
• Plugin authors interested in the SessionStart hook pattern as a distributable alternative to CLAUDE.md

Requirements

Examples

`★ Insight ─────────────────────────────────────`
[2-3 key educational points]
`─────────────────────────────────────────────────`

{
  "outputStyle": "Explanatory"
}