Agent skill
marketplace-development
Create plugin marketplaces to bundle and distribute multiple plugins from a single repository
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry/tree/main/skills/other/marketplace-development
SKILL.md
Marketplace Development
This skill covers creating and managing plugin marketplaces - repositories that bundle multiple plugins for distribution.
When to Use
Use this skill when:
- Creating a new plugin marketplace from scratch
- Converting standalone plugins to marketplace format
- Understanding marketplace vs standalone plugin patterns
- Configuring marketplace.json schema
- Troubleshooting plugin discovery in marketplaces
Standalone vs Marketplace
Claude Code supports two distribution models:
| Aspect | Standalone | Marketplace |
|---|---|---|
| Manifest | .claude-plugin/plugin.json |
.claude-plugin/marketplace.json |
| Use case | Single plugin = entire repo | Collection of plugins in one repo |
| Installation | Install entire plugin | Install individual plugins |
| Plugin location | N/A | plugins/<name>/plugin.json at root |
Choose ONE approach - having both manifests causes conflicts.
Marketplace Structure
my-marketplace/
├── .claude-plugin/
│ └── marketplace.json # ONLY file here - lists all plugins
└── plugins/
├── tool-a/
│ ├── plugin.json # AT PLUGIN ROOT (not .claude-plugin/)
│ ├── commands/
│ ├── agents/
│ └── skills/
│ └── my-skill/
│ └── SKILL.md
└── tool-b/
├── plugin.json
└── skills/
Critical: .claude-plugin/ is ONLY at marketplace root, NOT inside each plugin. Each plugin has plugin.json at its directory root.
marketplace.json Schema
Minimal
{
"name": "my-marketplace",
"plugins": [
{
"name": "tool-a",
"description": "What tool-a does",
"source": "./plugins/tool-a"
}
]
}
Full Schema
{
"$schema": "https://anthropic.com/claude-code/marketplace.schema.json",
"name": "my-marketplace",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "Collection of plugins for X workflow",
"owner": {
"name": "Author Name",
"email": "[email protected]"
},
"plugins": [
{
"name": "tool-a",
"description": "What tool-a does",
"version": "1.0.0",
"source": "./plugins/tool-a",
"category": "development",
"tags": ["productivity", "automation"],
"skills": [
"./skills/skill-one",
"./skills/skill-two"
]
}
]
}
Required Fields
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
name |
string | Marketplace identifier (kebab-case) |
plugins |
array | List of available plugins |
plugins[].name |
string | Plugin identifier |
plugins[].description |
string | Brief plugin description |
plugins[].source |
string | Relative path to plugin directory |
Optional Fields
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
$schema |
string | Schema URL for validation |
version |
string | Marketplace version |
description |
string | Marketplace description |
owner |
object | {name, email, url} |
plugins[].version |
string | Individual plugin version |
plugins[].category |
string | Category for organization |
plugins[].tags |
array | Discovery keywords |
plugins[].skills |
array | Explicit skill paths (recommended) |
Skills Array Pattern
Explicitly listing skills ensures proper discovery:
{
"plugins": [
{
"name": "document-skills",
"description": "Document processing suite",
"source": "./plugins/docs",
"skills": [
"./skills/xlsx",
"./skills/docx",
"./skills/pdf"
]
}
]
}
Why explicit skills?
- Guarantees skills are discovered
- Avoids auto-discovery issues with nested paths
- Documents what each plugin provides
Bundle Plugin Pattern
Offer "install everything" with a bundle pointing to root:
{
"plugins": [
{"name": "tool-a", "source": "./plugins/tool-a"},
{"name": "tool-b", "source": "./plugins/tool-b"},
{
"name": "complete-toolkit",
"description": "All tools in one install",
"source": "./",
"category": "bundle"
}
]
}
Categories
Categories are metadata only - no visual grouping in UI. Use for:
- Semantic organization
- Documentation grouping
- Future filtering (not implemented)
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Correct |
|---|---|
plugins/X/.claude-plugin/plugin.json |
plugins/X/plugin.json |
Both plugin.json and marketplace.json |
Choose ONE approach |
| Symlinks in remote plugins | Use actual file copies |
| Missing skills in marketplace.json | Add explicit skills array |
Installation
# Add marketplace from GitHub
/plugin add https://github.com/user/my-marketplace
# Add specific branch/tag
/plugin add https://github.com/user/my-marketplace#v1.0.0
# Install individual plugin
/plugin install tool-a@my-marketplace
Team Configuration
Share marketplace with team via settings.json:
{
"extraKnownMarketplaces": [
"https://github.com/company/internal-plugins"
]
}
These appear in /plugins discover for team members.
Symlinks Warning
Symlinks don't work for remote plugins. When plugins are fetched from GitHub, symlink targets don't exist in the cache.
Instead of:
plugins/my-tool/commands/cmd.md -> ../../commands/cmd.md # BROKEN
Use actual files:
plugins/my-tool/commands/cmd.md # Actual file
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