pack-builder

name

pack-builder

description

Author, validate, and build a Duo distro pack — a Claude Code plugin folder with a Duo `duo-extras/` subtree that ships an organization's skills + agents + canvases + CLAUDE.md guidance to a canonical signed Duo install. Use when a user says "build a distro pack for X", "make an AIP-flavored Duo", "package my team's skills as a Duo plugin", or "scaffold a new distro pack." Pairs with the duo-pack-service install pipeline (Stage 21d-i) and the `duo pack list / uninstall` CLI verbs.

Pack-builder skill — Duo distro packs

Why this skill exists. A distro pack is the artifact a corporate platform team / educational program / OSS community group ships to end users so their canonical Duo install picks up org-specific skills, agents, canvases, playgrounds, and CLAUDE.md guidance — without forcing users to recompile Duo. Per Stage 21d (PRD at docs/prd/stage-21d-distro-packs.md), the pack format is the canonical Claude Code plugin layout (.claude-plugin/plugin.json

• skills/<name>/SKILL.md + agents/<name>.md) plus a duo-extras/ subtree for Duo-specific content (canvases, playgrounds, integration manifest, CLAUDE.md snippet, etc.). Distro builders shouldn't have to remember the format from scratch every time — this skill is the canonical authoring path.

---

What a distro pack contains

my-distro-pack/                           ← the pack root (any name)
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json                       ← Claude Code plugin manifest (identity)
├── duo-extras/
│   └── DISTRO.json                       ← Duo integration manifest (FTUX + toggles)
│   └── claude-md-snippet.md              ← (optional) merged into ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md
│   └── priming-additions.md              ← (optional) appended to ~/.claude/duo/priming.md
│   └── external-domains.json             ← (optional) merged into external-domains.json
│   └── canvases/                         ← (optional) → ~/.claude/duo/distros/<name>/canvases/
│   └── playgrounds/                      ← (optional) → ~/.claude/duo/distros/<name>/playgrounds/
│   └── canvas-templates/                 ← (optional) → ~/.claude/duo/distros/<name>/canvas-templates/
├── skills/                               ← installed as ~/.claude/skills/<distro>-<name>/
│   └── example-skill/
│       ├── SKILL.md                      ← required entrypoint per Claude Code plugin spec
│       └── (optional supporting files)
├── agents/                               ← installed as ~/.claude/agents/<distro>-<name>.md
│   └── example-agent.md
└── (optional: hooks/, .mcp.json, .lsp.json — Stage 21d-i v2 routing)

A reference template ships at examples/distro-pack-template/ in the Duo source repo. Copy that folder; fill in the manifests; replace the example skills/agents with your content; ship the result as a folder the user (or IT) drops into ~/.claude/duo/extra-packs/<distro-name>/.

---

Naming rules (hard)

• Distro name (.claude-plugin/plugin.json § name): lowercase letters + numbers + hyphens only. Max 32 characters. This name becomes the prefix on every install destination.
• Skill folder names (skills/<name>/): same character set. Combined <distro>-<skill> must be ≤64 characters (Claude Code spec). The pack-builder warns at ≥56 chars (8-char buffer for defensive headroom).
• Agent filenames (agents/<name>.md): same character set on the basename. Combined <distro>-<name>.md must be ≤64 characters.

These constraints are surfaced by pack-builder validate (below).

---

Authoring checklist (manual — agent walks it)

1. Decide the distro name. Lowercase, kebab-case, ≤32 chars. Example: aip-corporate, course-bootcamp-2026, foss-community-pack.
2. Copy the template: cp -r examples/distro-pack-template/ ~/Documents/<distro-name>/.
3. Fill in .claude-plugin/plugin.json:
   • name: the distro name from step 1.
   • version: semver ("1.0.0" for first release).
   • description: one-sentence what this pack contains and who it's for.
   • author: { name, email } or just name.
   • homepage / repository / license: optional; helpful for downstream discoverability.
4. Fill in duo-extras/DISTRO.json:
   • requiresDuoVersion: range (e.g. ">=0.6.7 <0.8"). HARD BLOCK — Duo refuses to install a pack on an unsupported version.
   • openOnFirstLaunch: array of relative paths under duo-extras/ (canvases / playgrounds) that should auto-open as tabs on FIRST detection of this pack. Re-fires once per pack-name.
   • pinnedFiles: array of { path, title } entries for the navigator's pin list (first-install-only merge).
   • claudeMdSnippet / primingAdditions / externalDomainsAdditions: booleans. Default to true if the corresponding file is present.
5. Author skills under skills/<name>/SKILL.md: standard Claude Code skill format. The pack-builder validates the YAML frontmatter (description present, name not overriding the distro prefix).
6. Author agents under agents/<name>.md: standard Claude Code agent format. Same naming rules as skills.
7. (Optional) Author Duo-specific content:
   • duo-extras/canvases/<file>.html — read-only HTML pages.
   • duo-extras/playgrounds/<file>.html — interactive HTML pages (declare <meta name="duo-open-in" content="browser"> per the modality lock — see make-playground.md).
   • duo-extras/canvas-templates/<file>.html — reusable templates for make-page / make-playground consumers.
   • duo-extras/claude-md-snippet.md — a managed block for ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md. Sits alongside Duo's own ENH-088 block; never overrides it.
   • duo-extras/priming-additions.md — appended to ~/.claude/duo/priming.md.
   • duo-extras/external-domains.json — additive entries.
8. Validate the pack with pack-builder validate <pack-folder> (see § "Validate an existing pack" below).
9. Distribute by zipping the folder + posting to a download location, or by mass-deploying via Jamf / Munki / similar to ~/.claude/duo/extra-packs/<distro-name>/. End users' Duo install service picks the pack up on next launch.

