diff --git a/src/brainy.ts b/src/brainy.ts
index 45f7be5d..234edf70 100644
--- a/src/brainy.ts
+++ b/src/brainy.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ import { BaseStorage } from './storage/baseStorage.js'
 import { StorageAdapter, Vector, DistanceFunction, EmbeddingFunction, GraphVerb } from './coreTypes.js'
 import {
   defaultEmbeddingFunction,
-  cosineDistance
+  cosineDistance,
+  getBrainyVersion
 } from './utils/index.js'
 import { embeddingManager } from './embeddings/EmbeddingManager.js'
 import { matchesMetadataFilter } from './utils/metadataFilter.js'
@@ -33,6 +34,8 @@ import { BlobStorage } from './storage/cow/BlobStorage.js'
 import { NULL_HASH } from './storage/cow/constants.js'
 import { createPipeline } from './streaming/pipeline.js'
 import { configureLogger, LogLevel } from './utils/logger.js'
+import { PluginRegistry } from './plugin.js'
+import type { BrainyPlugin, BrainyPluginContext } from './plugin.js'
 import { TransactionManager } from './transaction/TransactionManager.js'
 import {
   ValidationConfig,
@@ -142,6 +145,9 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
     error: typeof console.error
   }
 
+  // Plugin system
+  private pluginRegistry = new PluginRegistry()
+
   // Sub-APIs (lazy-loaded)
   private _neural?: ImprovedNeuralAPI
   private _nlp?: NaturalLanguageProcessor
@@ -267,6 +273,9 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
         (this.storage as any).enableCOWLightweight((this.config.storage as any)?.branch || 'main')
       }
 
+      // Auto-detect and activate plugins (e.g., @soulcraft/brainy-cortex)
+      await this.loadPlugins()
+
       // Setup index now that we have storage
       this.index = this.setupIndex()
 
@@ -6534,6 +6543,51 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
     await this.metadataIndex.detectAndRepairCorruption()
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Register a plugin manually.
+   *
+   * Must be called BEFORE init(). Plugins registered after init()
+   * will not be activated.
+   */
+  use(plugin: BrainyPlugin): this {
+    this.pluginRegistry.register(plugin)
+    return this
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get list of active plugin names.
+   */
+  getActivePlugins(): string[] {
+    return this.pluginRegistry.getActivePlugins()
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Auto-detect and activate plugins.
+   * Called internally during init().
+   */
+  private async loadPlugins(): Promise<void> {
+    // Auto-detect installed plugins (e.g., @soulcraft/brainy-cortex)
+    const pluginPackages = (this.config as any).plugins as string[] | undefined
+    await this.pluginRegistry.autoDetect(pluginPackages || [])
+
+    // Create plugin context
+    const context: BrainyPluginContext = {
+      registerProvider: (key, impl) => this.pluginRegistry.registerProvider(key, impl),
+      version: getBrainyVersion()
+    }
+
+    // Activate all registered plugins
+    const activated = await this.pluginRegistry.activateAll(context)
+    if (activated.length > 0) {
+      // Only log if not in silent mode
+      if (!this.config.silent) {
+        for (const name of activated) {
+          console.log(`[brainy] Plugin activated: ${name}`)
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Close and cleanup
    *
@@ -6547,6 +6601,9 @@ export class Brainy<T = any> implements BrainyInterface<T> {
       await this.index.flush()
     }
 
+    // Deactivate plugins
+    await this.pluginRegistry.deactivateAll()
+
     // Shutdown augmentations
     const augs = this.augmentationRegistry.getAll()
     for (const aug of augs) {
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 28d2953d..e6089c15 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -109,6 +109,10 @@ export {
 // Export version utilities
 export { getBrainyVersion } from './utils/version.js'
 
