Claude Code Plugin Marketplace Template

A GitHub template repository for creating and managing your own Claude Code plugin marketplace with a plugin development toolkit.

Quick Start

Use as Template

1. Click "Use this template" button on GitHub

2. Create your new repository

3. Clone your new repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-org/your-marketplace-name.git
   cd your-marketplace-name

4. Customize the marketplace:

   # Update marketplace metadata
   vim .claude-plugin/marketplace.json

5. Install the plugin development tools:

   # Add your local marketplace
   /plugin marketplace add ./path-to-your-marketplace
   
   # Install the plugin-development plugin
   /plugin install plugin-development@my-team-plugin-marketplace

6. Test locally (see Testing section)

What's Included

This template provides:

• Marketplace Configuration (.claude-plugin/marketplace.json): Central registry for all plugins following the official schema
• Plugin Development Plugin (plugin-development): Comprehensive toolkit for creating, validating, and managing plugins with:
  • Scaffolding and component generation commands
  • Automated validation and testing
  • Best practices and documentation integration
  • Review agent for release readiness
• Sample Plugin (hello-world): Fully functional example demonstrating:
  • Proper plugin manifest structure
  • Command with frontmatter
  • Best practices and documentation
• Comprehensive Documentation (docs/): Complete guides for plugin development, hooks, settings, commands, skills, and sub-agents
• GitHub Actions: Automated plugin validation workflow

Configuration

Marketplace Configuration

Edit .claude-plugin/marketplace.json to customize your marketplace:

{
  "name": "my-team-plugin-marketplace",
  "owner": {
    "name": "Your Organization",
    "email": "[email protected]"
  },
  "metadata": {
    "description": "A curated collection of plugins for our team",
    "version": "1.0.0"
  },
  "plugins": [
    // Add your plugins here
  ]
}

Note: The name field should use kebab-case (lowercase with hyphens). See the Plugin Marketplaces documentation for complete schema details.

Team Settings (Optional)

You can configure automatic marketplace installation for team projects by adding .claude/settings.json:

{
  "extraKnownMarketplaces": {
    "team-tools": {
      "source": {
        "source": "github",
        "repo": "your-org/your-marketplace-name"
      }
    }
  }
}

When team members trust the repository folder, Claude Code automatically installs these marketplaces. See Configure team marketplaces for details.

Testing

Local Testing

1. Navigate to your project directory:

   cd your-marketplace-name

2. Start Claude Code:

   claude

3. Add your local marketplace:

   /plugin marketplace add ./path-to-your-marketplace
   

4. Install a plugin:

   /plugin install hello-world@marketplace-name
   /plugin install plugin-development@marketplace-name
   

5. Test commands:

   /hello World
   /plugin-development:validate
   

6. Verify installation:

   /help
   

   Your plugin commands should appear in the help list.

Using the Marketplace from GitHub

Once published to GitHub, users can add your marketplace:

# Add marketplace from GitHub
/plugin marketplace add your-org/your-repo-name

# Install plugins
/plugin install plugin-name@your-marketplace-name

Creating New Plugins

Option 1: Use the Plugin Development Plugin (Recommended)

This template includes a powerful plugin-development plugin that automates plugin scaffolding:

# After cloning and adding this marketplace
/plugin install plugin-development@my-team-plugin-marketplace

# Scaffold a new plugin
/plugin-development:init my-new-plugin

# Add components as needed
/plugin-development:add-command my-command "Description of what the command does"
/plugin-development:add-skill my-skill "Use when working with..."
/plugin-development:validate

See the plugin-development README for complete documentation.

Option 2: Manual Setup

# Create plugin directory
mkdir -p plugins/my-plugin/.claude-plugin
mkdir -p plugins/my-plugin/commands

# Create plugin metadata
touch plugins/my-plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
touch plugins/my-plugin/README.md

Step 2: Define Plugin Metadata

Edit plugins/my-plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json:

{
  "name": "my-plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Description of what your plugin does",
  "author": {
    "name": "Your Name",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "url": "https://github.com/your-username"
  },
  "homepage": "https://github.com/your-org/your-marketplace-name",
  "repository": "https://github.com/your-org/your-marketplace-name",
  "license": "MIT",
  "keywords": ["keyword1", "keyword2"]
}

Note: The author field must be an object with name, email, and optionally url. See the Plugins Reference for complete schema details.

Step 3: Create Command

Create plugins/my-plugin/commands/my-command.md:

---
description: Brief description of what the command does
argument-hint: [arg1] [arg2]
---

# My Command

[Detailed instructions for Claude on how to execute this command]

## Instructions

1. [Step 1]
2. [Step 2]
3. [Step 3]

[Additional context and guidelines]

Note: Commands should include frontmatter with description and optionally argument-hint. The content is a prompt that Claude executes. See the Slash Commands documentation for details.

Step 4: Register in Marketplace

Add to .claude-plugin/marketplace.json:

{
  "plugins": [
    {
      "name": "my-plugin",
      "description": "Description of what your plugin does",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "author": {
        "name": "Your Name"
      },
      "source": "./plugins/my-plugin",
      "category": "utilities",
      "tags": ["tag1", "tag2"],
      "keywords": ["keyword1", "keyword2"]
    }
  ]
}

Note: The marketplace plugin entry uses the same schema as plugin.json with all fields optional, plus marketplace-specific fields like source, category, and tags. The author field should be an object.

Documentation

Local Documentation

This repository includes comprehensive documentation for the Claude Code plugin system in the docs/ directory:

• Plugin Development: Complete guide to creating and managing plugins
• Plugin Reference: Technical specifications and advanced features
• Plugin Marketplaces: Marketplace creation and management
• Hooks: Event-driven automation and workflows
• Settings: Configuration and customization options
• Slash Commands: Command system and custom commands
• Skills: Agent capabilities and expertise packages
• Sub-Agents: Specialized AI assistants and task delegation

Start with docs/plugins.md for plugin development basics, or docs/README.md for a complete overview of all available documentation.

Official Claude Code Documentation

• Claude Code Plugins: Complete plugin development guide
• Plugin Marketplaces: Marketplace creation and management
• Plugins Reference: Technical specifications and schemas
• Slash Commands: Command development details

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details