claude-marketplace-init

Skill: Init Claude Distributed Marketplace

Scaffold a complete, git-distributable Claude Code plugin marketplace from scratch.

What to produce

Create the following directory tree relative to the path the user specifies (default: current directory):

<marketplace-root>/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── marketplace.json          ← marketplace catalog
├── plugins/
│   └── example-plugin/
│       ├── .claude-plugin/
│       │   └── plugin.json       ← plugin identity
│       ├── skills/
│       │   └── example-skill/
│       │       └── SKILL.md
│       └── README.md
└── README.md                     ← marketplace instructions

Step-by-step instructions

1. Gather info from the user

Ask (or infer from context) before writing any files:

• Marketplace name — kebab-case, no spaces. This becomes the @marketplace-name suffix users type when installing plugins. Must not be one of the reserved names: claude-code-marketplace, claude-code-plugins, claude-plugins-official, anthropic-marketplace, anthropic-plugins, agent-skills, knowledge-work-plugins, life-sciences.
• Owner name and optionally email.
• Root path — where to scaffold (default: current working directory).
• First plugin name — suggest an example, or create a placeholder example-plugin if they have nothing yet.

2. Create .claude-plugin/marketplace.json

{
  "$schema": "https://anthropic.com/claude-code/marketplace.schema.json",
  "name": "<marketplace-name>",
  "description": "<one-line description of what this marketplace provides>",
  "owner": {
    "name": "<owner-name>",
    "email": "<owner-email-optional>"
  },
  "metadata": {
    "pluginRoot": "./plugins"
  },
  "plugins": [
    {
      "name": "example-plugin",
      "source": "./plugins/example-plugin",
      "description": "Example plugin — replace or remove this entry",
      "author": {
        "name": "<owner-name>"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Key rules to apply:

• "source" is a path relative to the marketplace root (the directory containing .claude-plugin/), NOT relative to marketplace.json itself.
• Because pluginRoot is set to "./plugins", plugin source paths can be shortened to "./example-plugin" instead of "./plugins/example-plugin" — mention this in the README.
• Do not add a version field in the marketplace entry unless the user asks for explicit versioning; omitting it means every new commit is treated as a new version automatically.

3. Create plugins/example-plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json

{
  "name": "example-plugin",
  "description": "Example plugin — replace with real description",
  "author": {
    "name": "<owner-name>"
  }
}

Rules:

• plugin.json is identity only — no skills, commands, or hooks config goes here.
• Do NOT add a version field unless the user wants explicit version pinning. Explain: if both plugin.json and marketplace.json have version, plugin.json silently wins, which can mask marketplace version bumps.

4. Create plugins/example-plugin/skills/example-skill/SKILL.md

---
name: example-skill
description: Replace this description with clear trigger phrases. Describe when Claude should use this skill. Example: "Use when the user asks to X, Y, or Z."
version: 1.0.0
---

# Example Skill

Replace this content with your skill's instructions.

Describe what Claude should do when this skill is active.

5. Create plugins/example-plugin/README.md

Brief placeholder:

# example-plugin

Describe what this plugin does.

## Skills

- `/marketplace-name:example-skill` — describe what it does

## Installation

```shell
/plugin install example-plugin@<marketplace-name>

### 6. Create root `README.md`

Include:

```markdown
# <marketplace-name>

<description>

## Add this marketplace

```shell
# From GitHub (recommended after pushing)
/plugin marketplace add <github-owner>/<repo-name>

# Local testing before pushing
/plugin marketplace add ./path/to/this/repo

Available plugins

Plugin	Description
example-plugin	Example plugin — replace me

Install a plugin

/plugin install example-plugin@<marketplace-name>

Validate before publishing

claude plugin validate .

Structure reference

<marketplace-root>/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── marketplace.json   ← catalog: lists plugins + their source paths
└── plugins/
    └── <plugin-name>/
        ├── .claude-plugin/
        │   └── plugin.json    ← plugin identity only (name, description, author)
        ├── skills/            ← model-invoked (Claude uses automatically)
        │   └── <skill>/
        │       └── SKILL.md
        ├── commands/          ← user-invoked (/plugin-name:command-name)
        ├── agents/
        ├── hooks/
        │   └── hooks.json
        └── .mcp.json          ← MCP server connections

Key rules

• All plugin dirs (skills/, commands/, agents/, hooks/, .mcp.json) live at the plugin root, never inside .claude-plugin/.
• source paths in marketplace.json resolve from the marketplace root (next to .claude-plugin/), not from inside .claude-plugin/.
• Use ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} in .mcp.json and hooks/hooks.json for paths — plugins are copied to a cache dir on install.
• Run claude plugin validate . before pushing.

### 7. Post-scaffold summary

After creating all files, show the user:

1. The exact tree that was created.
2. The next steps:

Validate

claude plugin validate .

Test locally

/plugin marketplace add ./this-directory /plugin install example-plugin@

After pushing to GitHub

/plugin marketplace add /

3. Remind them:
- Relative `source` paths only work when the marketplace is added via git (not via direct URL to `marketplace.json`).
- Plugin caches at `~/.claude/plugins/cache` — use `/reload-plugins` after local edits.
- To share with a team, commit `.claude/settings.json` with `extraKnownMarketplaces`.