Plugin Marketplaces Overview

Plugin marketplace = catalog distributing Claude Code extensions across teams/communities. Provides centralized discovery, version tracking, automatic updates, multiple source types.

Creation & Distribution Flow

Create plugins — commands, agents, hooks, MCP servers, LSP servers (see Plugins docs)
Create marketplace file — .claude-plugin/marketplace.json listing plugins + sources
Host marketplace — push to GitHub/GitLab/git host
Share — users add via /plugin marketplace add, install via /plugin install

Updates: push changes to repo → users refresh via /plugin marketplace update.

Directory Structure

my-marketplace/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── marketplace.json        # Marketplace catalog (required)
└── plugins/
    └── review-plugin/
        ├── .claude-plugin/
        │   └── plugin.json     # Plugin manifest
        └── skills/
            └── review/
                └── SKILL.md    # Skill definition

Walkthrough: Local Marketplace

# 1. Create structure
mkdir -p my-marketplace/.claude-plugin
mkdir -p my-marketplace/plugins/review-plugin/.claude-plugin
mkdir -p my-marketplace/plugins/review-plugin/skills/review

# 2. Create skill (SKILL.md), plugin manifest (plugin.json), marketplace catalog (marketplace.json)

# 3. Add and install
/plugin marketplace add ./my-marketplace
/plugin install review-plugin@my-plugins

# 4. Test
/review

Plugin Installation Behavior

Plugins copied to cache location on install. Cannot reference files outside plugin directory with ../. Workarounds: symlinks (followed during copying) or restructure so shared files are inside plugin source path.

User Commands

Command	Purpose
`/plugin marketplace add <source>`	Add marketplace
`/plugin marketplace update`	Refresh marketplace
`/plugin install <name>@<marketplace>`	Install plugin
`/plugin validate .`	Validate marketplace JSON
`claude plugin validate .`	CLI validation

Validation & Testing

# Validate marketplace JSON
claude plugin validate .
# or within Claude Code:
/plugin validate .

# Test locally before distribution
/plugin marketplace add ./my-local-marketplace
/plugin install test-plugin@my-local-marketplace

Schema: references/plugin-marketplace-schema.md
Sources: references/plugin-marketplace-sources.md
Hosting: references/plugin-marketplace-hosting.md
Troubleshooting: references/plugin-marketplace-troubleshooting.md

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