+// Export plugin system
+export type { BrainyPlugin, BrainyPluginContext, StorageAdapterFactory } from './plugin.js'
+export { PluginRegistry } from './plugin.js'
+
 // Export embedding functionality
 import {
   UniversalSentenceEncoder,
diff --git a/src/plugin.ts b/src/plugin.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..53df78cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/plugin.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,184 @@
+/**
+ * Brainy Plugin System
+ *
+ * Simple plugin architecture for two use cases:
+ * 1. Native acceleration (@soulcraft/brainy-cortex)
+ * 2. Custom storage adapters (e.g., Redis, DynamoDB, custom backends)
+ *
+ * Plugins are auto-detected by package name or registered manually.
+ */
+
+import type { StorageAdapter } from './coreTypes.js'
+
+/**
+ * Plugin interface — all brainy plugins must implement this.
+ */
+export interface BrainyPlugin {
+  /** Unique plugin name (typically the npm package name) */
+  name: string
+
+  /**
+   * Called by brainy during init() to activate the plugin.
+   * Return true if activation succeeded, false to skip.
+   */
+  activate(context: BrainyPluginContext): Promise<boolean>
+
+  /**
+   * Called when brainy.close() is invoked. Optional cleanup.
+   */
+  deactivate?(): Promise<void>
+}
+
+/**
+ * Context passed to plugins during activation.
+ */
+export interface BrainyPluginContext {
+  /**
+   * Register a provider for a named subsystem.
+   *
+   * Well-known provider keys (used by cortex):
+   * - 'metadataIndex'      — MetadataIndexManager replacement
+   * - 'graphIndex'         — GraphAdjacencyIndex replacement
+   * - 'entityIdMapper'     — EntityIdMapper replacement
+   * - 'cache'              — UnifiedCache replacement
+   * - 'hnsw'               — HNSWIndex replacement
+   * - 'roaring'            — RoaringBitmap32 replacement
+   * - 'embeddings'         — Embedding engine replacement
+   * - 'distance'           — Distance function overrides
+   * - 'msgpack'            — Msgpack encode/decode
+   *
+   * Storage adapter keys:
+   * - 'storage:<name>'     — Custom storage adapter factory
+   */
+  registerProvider(key: string, implementation: unknown): void
+
+  /** Brainy version for compatibility checks */
+  readonly version: string
+}
+
+/**
+ * Storage adapter factory — plugins register these to provide
+ * new storage backends that users reference by name.
+ *
+ * Example: A Redis plugin registers 'storage:redis', then users
+ * can use `new Brainy({ storage: 'redis', redis: { host: '...' } })`
+ */
+export interface StorageAdapterFactory {
+  create(config: Record<string, unknown>): StorageAdapter | Promise<StorageAdapter>
+  name: string
+}
+
+/**
+ * Plugin registry — manages plugin lifecycle and provider resolution.
+ */
+export class PluginRegistry {
+  private plugins: Map<string, BrainyPlugin> = new Map()
+  private providers: Map<string, unknown> = new Map()
+  private activated: Set<string> = new Set()
+
+  /**
+   * Register a plugin manually.
+   */
+  register(plugin: BrainyPlugin): void {
+    this.plugins.set(plugin.name, plugin)
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Auto-detect known plugins by attempting dynamic import.
+   * Additional package names can be passed for third-party plugins.
+   */
+  async autoDetect(additionalPackages: string[] = []): Promise<void> {
+    const packages = [
+      '@soulcraft/brainy-cortex',
+      ...additionalPackages
+    ]
+
+    for (const pkg of packages) {
+      try {
+        const mod = await import(pkg)
+        const plugin: BrainyPlugin = mod.default || mod
+        if (plugin && typeof plugin.activate === 'function' && plugin.name) {
+          this.plugins.set(plugin.name, plugin)
+        }
+      } catch {
+        // Package not installed — skip silently
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Activate all registered plugins.
+   */
+  async activateAll(context: BrainyPluginContext): Promise<string[]> {
+    const activated: string[] = []
+
+    for (const [name, plugin] of this.plugins) {
+      if (this.activated.has(name)) continue
+
+      try {
+        const success = await plugin.activate(context)
+        if (success) {
+          this.activated.add(name)
+          activated.push(name)
+        }
+      } catch (error) {
+        console.warn(`[brainy] Plugin ${name} failed to activate:`, error)
+      }
+    }
+
+    return activated
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Deactivate all plugins (called during close()).
+   */
+  async deactivateAll(): Promise<void> {
+    for (const [name, plugin] of this.plugins) {
+      if (!this.activated.has(name)) continue
+      try {
+        await plugin.deactivate?.()
+        this.activated.delete(name)
+      } catch {
+        // Non-fatal
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get a registered provider by key.
+   */
+  getProvider<T = unknown>(key: string): T | undefined {
+    return this.providers.get(key) as T | undefined
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Check if a provider is registered.
+   */
+  hasProvider(key: string): boolean {
+    return this.providers.has(key)
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Register a provider (called by plugins via BrainyPluginContext).
+   */
+  registerProvider(key: string, implementation: unknown): void {
+    this.providers.set(key, implementation)
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get a storage adapter factory by name.
+   */
+  getStorageFactory(name: string): StorageAdapterFactory | undefined {
+    return this.providers.get(`storage:${name}`) as StorageAdapterFactory | undefined
+  }
+
+  /** Get active plugin names */
+  getActivePlugins(): string[] {
+    return [...this.activated]
+  }
+
+  /** Check if any plugins are active */
+  hasActivePlugins(): boolean {
+    return this.activated.size > 0
+  }
+}