publish-plugin

name	publish-plugin
description	This skill should be used when the user asks to "publish a plugin", "add a plugin to my marketplace", "convert a skill to a plugin", "register a new plugin", or says "new plugin" in the context of the liamlin/claude-plugins marketplace repo.
user-invokable	true
args	[{"name":"context","description":"Optional: name or path of the skill/plugin to publish.","required":false}]

Publish a Plugin to liamlin/claude-plugins

Add a new plugin to the centralized marketplace so users can install it via:

/plugin marketplace add liamlin/claude-plugins
/plugin install {PLUGIN_NAME}

Conventions

• Author: Liam Lin (https://github.com/liamlin)
• License: MIT
• Marketplace repo: ~/code/claude-plugins/ (GitHub: liamlin/claude-plugins)
• Marketplace name: liamlin-plugins
• Plugin names use kebab-case. Command prefixes can be short aliases (e.g., plugin name lg for learning-guide).

Workflow

1. Ensure Plugin Structure

The source repo must have a valid plugin structure. If it's a standalone skill, convert it first.

Required structure:

repo-root/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json       # name, version, description, author, repository, license, keywords
├── skills/
│   └── skill-name/
│       └── SKILL.md
├── commands/              # optional
├── agents/                # optional
├── hooks/                 # optional
├── README.md
└── LICENSE

Minimum plugin.json:

{
  "name": "plugin-name",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "One-line description.",
  "author": {
    "name": "Liam Lin",
    "url": "https://github.com/liamlin"
  },
  "repository": "https://github.com/liamlin/REPO_NAME",
  "license": "MIT",
  "keywords": ["tag1", "tag2"]
}

If converting a standalone skill (just a SKILL.md file):

1. Create .claude-plugin/plugin.json
2. Move SKILL.md into skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md
3. Keep original SKILL.md at root if it was already there (backward compat) — or remove if users will only install via marketplace

2. Update README with Install Instructions

Ensure the source repo's README includes this install section:

## Installation

Via the marketplace (recommended):

\```
/plugin marketplace add liamlin/claude-plugins
/plugin install {PLUGIN_NAME}
\```

Or install directly from this repo:

\```
/plugin install liamlin/{REPO_NAME}
\```

3. Add Entry to marketplace.json

Read ~/code/claude-plugins/marketplace.json and add a new entry to the plugins array:

{
  "name": "plugin-name",
  "source": {
    "source": "github",
    "repo": "liamlin/REPO_NAME"
  },
  "description": "One-line description matching plugin.json.",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "license": "MIT",
  "category": "workflow|devops|learning|utility",
  "tags": ["tag1", "tag2"]
}

Rules:

• name must match the name in the source repo's plugin.json
• description should match or closely paraphrase plugin.json
• Pick one category that best fits
• tags should match keywords from plugin.json

4. Update Marketplace README

Add the new plugin to ~/code/claude-plugins/README.md following the existing format:

### {plugin-name}

{Description with 3-5 bullet points of key features.}

**Commands:** `/cmd1`, `/cmd2` (if applicable)

[Source](https://github.com/liamlin/{REPO_NAME})

5. Commit and Push

Commit changes in each affected repo:

• Source repo: plugin structure + README changes
• Marketplace repo: marketplace.json + README.md

Use conventional commit messages:

• Source repo: feat: add plugin structure for marketplace distribution
• Marketplace repo: feat: add {plugin-name} to marketplace

6. Verification Checklist

Before marking complete, verify:

• Source repo has .claude-plugin/plugin.json with all required fields
• Skills are in skills/{name}/SKILL.md (not root-level)
• Source repo README has marketplace install instructions
• marketplace.json entry name matches source plugin.json name
• Marketplace README lists the new plugin
• All changes committed and pushed to GitHub

Reference

For templates and detailed examples, consult references/templates.md.