diff --git a/docs/docs/cli.md b/docs/docs/cli.md
index 4675ce1023b..3da2484cc39 100644
--- a/docs/docs/cli.md
+++ b/docs/docs/cli.md
@@ -534,3 +534,46 @@ To only remove a specific package from a cache, you have to specify the cache en
 ```bash
 poetry cache clear pypi:requests:2.24.0
 ```
+
+## plugin
+
+The `plugin` namespace regroups sub commands to manage Poetry plugins.
+
+### `plugin add`
+
+The `plugin add` command installs Poetry plugins and make them available at runtime.
+
+For example, to install the `poetry-plugin` plugin, you can run:
+
+```bash
+poetry plugin add my-plugin
+```
+
+The package specification formats supported by the `plugin add` command are the same as the ones supported
+by the [`add` command](#add).
+
+If you just want to check what would happen by installing a plugin, you can use the `--dry-run` option
+
+```bash
+poetry plugin add my-plugin --dry-run
+```
+
+#### Options
+
+* `--dry-run`: Outputs the operations but will not execute anything (implicitly enables --verbose).
+
+### `plugin list`
+
+The `plugin list` command lists all the currently installed plugins.
+
+```bash
+poetry plugin list
+```
+
+### `plugin remove`
+
+The `plugin remove` command lists all the currently installed plugins.
+
+```bash
+poetry plugin remove poetry-plugin
+```
diff --git a/docs/docs/plugins.md b/docs/docs/plugins.md
index 22e76ba573f..cd37da8c4f6 100644
--- a/docs/docs/plugins.md
+++ b/docs/docs/plugins.md
@@ -78,15 +78,15 @@ from poetry.plugins.application_plugin import ApplicationPlugin
 
 
 class CustomCommand(Command):
-    
+
     name = "my-command"
-    
+
     def handle(self) -> int:
         self.line("My command")
-        
+
         return 0
 
-        
+
 def factory():
     return CustomCommand()
 
@@ -159,10 +159,10 @@ class MyApplicationPlugin(ApplicationPlugin):
     def load_dotenv(
         self, event: ConsoleCommandEvent, event_name: str, dispatcher: EventDispatcher
     ) -> None:
-        command = event.io
+        command = event.command
         if not isinstance(command, EnvCommand):
             return
-        
+
         io = event.io
 
         if io.is_debug():
@@ -170,3 +170,64 @@ class MyApplicationPlugin(ApplicationPlugin):
 
         load_dotenv()
 ```
+
+
+## Using plugins
+
+Installed plugin packages are automatically loaded when Poetry starts up.
+
+You have multiple ways to install plugins for Poetry
+
+### The `plugin add` command
+
+This is the easiest way and should account for all the ways Poetry can be installed.
+
+```bash
+poetry plugin add poetry-plugin
+```
+
+The `plugin add` command will ensure that the plugin is compatible with the current version of Poetry
+and install the needed packages for the plugin to work.
+
+The package specification formats supported by the `plugin add` command are the same as the ones supported
+by the [`add` command](/docs/cli/#add).
+
+If you no longer need a plugin and want to uninstall it, you can use the `plugin remove` command.
+
+```shell
+poetry plugin remove poetry-plugin
+```
+
+You can also list all currently installed plugins by running:
+
+```shell
+poetry plugin list
+```
+
+### With `pipx inject`
+
+If you used `pipx` to install Poetry you can add the plugin packages via the `pipx inject` command.
+
+```shell
+pips inject poetry poetry-plugin
+```
+
+If you want to uninstall a plugin, you can run:
+
+```shell
+pipx runpip poetry uninstall poetry-plugin
+```
+
+### With `pip`
+
+If you used `pip` to install Poetry you can add the plugin packages via the `pip install` command.
