plugin-dev

name	plugin-dev
description	Validate, test, and distribute Claude Code plugins and marketplaces. Use when developing plugins, debugging validation errors, or preparing for distribution.

Plugin Development

Develop and distribute Claude Code plugins and marketplaces.

Quick Commands

# Validate marketplace/plugin
claude plugin validate .

# Test local install
/plugin marketplace add ./path/to/marketplace
/plugin install my-plugin@marketplace-name

# Check installed plugins
/plugin list

Marketplace Schema

Required fields in .claude-plugin/marketplace.json:

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

Plugin Schema

Required field in .claude-plugin/plugin.json (only name is required):

{
  "name": "plugin-name",
  "description": "What it does",
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

The name is also the skill namespace — skills become /plugin-name:skill-name.

Development

# Test plugin locally without installing
claude --plugin-dir ./my-plugin

# Reload after changes (inside Claude Code)
/reload-plugins

Common Errors

Error	Fix
owner: expected object	Add "owner": { "name": "..." }
plugins.0: expected object	Change string array to object array
source: Invalid input	Use ./path/to/plugin format
Components inside .claude-plugin/	Move commands/, skills/, etc. to plugin root

References

• marketplace-schema.md - Full marketplace fields
• plugin-schema.md - Full plugin fields
• validation-guide.md - Debugging validation errors
• distribution.md - Publishing, versioning, and release channels