plugin-engineer

name	plugin-engineer
description	Transforms external repositories (CLIs, libraries, MCP servers) into Claude Code plugins with skills. Use when "build plugin for", "create skills for CLI", "package as plugin", "repo to plugin", or "turn into plugin" are mentioned.
metadata	{"version":"1.0.0","related-skills":["research","codebase-recon","patterns","codify","skills-dev","claude-skills","claude-plugins","claude-plugin-audit"]}
allowed-tools	Read Write Edit Grep Glob Bash TaskCreate TaskUpdate TaskList TaskGet AskUserQuestion Skill

Plugin Engineer

Transform external repositories into Claude Code plugins.

External Repo → Research → Recon → Patterns → Codify → Author → Package → Audit → Plugin

Steps

1. Clarify target repo and plugin goals
2. Load the outfitter:research skill for external discovery (docs, APIs, community patterns)
3. Load the outfitter:codebase-recon skill for internal analysis of target repo
4. Load the outfitter:patterns skill to extract repeatable patterns worth automating
5. Load the outfitter:codify skill to map patterns to component types
6. Author components using outfitter:skills-dev or outfitter:claude-skills
7. Load the outfitter:claude-plugins skill to package into distributable plugin
8. Delegate by loading the outfitter:claude-plugin-audit skill for validation

<when_to_use>

• Turning a CLI tool into a Claude Code plugin
• Creating skills that wrap an external library or API
• Building plugin companions for MCP servers
• Extracting automation opportunities from a third-party repo
• Packaging workflow patterns around external tools

NOT for: plugins from scratch (use claude-plugins), single-skill creation (use skills-dev), existing Claude Code plugins (use claude-plugin-audit)

</when_to_use>

Artifact Structure

Track progress with artifacts in artifacts/plugin-engineer/:

artifacts/plugin-engineer/
├── discovery.md      # Research output (docs, APIs, community patterns)
├── recon.md          # Codebase analysis (structure, conventions, key files)
├── patterns.md       # Extracted patterns with automation value
├── mapping.md        # Pattern → component mapping decisions
├── components/       # Authored skills, agents, hooks, commands
│   ├── skill-1/
│   ├── skill-2/
│   └── ...
└── audit.md          # Plugin validation results

Quick Mode

For simple repos (single-purpose CLI, small API wrapper):

1. Skip stages 3-4 — go direct from recon to authoring
2. Create 1-2 skills covering primary use cases
3. Package immediately

Trigger: User says "quick", repo has < 5 main commands, or clear single purpose.

Stages

Load the maintain-tasks skill for stage tracking. Stages advance only.

Stage	Skill	activeForm
1. Discovery	outfitter:research	"Researching external docs"
2. Recon	outfitter:codebase-recon	"Analyzing target repo"
3. Patterns	outfitter:patterns	"Extracting patterns"
4. Mapping	outfitter:codify	"Mapping to components"
5. Authoring	outfitter:skills-dev	"Creating components"
6. Packaging	outfitter:claude-plugins	"Packaging plugin"
7. Audit	outfitter:claude-plugin-audit	"Validating plugin"

Stage 1: Discovery

Load outfitter:research skill. Gather external docs, community patterns, pain points.

See stage-1-discovery.md for details.

Stage 2: Recon

Load outfitter:codebase-recon skill. Analyze structure, API surface, conventions.

See stage-2-recon.md for details.

Stage 3: Patterns

Load outfitter:patterns skill. Extract workflows, command sequences, decision points.

See stage-3-patterns.md for details.

Stage 4: Mapping

Load outfitter:codify skill. Map patterns to component types (skill, command, hook, agent).

See stage-4-mapping.md for details.

Stage 5: Authoring

Load appropriate skill per component type. Create in artifacts/plugin-engineer/components/.

See stage-5-authoring.md for details.

Stage 6: Packaging

Load outfitter:claude-plugins skill. Create plugin structure with manifest and README.

Ask: "Do you have an existing marketplace to add this plugin to?" If yes, prepare the marketplace entry.

See stage-6-packaging.md for details.

Stage 7: Audit

Delegate by loading outfitter:claude-plugin-audit skill. Validate before distribution.

See stage-7-audit.md for details.

<decision_points>

Key decisions during engineering process:

Which patterns to automate?

• High frequency + medium complexity = best ROI
• Low frequency + high complexity = consider if audience is technical
• One-off patterns = skip

Skills vs Commands?

• Multi-step, needs guidance → Skill
• Quick action, obvious usage → Command
• User entry point to skill → Both (command loads skill)

Include agents?

• Only for complex repos with orchestration needs
• Most plugins don't need custom agents
• Consider if existing agents (analyst, engineer) suffice

Quick mode vs full pipeline?

• Single-purpose tool → Quick mode
• Complex tool with many features → Full pipeline
• Unclear → Start with recon, decide after

</decision_points>

ALWAYS:

• Start with discovery before touching code
• Track artifacts at each stage
• Validate patterns have 3+ use cases before creating components
• Use existing skills for authoring (don't reinvent)
• Run audit before declaring complete

NEVER:

• Skip recon stage (even for familiar repos)
• Create agents without clear orchestration need
• Package without audit validation
• Over-engineer (simpler plugin > feature-complete plugin)

Stage guides:

• overview.md — quick reference
• stage-1-discovery.md — external research
• stage-2-recon.md — codebase analysis
• stage-3-patterns.md — pattern extraction
• stage-4-mapping.md — component selection
• stage-5-authoring.md — creating components
• stage-6-packaging.md — plugin structure
• stage-7-audit.md — validation
• repo-types.md — CLI vs Library vs MCP patterns

Skills loaded:

• outfitter:research — external discovery methodology
• outfitter:codebase-recon — repo analysis approach
• outfitter:patterns — pattern extraction
• outfitter:codify — pattern-to-component mapping
• outfitter:claude-plugins — plugin packaging