local-plugin-development

name	local-plugin-development
description	Create and install local Claude Code plugins using a local marketplace. Use when: (1) developing a new plugin for personal use, (2) creating project-specific plugins without publishing, (3) rapid plugin prototyping, (4) user says "create a plugin locally" or "add a local plugin". Covers marketplace setup, plugin structure, and proper installation via CLI.
author	Claude Code
version	2.0.0
date	2026-01-26T00:00:00.000Z

Local Plugin Development

Problem

You want to create a Claude Code plugin for personal use or rapid prototyping without publishing to a public marketplace.

Context / Trigger Conditions

• Need to create a plugin quickly for personal use
• Want to prototype a plugin before publishing
• Creating project-specific tooling
• Need skills/commands/agents that are user-specific

Solution

1. Set Up Local Marketplace (One-Time)

Create the marketplace structure:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/plugins/local-marketplace/.claude-plugin

Create .claude-plugin/marketplace.json:

{
  "name": "local",
  "owner": {
    "name": "Your Name"
  },
  "plugins": []
}

Register it:

claude plugin marketplace add ~/.claude/plugins/local-marketplace

2. Create Plugin Structure

mkdir -p ~/.claude/plugins/local-marketplace/my-plugin/.claude-plugin
mkdir -p ~/.claude/plugins/local-marketplace/my-plugin/skills/my-skill

Directory structure:

~/.claude/plugins/local-marketplace/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── marketplace.json      # Marketplace manifest
└── my-plugin/
    ├── .claude-plugin/
    │   └── plugin.json       # Plugin manifest
    └── skills/
        └── my-skill/
            └── SKILL.md

3. Create Plugin Manifest

Create my-plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json:

{
  "name": "my-plugin",
  "description": "What this plugin does",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "author": {
    "name": "Your Name"
  }
}

4. Add Plugin to Marketplace

Update .claude-plugin/marketplace.json:

{
  "name": "local",
  "owner": {
    "name": "Your Name"
  },
  "plugins": [
    {
      "name": "my-plugin",
      "source": "./my-plugin",
      "description": "What this plugin does"
    }
  ]
}

5. Install Plugin

claude plugin install my-plugin@local

Verification

# List installed plugins
claude plugin list | grep my-plugin

# Should show:
# ❯ my-plugin@local
#   Version: 1.0.0
#   Status: ✔ enabled

Example

Creating an Obsidian memory plugin:

# Create structure
mkdir -p ~/.claude/plugins/local-marketplace/obsidian-memory/.claude-plugin
mkdir -p ~/.claude/plugins/local-marketplace/obsidian-memory/skills/{memory-system,search-navigation}

# Create plugin.json
cat > ~/.claude/plugins/local-marketplace/obsidian-memory/.claude-plugin/plugin.json << 'EOF'
{
  "name": "obsidian-memory",
  "description": "Persistent memory system using Obsidian vault",
  "version": "1.0.0"
}
EOF

# Create SKILL.md files in each skill directory...

# Add to marketplace.json (edit the plugins array)
# Then install:
claude plugin install obsidian-memory@local

Marketplace JSON Schema

Important: The schema differs from what you might guess:

{
  "name": "marketplace-name",
  "owner": {
    "name": "Owner Name"
  },
  "plugins": [
    {
      "name": "plugin-name",
      "source": "./relative/path/to/plugin",
      "description": "Plugin description"
    }
  ]
}

Key points:

• owner is an object with name (not a string)
• plugins is an array (not an object)
• source uses relative paths from marketplace root

Managing Plugins

# List marketplaces
claude plugin marketplace list

# Update marketplace cache
claude plugin marketplace update local

# Disable plugin
claude plugin disable my-plugin@local

# Uninstall
claude plugin uninstall my-plugin@local

Notes

Why Not Symlinks?

Manual symlinks to ~/.claude/plugins/installed/ may work but:

• Not officially supported
• May break with updates
• claude plugin list won't show them correctly
• Use the proper CLI method instead

Updating Plugins

After editing plugin files:

1. Update version in plugin.json
2. Run: claude plugin update my-plugin@local
3. Restart Claude Code

See Also

• plugin-dev:plugin-structure - Full plugin structure documentation
• plugin-dev:skill-development - Writing effective SKILL.md files