+
+```shell
+pip install --user poetry-plugin
+```
+
+If you want to uninstall a plugin, you can run:
+
+```shell
+pip uninstall poetry-plugin
+```
diff --git a/poetry/console/application.py b/poetry/console/application.py
index ca0bb73f785..268aa7cb9ce 100644
--- a/poetry/console/application.py
+++ b/poetry/console/application.py
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ def _load() -> Type[Command]:
     "env list",
     "env remove",
     "env use",
+    # Plugin commands
+    "plugin add",
     # Self commands
     "self update",
 ]
@@ -78,6 +80,7 @@ def _load() -> Type[Command]:
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from cleo.io.inputs.definition import Definition
 
+    from poetry.console.commands.installer_command import InstallerCommand
     from poetry.poetry import Poetry
 
 
@@ -92,8 +95,8 @@ def __init__(self) -> None:
 
         dispatcher = EventDispatcher()
         dispatcher.add_listener(COMMAND, self.register_command_loggers)
-        dispatcher.add_listener(COMMAND, self.set_env)
-        dispatcher.add_listener(COMMAND, self.set_installer)
+        dispatcher.add_listener(COMMAND, self.configure_env)
+        dispatcher.add_listener(COMMAND, self.configure_installer)
         self.set_event_dispatcher(dispatcher)
 
         command_loader = CommandLoader({name: load_command(name) for name in COMMANDS})
@@ -239,7 +242,9 @@ def register_command_loggers(
 
             logger.setLevel(level)
 
-    def set_env(self, event: ConsoleCommandEvent, event_name: str, _: Any) -> None:
+    def configure_env(
+        self, event: ConsoleCommandEvent, event_name: str, _: Any
+    ) -> None:
         from .commands.env_command import EnvCommand
 
         command: EnvCommand = cast(EnvCommand, event.command)
@@ -262,7 +267,7 @@ def set_env(self, event: ConsoleCommandEvent, event_name: str, _: Any) -> None:
 
         command.set_env(env)
 
-    def set_installer(
+    def configure_installer(
         self, event: ConsoleCommandEvent, event_name: str, _: Any
     ) -> None:
         from .commands.installer_command import InstallerCommand
@@ -276,11 +281,14 @@ def set_installer(
         if command.installer is not None:
             return
 
+        self._configure_installer(command, event.io)
+
+    def _configure_installer(self, command: "InstallerCommand", io: "IO") -> None:
         from poetry.installation.installer import Installer
 
         poetry = command.poetry
         installer = Installer(
-            event.io,
+            io,
             command.env,
             poetry.package,
             poetry.locker,
diff --git a/poetry/console/commands/command.py b/poetry/console/commands/command.py
index be87fe99b7a..a717fa4e666 100644
--- a/poetry/console/commands/command.py
+++ b/poetry/console/commands/command.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+from typing import Optional
 
 from cleo.commands.command import Command as BaseCommand
 
@@ -11,9 +12,17 @@
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     loggers = []
 
+    _poetry: Optional["Poetry"] = None
+
     @property
     def poetry(self) -> "Poetry":
-        return self.get_application().poetry
+        if self._poetry is None:
+            return self.get_application().poetry
+
+        return self._poetry
+
+    def set_poetry(self, poetry: "Poetry") -> None:
+        self._poetry = poetry
 
     def get_application(self) -> "Application":
         return self.application
diff --git a/poetry/console/commands/env_command.py b/poetry/console/commands/env_command.py
index beb40e1e88e..fd44b415c00 100644
--- a/poetry/console/commands/env_command.py
+++ b/poetry/console/commands/env_command.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from poetry.utils.env import VirtualEnv
+    from poetry.utils.env import Env
 
 
 class EnvCommand(Command):
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ def __init__(self) -> None:
         super(EnvCommand, self).__init__()
 
     @property
-    def env(self) -> "VirtualEnv":
+    def env(self) -> "Env":
         return self._env
 
-    def set_env(self, env: "VirtualEnv") -> None:
+    def set_env(self, env: "Env") -> None:
         self._env = env
diff --git a/poetry/console/commands/init.py b/poetry/console/commands/init.py
index fbc94b9358c..246dc2312d5 100644
--- a/poetry/console/commands/init.py
+++ b/poetry/console/commands/init.py
@@ -434,10 +434,16 @@ def _parse_requirements(self, requirements: List[str]) -> List[Dict[str, str]]:
 
                     result.append(pair)
                     continue
-            elif (os.path.sep in requirement or "/" in requirement) and cwd.joinpath(
-                requirement
