| name | test-plugin |
| description | End-to-end test a Claude Code plugin by launching an interactive Claude session in a tmux pane with the plugin loaded, sending prompts, and verifying behavior. |
| user-invocable | true |
Test Plugin via tmux
Launch an interactive Claude Code session in a tmux split pane with a plugin loaded, send prompts to it, and verify the plugin works correctly.
Procedure
Step 1: Resolve plugin info
Read the plugin's .claude-plugin/plugin.json to get the plugin name. If the plugin has .mcp.json, check if any server declares claude/channel capability by reading the source.
Step 2: Build the launch command
Base command:
claude --debug --plugin-dir <absolute-path-to-plugin>
If the plugin has a channel server, append:
--dangerously-load-development-channels plugin:<plugin-name>@inline
Step 3: Launch in a tmux pane
tmux split-window -h '<launch-command>'
Then find the new pane index:
tmux list-panes -F '#{pane_index} #{pane_current_command}'
Step 4: Handle confirmation prompts
The --dangerously-load-development-channels flag shows a confirmation dialog. Accept it:
tmux send-keys -t :.<pane> Enter
Wait for Claude to fully start (check for the welcome banner):
sleep 10 && tmux capture-pane -t :.<pane> -p
Step 5: Send test prompt
tmux send-keys -t :.<pane> "<prompt>" Enter
If no prompt was provided, use a default that asks Claude to list connected MCP servers and their capabilities.
Step 6: Wait and capture result
Poll the pane output periodically:
sleep <interval> && tmux capture-pane -t :.<pane> -p -S -100
Look for the response to complete (the input prompt ❯ reappears at the bottom).
Step 7: Check debug log
Find the debug log path from the pane output (it shows "Logging to: ..."). Grep for errors:
grep -i "ERROR\|WARN\|channel\|<plugin-name>" <debug-log-path>
Step 8: Report results
Summarize:
- Whether the plugin loaded successfully
- Whether MCP servers connected
- Whether channel notifications were received (if applicable)
- Any errors from the debug log
- The Claude session's response
Step 9: Clean up
Kill the test pane:
tmux kill-pane -t :.<pane>
Important Notes
- Always use
tmux capture-pane -t :.<pane> -p to read output, not manual inspection
- For channel plugins loaded via
--plugin-dir, the channel identifier is plugin:<name>@inline
- The debug log path is shown in the pane output after startup
- If
tmux split-window silently fails (pane count doesn't increase), the command errored — add ; sleep 30 to keep the pane alive and see the error
