Plugin Forge

CC Plugin Forge

Purpose

Build and manage Claude Code plugins with correct structure, manifests, and marketplace integration. Includes workflows, automation scripts, and reference docs.

When to Use

• Creating new plugins for a marketplace
• Adding/modifying plugin components (commands, skills, agents, hooks)
• Updating plugin versions
• Working with plugin or marketplace manifests
• Setting up local plugin testing
• Publishing plugins

Getting Started

Create New Plugin

Use create_plugin.py to generate plugin structure:

python scripts/create_plugin.py plugin-name \
  --marketplace-root /path/to/marketplace \
  --author-name "Your Name" \
  --author-email "your.email@example.com" \
  --description "Plugin description" \
  --keywords "keyword1,keyword2" \
  --category "productivity"

This automatically:

• Creates plugin directory structure
• Generates plugin.json manifest
• Creates README template
• Updates marketplace.json

Bump Version

Use bump_version.py to update versions in both manifests:

python scripts/bump_version.py plugin-name major|minor|patch \
  --marketplace-root /path/to/marketplace

Semantic versioning:

• major: Breaking changes (1.0.0 → 2.0.0)
• minor: New features, refactoring (1.0.0 → 1.1.0)
• patch: Bug fixes, docs (1.0.0 → 1.0.1)

Development Workflow

1. Create Structure

Manual approach (if not using script):

mkdir -p plugins/plugin-name/.claude-plugin
mkdir -p plugins/plugin-name/commands
mkdir -p plugins/plugin-name/skills

2. Plugin Manifest

File: plugins/plugin-name/.claude-plugin/plugin.json

{
  "name": "plugin-name",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "description": "Plugin description",
  "author": {
    "name": "Your Name",
    "email": "your.email@example.com"
  },
  "keywords": ["keyword1", "keyword2"]
}

3. Register in Marketplace

Update .claude-plugin/marketplace.json:

{
  "name": "plugin-name",
  "source": "./plugins/plugin-name",
  "description": "Plugin description",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "keywords": ["keyword1", "keyword2"],
  "category": "productivity"
}

4. Add Components

Create in respective directories:

| Component | Location | Format | |-----------|----------|--------| | Commands | commands/ | Markdown with frontmatter | | Skills | skills// | Directory with SKILL.md | | Agents | agents/ | Markdown definitions | | Hooks | hooks/hooks.json | Event handlers | | MCP Servers | .mcp.json | External integrations |

5. Local Testing

# Add marketplace
/plugin marketplace add /path/to/marketplace-root

# Install plugin
/plugin install plugin-name@marketplace-name

# After changes: reinstall
/plugin uninstall plugin-name@marketplace-name
/plugin install plugin-name@marketplace-name

Plugin Patterns

Framework Plugin

For framework-specific guidance (React, Vue, etc.):

plugins/framework-name/
├── .claude-plugin/plugin.json
├── skills/
│   └── framework-name/
│       ├── SKILL.md
│       └── references/
├── commands/
│   └── prime/
│       ├── components.md
│       └── framework.md
└── README.md

Utility Plugin

For tools and commands:

plugins/utility-name/
├── .claude-plugin/plugin.json
├── commands/
│   ├── action1.md
│   └── action2.md
└── README.md

Domain Plugin

For domain-specific knowledge:

plugins/domain-name/
├── .claude-plugin/plugin.json
├── skills/
│   └── domain-name/
│       ├── SKILL.md
│       ├── references/
│       └── scripts/
└── README.md

Command Naming

Subdirectory-based namespacing with : separator:

• commands/namespace/command.md → /namespace:command
• commands/simple.md → /simple

Examples:

• commands/prime/vue.md → /prime:vue
• commands/docs/generate.md → /docs:generate

Version Management

Important: Update version in BOTH locations:

1. plugins//.claude-plugin/plugin.json
2. .claude-plugin/marketplace.json

Use bump_version.py to automate.

Git Commits

Use conventional commits:

git commit -m "feat: add new plugin"
git commit -m "fix: correct plugin manifest"
git commit -m "docs: update plugin README"
git commit -m "feat!: breaking change"

Reference Docs

Detailed documentation included:

| Reference | Content | |-----------|---------| | references/plugin-structure.md | Directory structure, manifest schema, components | | references/marketplace-schema.md | Marketplace format, plugin entries, distribution | | references/workflows.md | Step-by-step workflows, patterns, publishing |

Scripts

| Script | Purpose | |--------|---------| | scripts/create_plugin.py | Scaffold new plugin | | scripts/bump_version.py | Update versions |

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: softaworks
• Source: softaworks/agent-toolkit
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.