-            ).exists():
-                path = cwd.joinpath(requirement)
+            elif (os.path.sep in requirement or "/" in requirement) and (
+                cwd.joinpath(requirement).exists()
+                or Path(requirement).expanduser().exists()
+                and Path(requirement).expanduser().is_absolute()
+            ):
+                path = Path(requirement).expanduser()
+
+                if not path.is_absolute():
+                    path = cwd.joinpath(requirement)
+
                 if path.is_file():
                     package = Provider.get_package_from_file(path.resolve())
                 else:
@@ -447,7 +453,12 @@ def _parse_requirements(self, requirements: List[str]) -> List[Dict[str, str]]:
                     dict(
                         [
                             ("name", package.name),
-                            ("path", path.relative_to(cwd).as_posix()),
+                            (
+                                "path",
+                                path.relative_to(cwd).as_posix()
+                                if not path.is_absolute()
+                                else path.as_posix(),
+                            ),
                         ]
                         + ([("extras", extras)] if extras else [])
                     )
diff --git a/poetry/console/commands/plugin/__init__.py b/poetry/console/commands/plugin/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d
diff --git a/poetry/console/commands/plugin/add.py b/poetry/console/commands/plugin/add.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5e660fff266
--- /dev/null
+++ b/poetry/console/commands/plugin/add.py
@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+import os
+
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+from typing import cast
+
+from cleo.helpers import argument
+from cleo.helpers import option
+
+from ..init import InitCommand
+
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+    from poetry.console.application import Application  # noqa
+    from poetry.console.commands.update import UpdateCommand
+    from poetry.packages.project_package import ProjectPackage
+
+
+class PluginAddCommand(InitCommand):
+
+    name = "plugin add"
+
+    description = "Adds new plugins."
+
+    arguments = [
+        argument("plugins", "The names of the plugins to install.", multiple=True),
+    ]
+
+    options = [
+        option(
+            "dry-run",
+            None,
+            "Output the operations but do not execute anything (implicitly enables --verbose).",
+        )
+    ]
+
+    help = """
+The <c1>plugin add</c1> command installs Poetry plugins globally.
+
+It works similarly to the <c1>add</c1> command:
+
+If you do not specify a version constraint, poetry will choose a suitable one based on the available package versions.
+
+You can specify a package in the following forms:
+
+  - A single name (<b>requests</b>)
+  - A name and a constraint (<b>requests@^2.23.0</b>)
+  - A git url (<b>git+https://github.com/python-poetry/poetry.git</b>)
+  - A git url with a revision (<b>git+https://github.com/python-poetry/poetry.git#develop</b>)
+  - A git SSH url (<b>git+ssh://github.com/python-poetry/poetry.git</b>)
+  - A git SSH url with a revision (<b>git+ssh://github.com/python-poetry/poetry.git#develop</b>)
+  - A file path (<b>../my-package/my-package.whl</b>)
+  - A directory (<b>../my-package/</b>)
+  - A url (<b>https://example.com/packages/my-package-0.1.0.tar.gz</b>)\
+"""
+
+    def handle(self) -> int:
+        from pathlib import Path
+
+        from cleo.io.inputs.string_input import StringInput
+        from cleo.io.io import IO
+
+        from poetry.factory import Factory
+        from poetry.packages.project_package import ProjectPackage
+        from poetry.puzzle.provider import Provider
+        from poetry.repositories.installed_repository import InstalledRepository
+        from poetry.repositories.repository import Repository
+        from poetry.utils.env import EnvManager
+
+        plugins = self.argument("plugins")
+        plugins = self._determine_requirements(plugins)
+
+        # Plugins should be installed in the system env to be globally available
+        system_env = EnvManager.get_system_env()
+
+        # We retrieved the packages installed in the system environment.
+        # We assume that this environment will be a self contained virtual environment
+        # built by the official installer or by pipx.
+        # If not, it might lead to side effects since other installed packages
+        # might not be required by Poetry but still taken into account when resolving dependencies.