---

Validate an existing pack

Run a structural + manifest check before distributing:

# Pack-builder is a skill, not a binary — Claude walks the validation
# steps based on this skill's contract. Trigger it with prompts like:
#   "validate this distro pack: ~/Documents/aip-corporate/"
#   "is the AIP pack ready to ship?"

Validation steps the skill walks:

1. .claude-plugin/plugin.json exists + parses + has a valid name field (lowercase + hyphens + numbers, ≤32 chars).
2. duo-extras/DISTRO.json exists OR is intentionally absent (a manifestless pack is treated as defaults — claude-md-snippet etc. auto-detected by file presence).
3. Every skills/<name>/ folder contains a SKILL.md (required by Claude Code's plugin spec).
4. Every SKILL.md has a description field in frontmatter.
5. Combined <distro>-<skill> length ≤64 chars (warn at ≥56).
6. Every agent file is a .md with valid frontmatter.
7. requiresDuoVersion (if set) parses as >=A.B.C <X.Y.Z form (the parser falls open on other forms with a warn).
8. openOnFirstLaunch paths resolve to actual files under duo-extras/.
9. pinnedFiles paths resolve.
10. No SKILL.md frontmatter sets name explicitly without the distro prefix (would defeat the namespacing convention).

---

Build distribution artifacts

Three distribution paths per the Stage 21d PRD:

Path 1 — Drop-in zip (Jamf / Munki / manual download)

# Pack folder ready? Zip it:
cd ~/Documents/<distro-name>/..
zip -r <distro-name>-pack-<version>.zip <distro-name>/

End user (or IT) extracts the zip into ~/.claude/duo/extra-packs/. Duo discovers + installs on next launch. Lowest packaging effort; no signing.

Path 2 — .pkg installer (corporate IT, polished UX)

# (deferred — pack-builder pkg flow lands in a follow-up sprint.)
# Manual recipe meanwhile:
#   1. Download canonical Duo.app from upstream releases (unmodified,
#      signature intact).
#   2. Bundle Duo.app + your pack folder into a .pkg with productbuild.
#   3. Sign the .pkg with your distro's Developer ID Installer cert.
#   4. (Optional) Notarize with notarytool.
# .pkg postinstall script copies Duo.app to /Applications + drops
# the pack into ~/.claude/duo/extra-packs/<distro-name>/.

Path 3 — Fork + compile (early-adopter / pre-DMG-approval)

For companies whose security review hasn't blessed the upstream signed DMG yet:

# 1. Fork dudgeon/duo (or maintain a private fork internally).
# 2. Drop your pack folder into a new top-level `bundled-distros/<distro-name>/`.
# 3. (Future Stage 21d follow-up — Duo's build pipeline copies bundled-
#    distros/ contents into Duo.app/Contents/Resources/bundled-distros/
#    on package time.)
# 4. Users clone the fork + `npm run dist` get an unsigned DMG with
#    the pack baked in. On first launch, Duo's install service finds
#    the bundled distro AND copies it to ~/.claude/duo/extra-packs/<name>/
#    so it joins the regular install flow.

---

Update version

When you publish a new pack version:

1. Bump .claude-plugin/plugin.json § version (semver: patch / minor / major).
2. Update the marker version in the pack's claude-md-snippet.md automatically — Duo's CLAUDE.md merge logic uses the version in the manifest's marker, so there's nothing to edit by hand.
3. Re-validate.
4. Re-distribute (zip / .pkg / fork-merge).

End users' Duo install service detects the new version on next launch (the install pipeline is atomic-replace: previous version's tracked files are deleted before the new pack contents land). Owner note: Duo never re-fires FTUX (openOnFirstLaunch) for an update — only on first detection of a new pack name.

---

Cross-references

• PRD: docs/prd/stage-21d-distro-packs.md
• Sample template: examples/distro-pack-template/
• HOW-TO-FORK § Layer 2.5 (drop-in distro packs): docs/HOW-TO-FORK.md
• Make a playground (modality lock + browser-default): make-playground.md
• Make a page (canvas-default reference content): make-page.md
• CLI surface: duo pack list / duo pack uninstall <name>