claude-code-skills-reference/marketplace-dev/SKILL.md

name, description, argument-hint

name	description	argument-hint
marketplace-dev	Convert any Claude Code skills repository into an official plugin marketplace. Creates .claude-plugin/marketplace.json conforming to the Anthropic spec, validates it, tests installation, and creates a PR to the upstream repo. Use this skill when the user says: "make this a marketplace", "add plugin support", "convert to plugin", "one-click install", "marketplace.json", or wants their skills repo installable via `claude plugin install`. Also trigger when the user has a skills repo and mentions distribution, installation, or auto-update.	repo-path

marketplace-dev

Convert a Claude Code skills repository into an official plugin marketplace so users can install skills via claude plugin marketplace add and get auto-updates.

Input: a repo with skills/ directories containing SKILL.md files. Output: .claude-plugin/marketplace.json + validated + installation-tested + PR-ready.

Phase 1: Analyze the Target Repo

Step 1: Discover all skills

# Find every SKILL.md
find <repo-path>/skills -name "SKILL.md" -type f 2>/dev/null

For each skill, extract from SKILL.md frontmatter:

• name — the skill identifier
• description — the ORIGINAL text, do NOT rewrite or translate

Step 2: Read the repo metadata

• VERSION file (if exists) — this becomes metadata.version
• README.md — understand the project, author info, categories
• LICENSE — note the license type
• Git remotes — identify upstream vs fork (git remote -v)

Step 3: Determine categories

Group skills by function. Categories are freeform strings. Good patterns:

• business-diagnostics, content-creation, thinking-tools, utilities
• developer-tools, productivity, documentation, security

Ask the user to confirm categories if grouping is ambiguous.

Phase 2: Create marketplace.json

The official schema (memorize this)

Read references/marketplace_schema.md for the complete field reference. Key rules that are NOT obvious from the docs:

1. $schema field is REJECTED by claude plugin validate. Do not include it.
2. metadata only has 3 valid fields: description, version, pluginRoot. Nothing else. metadata.homepage does NOT exist — the validator accepts it silently but it's not in the spec.
3. metadata.version is the marketplace catalog version, NOT individual plugin versions. It should match the repo's VERSION file (e.g., "2.3.0").
4. Plugin entry version is independent. For first-time marketplace registration, use "1.0.0".
5. strict: false is required when there's no plugin.json in the repo. With strict: false, the marketplace entry IS the entire plugin definition. Having BOTH strict: false AND a plugin.json with components causes a load failure.
6. source: "./" with skills: ["./skills/<name>"] is the pattern for skills in the same repo.
7. Reserved marketplace names that CANNOT be used: claude-code-marketplace, claude-code-plugins, claude-plugins-official, anthropic-marketplace, anthropic-plugins, agent-skills, knowledge-work-plugins, life-sciences.
8. tags vs keywords: Both are optional. In the current Claude Code source, keywords is defined but never consumed in search. tags only has a UI effect for the value "community-managed" (shows a label). Neither affects discovery. The Discover tab searches only name + description + marketplaceName. Include keywords for future-proofing but don't over-invest.

Generate the marketplace.json

Use this template, filling in from the analysis:

{
  "name": "<marketplace-name>",
  "owner": {
    "name": "<github-org-or-username>"
  },
  "metadata": {
    "description": "<one-line description of the marketplace>",
    "version": "<from-VERSION-file-or-1.0.0>"
  },
  "plugins": [
    {
      "name": "<skill-name>",
      "description": "<EXACT text from SKILL.md frontmatter, do NOT rewrite>",
      "source": "./",
      "strict": false,
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "category": "<category>",
      "keywords": ["<relevant>", "<keywords>"],
      "skills": ["./skills/<skill-name>"]
    }
  ]
}

Naming the marketplace

The name field is what users type after @ in install commands: claude plugin install dbs@<marketplace-name>

Choose a name that is:

• Short and memorable
• kebab-case (lowercase, hyphens only)
• Related to the project identity, not generic

Description rules

• Use the ORIGINAL description from each SKILL.md frontmatter
• Do NOT translate, embellish, or "improve" descriptions
• If the repo's audience is Chinese, keep descriptions in Chinese
• If bilingual, use the first language in the SKILL.md description field
• The metadata.description at marketplace level can be a new summary

Phase 3: Validate

Step 1: CLI validation

claude plugin validate .

This catches schema errors. Common failures and fixes:

• Unrecognized key: "$schema" → remove the $schema field
• Duplicate plugin name → ensure all names are unique
• Path contains ".." → use ./ relative paths only

Step 2: Installation test

# Add as local marketplace
claude plugin marketplace add .

# Install a plugin
claude plugin install <plugin-name>@<marketplace-name>

# Verify it appears
claude plugin list | grep <plugin-name>

# Check for updates (should say "already at latest")
claude plugin update <plugin-name>@<marketplace-name>

# Clean up
claude plugin uninstall <plugin-name>@<marketplace-name>
claude plugin marketplace remove <marketplace-name>

Step 3: GitHub installation test (if pushed)

# Test from GitHub (requires the branch to be pushed)
claude plugin marketplace add <github-user>/<repo>
claude plugin install <plugin-name>@<marketplace-name>

# Verify
claude plugin list | grep <plugin-name>

# Clean up
claude plugin uninstall <plugin-name>@<marketplace-name>
claude plugin marketplace remove <marketplace-name>

Phase 4: Create PR

Principles

• Pure incremental: do NOT modify any existing files (skills, README, etc.)
• Squash commits: avoid binary bloat in git history from iterative changes
• Only add: .claude-plugin/marketplace.json, optionally scripts/, optionally update README

README update (if appropriate)

Add the marketplace install method above existing install instructions:

## Install

![demo](demo.gif)  <!-- only if demo exists -->

**Claude Code plugin marketplace (one-click install, auto-update):**

\`\`\`bash
claude plugin marketplace add <owner>/<repo>
claude plugin install <skill>@<marketplace-name>
\`\`\`

PR description template

Include:

• What was added (marketplace.json with N skills, M categories)
• Install commands users will use after merge
• Design decisions (pure incremental, original descriptions, etc.)
• Validation evidence (claude plugin validate . passed)
• Test plan (install commands to verify)

Anti-Patterns (things that went wrong and how to fix them)

Read references/anti_patterns.md for the full list of pitfalls discovered during real marketplace development. These are NOT theoretical — every one was encountered and debugged in production.