+        installed_repository = InstalledRepository.load(
+            system_env, with_dependencies=True
+        )
+        repository = Repository()
+
+        root_package = None
+        for package in installed_repository.packages:
+            if package.name in Provider.UNSAFE_PACKAGES:
+                continue
+
+            if package.name == "poetry":
+                root_package = ProjectPackage(package.name, package.version)
+                for dependency in package.requires:
+                    root_package.add_dependency(dependency)
+
+                continue
+
+            repository.add_package(package)
+
+        plugin_names = []
+        for plugin in plugins:
+            plugin_name = plugin.pop("name")
+            root_package.add_dependency(Factory.create_dependency(plugin_name, plugin))
+            plugin_names.append(plugin_name)
+
+        root_package.python_versions = ".".join(
+            str(v) for v in system_env.version_info[:3]
+        )
+        env_dir = Path(
+            os.getenv("POETRY_HOME") if os.getenv("POETRY_HOME") else system_env.path
+        )
+        # We create a `pyproject.toml` file based on all the information
+        # we have about the current environment and the requested plugins.
+        self.create_pyproject_from_package(root_package, env_dir)
+
+        # From this point forward, all the logic will be deferred to
+        # the update command, by using the previously created `pyproject.toml`
+        # file.
+        application = cast("Application", self.application)
+        update_command: "UpdateCommand" = cast(
+            "UpdateCommand", application.find("update")
+        )
+        # We won't go through the event dispatching done by the application
+        # so we need to configure the command manually
+        update_command.set_poetry(Factory().create_poetry(env_dir))
+        update_command.set_env(system_env)
+        application._configure_installer(update_command, self._io)
+
+        argv = ["update"] + plugin_names
+        if self.option("dry-run"):
+            argv.append("--dry-run")
+
+        return update_command.run(
+            IO(
+                StringInput(" ".join(argv)),
+                self._io.output,
+                self._io.error_output,
+            )
+        )
+
+    def create_pyproject_from_package(
+        self, package: "ProjectPackage", path: "Path"
+    ) -> None:
+        import tomlkit
+
+        from poetry.layouts.layout import POETRY_DEFAULT
+
+        pyproject = tomlkit.loads(POETRY_DEFAULT)
+        content = pyproject["tool"]["poetry"]
+
+        content["name"] = package.name
+        content["version"] = package.version.text
+        content["description"] = package.description
+        content["authors"] = package.authors
+
+        dependency_section = content["dependencies"]
+        dependency_section["python"] = package.python_versions
+
+        for dep in package.requires:
+            constraint = tomlkit.inline_table()
+            if dep.is_vcs():
+                constraint[dep.vcs] = dep.source_url
+
+                if dep.reference:
+                    constraint["rev"] = dep.reference
+            elif dep.is_file() or dep.is_directory():
+                constraint["path"] = dep.source_url
+            else:
+                constraint["version"] = str(dep.constraint)
+
+            if not dep.marker.is_any():
+                constraint["markers"] = str(dep.marker)
+
+            if dep.extras:
+                constraint["extras"] = list(sorted(dep.extras))
+
+            dependency_section[dep.name] = constraint
+
+        path.joinpath("pyproject.toml").write_text(
+            pyproject.as_string(), encoding="utf-8"
+        )
diff --git a/poetry/installation/installer.py b/poetry/installation/installer.py
index b778711479b..bc254c135e3 100644
--- a/poetry/installation/installer.py
+++ b/poetry/installation/installer.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ def __init__(
         locker: Locker,
         pool: Pool,
         config: Config,
-        installed: Union[InstalledRepository, None] = None,
+        installed: Union[Repository, None] = None,
         executor: Optional[Executor] = None,
     ):
