publish-marketplace

name	publish-marketplace
description	Distributes a ZCode marketplace so others can install it — via a GitHub repo, Git URL, local path, or ZIP URL added through the ZCode Marketplace tab — and explains the headless-flatten vs UI-install paths. Use when shipping a marketplace beyond this repo's installer.

publish-marketplace

Turn an authored marketplace into something other people can install. This repo's own installer uses the headless flatten path (install.sh install --setup <mp>); publishing adds the ZCode-UI distribution path.

Two ways a ZCode marketplace reaches a user

1. Headless flatten (this repo). install.sh install --setup <mp> builds ~/.zcode and flattens each plugin's skills/, commands/, and agents/ to user scope. This path requires local ./plugins/<name> sources that exist on disk. See nddev-builder-orientation.
2. ZCode UI Marketplace tab (distribution). A user opens Plugin Management → Marketplace and adds a source: a GitHub repo (owner/repo or its URL), a Git URL, a local path, or a ZIP URL (supported since ZCode 3.3.5). ZCode fetches the marketplace, lists its plugins, and the user enables one with the toggle; the runtime auto-reloads. There is no CLI plugin add — this path is UI-driven.

Procedure

1. Validate first. validate-components and release-review must pass.
2. Make the marketplace self-describing. The root marketplace.json carries name, owner, description, and plugins[]. For UI distribution a plugin source may be the local ./plugins/<name> (when the repo itself is the source) or a remote object {"source":"github","repo":"owner/repo"}. npm is not a supported source.
3. Ship portable manifests. Keep .zcode-plugin/plugin.json at each plugin root; optionally add an identical .claude-plugin/plugin.json so the bundle also runs in Claude Code (ZCode reads .zcode-plugin first).
4. Publish the source. Push the marketplace tree to a public GitHub repo, or host a Git URL or a ZIP URL.
5. Document install. In the repo README, tell users to add the source via the ZCode Marketplace tab (GitHub / Git / ZIP URL) and enable the plugin.
6. Version discipline. One SemVer across the five version sources (see add-plugin step 8) and CHANGELOG.md; bump on every content change so a re-install picks up the new bytes.

Rules

• English only. No secrets, tokens, or machine-local paths in any published file.
• Local source for the headless installer; remote source / marketplace URL for UI distribution — never claim a CLI plugin add exists.
• Publishing is git plus versioning; it never bypasses validate-components or release-review.