Lesson 21Automation

Creating Plugins

Shareable extensions

What are Plugins

Plugins are a way to package and distribute a collection of commands, skills, agents, and rules for Claude Code.

What you can include:

• Slash commands
• Agent skills
• Custom agents
• Hooks
• Modular rules

Use cases:

• Team standards
• CI/CD integrations
• Specific workflows
• Open source tools

Plugin Structure

.claude-plugin/
├── plugin.json         # Manifest file
├── commands/           # Slash commands
│   ├── deploy.md
│   └── rollback.md
├── skills/             # Agent skills
│   ├── security-audit.md
│   └── performance-check.md
├── agents/             # Custom agents
│   └── reviewer.md
├── hooks/              # Hooks configuration
│   └── format.json
└── rules/              # Modular rules
    └── typescript.md

plugin.json (Manifest)

The plugin.json file describes the plugin and its components:

{
  "name": "my-team-tools",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Team-specific Claude Code tools",
  "author": "Your Team",
  "components": {
    "commands": ["commands/*.md"],
    "skills": ["skills/*.md"],
    "agents": ["agents/*.md"],
    "hooks": ["hooks/*.json"],
    "rules": ["rules/*.md"]
  }
}

Example Command in Plugin

commands/deploy.md:

---
name: deploy
description: Deploy to staging or production
arguments:
  - name: environment
    description: Target environment (staging/production)
    required: true
---

Deploy the current branch to $1:

1. Run tests to ensure everything passes
2. Build the application
3. Deploy using our CI/CD pipeline
4. Verify deployment health
5. Report status with URL

Using Plugins

Plugins can be used in several ways:

Local Testing

claude --plugin-dir ./my-plugin

In Project

Place .claude-plugin/ at project root — plugin will load automatically

Globally

~/.claude/plugins/my-plugin/

Distributing Plugins

Plugins can be distributed via:

Git repository

Clone to ~/.claude/plugins/

npm package

Publish as npm package

Internal registry

For enterprise use

Direct copy

Copy plugin folder

Plugin Creation Tips

1.Document each command with usage examples
2.Version the plugin using semver
3.Test locally before distribution
4.Don't include secrets in plugins

This lesson is part of a structured LLM course.

My Learning Path