         self._io = io
diff --git a/poetry/locations.py b/poetry/locations.py
index 5bd4b7feb17..ff38c9c9e82 100644
--- a/poetry/locations.py
+++ b/poetry/locations.py
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@
 
 from .utils.appdirs import user_cache_dir
 from .utils.appdirs import user_config_dir
+from .utils.appdirs import user_data_dir
 
 
 CACHE_DIR = user_cache_dir("pypoetry")
+DATA_DIR = user_data_dir("pypoetry")
 CONFIG_DIR = user_config_dir("pypoetry")
 
 REPOSITORY_CACHE_DIR = Path(CACHE_DIR) / "cache" / "repositories"
diff --git a/poetry/packages/locker.py b/poetry/packages/locker.py
index f06d36d6caf..eecf385c6e8 100644
--- a/poetry/packages/locker.py
+++ b/poetry/packages/locker.py
@@ -596,3 +596,19 @@ def _dump_package(self, package: Package) -> dict:
                 data["develop"] = package.develop
 
         return data
+
+
+class NullLocker(Locker):
+    def __init__(self, locked=False):  # type: (bool) -> None
+        self._locked = locked
+
+    def is_locked(self):  # type: () -> bool
+        return self._locked
+
+    def set_lock_data(self, root, packages):  # type: (...) -> bool
+        return True
+
+    def locked_repository(
+        self, with_dev_reqs=False
+    ):  # type: (bool) -> poetry.repositories.Repository
+        return poetry.repositories.Repository()
diff --git a/poetry/puzzle/provider.py b/poetry/puzzle/provider.py
index 6c4823a8d69..b7428502f7c 100644
--- a/poetry/puzzle/provider.py
+++ b/poetry/puzzle/provider.py
@@ -431,7 +431,6 @@ def incompatibilities_for(
         ]
 
     def complete_package(self, package: DependencyPackage) -> DependencyPackage:
-
         if package.is_root():
             package = package.clone()
             requires = package.all_requires
diff --git a/poetry/repositories/installed_repository.py b/poetry/repositories/installed_repository.py
index 6fba0dd372e..d50b1ecc812 100644
--- a/poetry/repositories/installed_repository.py
+++ b/poetry/repositories/installed_repository.py
@@ -100,10 +100,12 @@ def is_vcs_package(cls, package: Union[Path, Package], env: Env) -> bool:
             return True
 
     @classmethod
-    def load(cls, env: Env) -> "InstalledRepository":
+    def load(cls, env: Env, with_dependencies: bool = False) -> "InstalledRepository":
         """
         Load installed packages.
         """
+        from poetry.core.packages import dependency_from_pep_508
+
         repo = cls()
         seen = set()
 
@@ -118,6 +120,11 @@ def load(cls, env: Env) -> "InstalledRepository":
                 package = Package(name, version, version)
                 package.description = distribution.metadata.get("summary", "")
 
+                if with_dependencies:
+                    for require in distribution.metadata.get_all("requires-dist", []):
+                        dep = dependency_from_pep_508(require)
+                        package.add_dependency(dep)
+
                 if package.name in seen:
                     continue
 
diff --git a/poetry/utils/env.py b/poetry/utils/env.py
index ff78bf0161b..eb29389984a 100644
--- a/poetry/utils/env.py
+++ b/poetry/utils/env.py
@@ -800,7 +800,7 @@ def create_venv(
         p_venv = os.path.normcase(str(venv))
         if any(p.startswith(p_venv) for p in paths):
             # Running properly in the virtualenv, don't need to do anything
-            return SystemEnv(Path(sys.prefix), self.get_base_prefix())
+            return self.get_system_env()
 
         return VirtualEnv(venv)
 
@@ -853,7 +853,12 @@ def remove_venv(cls, path: Union[Path, str]) -> None:
             elif file_path.is_dir():
                 shutil.rmtree(str(file_path))
 
-    def get_base_prefix(self) -> Path:
+    @classmethod
+    def get_system_env(cls) -> "SystemEnv":
+        return SystemEnv(Path(sys.prefix), cls.get_base_prefix())
+
+    @classmethod
+    def get_base_prefix(cls) -> Path:
         if hasattr(sys, "real_prefix"):
             return Path(sys.real_prefix)
 
diff --git a/tests/console/commands/plugin/__init__.py b/tests/console/commands/plugin/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d
diff --git a/tests/console/commands/plugin/test_add.py b/tests/console/commands/plugin/test_add.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d