| name | plugin-customizer |
| description | Use when installing or configuring a distributable plugin that contains ~~placeholder references needing replacement with organization-specific tool names |
Plugin Customizer
Overview
Detect and resolve ~~placeholder patterns in distributable plugins, replacing them with the user's organization-specific tool names.
When to Use
- Installing a plugin with
~~ placeholders
- Adapting a shared plugin for your team's tools
- NOT for: creating plugins (use
create-plugin instead)
Checklist
You MUST create a task for each step and complete them in order:
- Detect - find all
~~ patterns in the plugin
- Present - show placeholders and their locations
- Resolve - walk through each placeholder with the user
- Replace - substitute all occurrences
- Validate - confirm no
~~ patterns remain
Process
Step 1: Detection
Scan the plugin directory for ~~ patterns:
grep -rn '~~' <plugin-dir> --include='*.md' --include='*.json' | grep -v 'node_modules' | grep -v '.git'
Parse results into unique placeholders with their file locations.
Also check for CONNECTORS.md at the plugin root - it provides descriptions for each placeholder.
Step 2: Presentation
Show the user what needs configuring:
This plugin has N placeholders to configure:
| Placeholder | Description | Used in |
|------------|-------------|---------|
| ~~project tracker | Where tasks and tickets live | skills/triage/SKILL.md, commands/check.md |
| ~~chat tool | Team messaging platform | skills/notify/SKILL.md |
Step 3: Resolution
Walk through each placeholder one at a time:
Ask: "What's your [category]? ([common options], or something else?)"
Use the typical replacements from references/placeholder-syntax.md as suggestions.
Capture each answer before moving to the next placeholder.
Step 4: Replacement
For each placeholder, replace ALL occurrences across ALL files:
Replacing ~~project tracker → Linear
- skills/triage/SKILL.md (3 occurrences)
- commands/check.md (1 occurrence)
Also update CONNECTORS.md to record the resolved values (or remove it if all placeholders are resolved).
Step 5: Validation
Verify no ~~ patterns remain:
grep -rn '~~' <plugin-dir> --include='*.md' --include='*.json' | grep -v 'node_modules' | grep -v '.git'
Report results:
Customization complete:
[PASS] All 3 placeholders resolved
[PASS] No remaining ~~ patterns found
[INFO] CONNECTORS.md updated with resolved values
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|
| Replacing in binary files | Only process .md and .json files |
| Missing nested references | Always grep recursively |
| Partial replacement | Use replace-all, verify with grep after |