| name | plugin-testing |
| description | The ONLY supported way to test changes to the n8n-autopilot plugin itself: commit → push to the private repo → install FROM that repo → restart → verify registration. Use whenever a plugin change (agent, skill, hook, script) must be exercised in a real session. Hard rule: no cache hand-copying, no directory-pointer marketplace, no hand-edited settings.json. Push to repo, install from there, nothing else. |
| argument-hint | |
| user-invocable | true |
| allowed-tools | Read, Grep, Glob, Bash(git:*), Bash(claude:*), Workflow |
Plugin Testing — push to repo, install from there, nothing else
THE RULE. A change to this plugin (agent def, skill, hook, script, manifest) is tested in exactly
one way: commit it, push it to neurawork-git/n8n-autopilot-internal, install the plugin FROM that
GitHub repo, restart, verify. Nothing else counts. A change you have not pushed-and-installed has not
been tested — you are looking at stale or inconsistently-registered state.
Why (lessons paid for)
- Hand-copying files into
~/.claude/plugins/cache/.../<version>/ registers inconsistently: agents
silently fail to appear, /reload-plugins does not pick up newly-added agents, and you end up with
two plugins thinking different things. NEVER do it.
- A directory-pointer marketplace (
extraKnownMarketplaces … source: directory) drifts from the
committed truth and produces dual stale installs. Do not use it for testing.
- Hand-editing
.claude/settings.json enabledPlugins desyncs the install records. Use the CLI
(claude plugin enable/disable).
/reload-plugins is NOT sufficient for newly-added agents/hooks — only a full session restart
reliably registers them.
The flow
1. Commit + push + bump version
The installer is version-keyed: install/update no-op if the version already present. So every
test cycle bumps the version.
git add -A
git commit -F - <<'MSG'
<type>: <subject>
<body>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
MSG
git log -1 --format='[%s]'
git push origin main
2. Register the repo marketplace (once) — point at -internal, mind the name collision
We push to and install from neurawork-git/n8n-autopilot-internal (the dev repo). Its
marketplace.json name is n8n-autopilot — the same name as the public release marketplace
(neurawork-git/n8n-autopilot). Two marketplaces cannot share a name, so:
claude plugin marketplace list
claude plugin marketplace remove n8n-autopilot
claude plugin marketplace add neurawork-git/n8n-autopilot-internal
Never add a directory source for this name (that is the cache-drift trap).
3. Pull the new version + install
claude plugin marketplace update <marketplace-name>
claude plugin install n8n-autopilot@<marketplace-name> --scope user
4. Restart the session
Plugins — especially new agents and hooks — register at session start. Restart fully.
/reload-plugins does not reliably register newly-added agents.
5. Verify registration (post-restart)
Run the verification probe — a short Workflow that confirms the install is real:
phase('Verify')
const AGENTS = ['n8n-researcher','n8n-node-verifier','n8n-comprehender','n8n-author',
'n8n-validator','n8n-deployer','n8n-tester','n8n-mirror']
const r = await parallel(AGENTS.map(a => () =>
agent(`Reply with exactly: OK ${a}. Then name one skill you have loaded from your context.`,
{ agentType: `n8n-autopilot:${a}`, label: a }).catch(e => ({ a, error: String(e).slice(0,120) }))))
return r
- Every agent resolves (no "agent type not found") ⇒ registration clean.
- Each names a loaded skill ⇒
skills: pass-through works.
- Also confirm SessionStart hooks fired (look for
report-session-env / check-mirror-drift output).
Cleaning up a messy state (one-time)
If dual/stale installs or a directory-pointer marketplace exist:
claude plugin disable n8n-autopilot@<mp> --scope project
claude plugin uninstall n8n-autopilot@<mp>
claude plugin marketplace remove <directory-pointer-name>
Never resolve a messy state by editing cache files or settings.json by hand — only the CLI
(claude plugin disable/enable/uninstall, claude plugin marketplace remove/add).
Definition of done
A plugin change is "tested" only when: pushed to main, installed from the GitHub marketplace at the new
version, session restarted, and the verification probe is green (all agents resolve, skills load, hooks fire).
