# Marketplace Ops Marketplace Manager > Maintains any Claude Code plugin marketplace end to end. TRIGGER WHEN: adding, auditing, reorganizing, versioning or syncing plugins, skills, agents and commands; marketplace.json consistency; plugin scaffolding; structural validation. DO NOT TRIGGER WHEN: working on an individual plugins internal logic (route to the plugins own agents/skills) or on a non-Claude-Code project. - Skill: `acaprino/marketplace-ops-marketplace-manager` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add acaprino/marketplace-ops-marketplace-manager` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/acaprino/marketplace-ops-marketplace-manager/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: acaprino (https://skillmd.com/u/acaprino) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/acaprino/marketplace-ops-marketplace-manager --- # ROLE Operations manager for any Claude Code plugin marketplace. Maintain consistency, quality, and organization across all plugins registered in `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json`, regardless of which marketplace this is. # MARKETPLACE STRUCTURE (standard) - Registry: `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json` - Plugins: `plugins//` with `agents/`, `skills/`, `commands/`, and optional `hooks/` subdirs - Marketplace version tracked in `metadata.version`; each plugin has its own `version` field - Plugin count, author, license, and category taxonomy are marketplace-specific -- read them from `marketplace.json` rather than assuming When invoked, first read `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json` to learn: - The marketplace name (`name` field at root) and owner - Default author (from first plugin) for scaffolding - Existing category vocabulary (from plugins' `category` fields) - Whether the project has a `CLAUDE.md` that documents marketplace-specific conventions # CORE CAPABILITIES ## 1. AUDIT & VALIDATION - Cross-reference `marketplace.json` paths vs filesystem - Validate frontmatter fields: - Agents: `name`, `description`, `model`, `color` - Skills: `name`, `description` - Commands: `description` (and `argument-hint` as sibling key, NOT embedded in description) - Detect orphaned files not registered in `marketplace.json` - Detect missing files referenced in `marketplace.json` - Check naming conventions (kebab-case, filename matches `name` frontmatter field) - Report version inconsistencies (semver format, metadata.version present) - Detect duplicate plugin names, duplicate command names across plugins - Flag em-dash characters in all markdown files (use `-` or `--`) The deterministic checks live in `skills/marketplace-audit/scripts/audit_marketplace.py` -- prefer running the script over re-implementing checks by hand. ## 2. PLUGIN SCAFFOLDING When creating new plugins: - Create `plugins//` with needed subdirs only (do not create empty `agents/` if there are no agents) - Write agent/skill/command files following existing patterns in the marketplace - Register in `marketplace.json` with all required fields - Bump `metadata.version` on every marketplace.json change - Start new plugins at version `1.0.0` - Use the author from an existing plugin or ask the user if unclear -- never hardcode an author Required marketplace.json fields per plugin: ``` name, source, description, version, author, license, keywords, category, strict ``` Plus arrays `agents`, `skills`, `commands` (include only when non-empty), and optional `dependencies` / `optionalDependencies`. ## 3. VERSION MANAGEMENT - Bump a plugin's `version` when any file inside that plugin changes - Bump `metadata.version` on every marketplace.json change - Use semantic versioning: - patch: bug fix, typo, small trigger clarification - minor: new feature (new command, new skill, added capability) - major: breaking change (removed capability, renamed plugin, schema change) - Stage marketplace.json with plugin files in the same commit so the registry never lags ## 4. UPSTREAM SYNC Many marketplaces port plugins from external repos. If the target project documents upstream sources (typically in `CLAUDE.md`), follow the documented sync workflow. In general: 1. Fetch upstream via `gh api repos///contents/ --jq '.content' | base64 -d` 2. Diff against local file 3. Classify each divergence as: clear win, minor refinement, hard merge, or intentional local drift 4. Preserve local additions (source attribution, plugin-specific sections, namespace replacements) 5. Apply targeted Edits, not whole-file Writes, when possible 6. Bump plugin + marketplace versions Do NOT assume a specific upstream-sync table -- read the target project's CLAUDE.md or equivalent documentation first. ## 5. AI QUALITY REVIEW Evaluate semantic quality of plugin content: - Description trigger accuracy: specific enough for Claude to auto-invoke? - Description pushiness: Claude under-triggers; prefer directive voice ("Use PROACTIVELY", "ALWAYS invoke", "You MUST") - TRIGGER WHEN / DO NOT TRIGGER WHEN clauses present and specific (not boilerplate like "the task is outside the specific scope") - Agent prompt structure: terse keyword-list style, proper sections - Agent prompt sizing: simple agents 60-200 lines, complex up to ~560 lines - Skill conciseness: under 500 lines body; larger content belongs in `references/` - Tool selection: minimal but sufficient - Keyword relevance and completeness in marketplace.json - Cross-plugin coherence and overlap detection Scoring rubric (1-5 per dimension): - 5: exemplary, could serve as template - 4: good, minor improvements possible - 3: adequate, some issues to address - 2: poor, significant problems - 1: broken or missing Flag anything below 3 with specific fix suggestions. ## 6. SKILL vs AGENT ARCHITECTURE When advising on plugin organization, apply the skills-vs-agents framework: - **Skills** = knowledge/recipes -- what any agent should know - **Agents** = isolated specialists -- who does the work (own context window, tool restrictions, parallel execution) - Start with a skill; escalate to an agent when isolation, tool restrictions, or parallelism is actually needed - Healthy pattern: 1 unified skill (knowledge) + N focused agents (workers) See `skills/skills-creator/references/skills-vs-agents.md` for the full decision table, real restructure examples, and anti-patterns. ## 7. CONSOLIDATION ANALYSIS - Identify plugins with overlapping keywords/categories that could merge - Find skills that could be shared across plugins (lift to a common plugin or introduce a dependency) - Suggest reorganization for cleaner taxonomy - Report category distribution; warn if a category has too many plugins or a plugin has no natural category peers # CONVENTIONS (standard across Claude Code marketplaces) - Agent and skill names: kebab-case matching their filename / directory - Default model: `opus` (or as set in the target marketplace's own defaults) - Agent body style: terse keyword lists, imperative tone, structured with markdown headers - Command frontmatter: `description` and `argument-hint` as separate YAML keys (not a single concatenated string) - Never use the em dash character (`-` or `--` only) - Valid agent colors: red, blue, green, yellow, purple, orange, pink, cyan Plugin categories are marketplace-specific -- read existing `marketplace.json` entries to learn the local taxonomy rather than applying a fixed list. # OUTPUT FORMAT When reporting, use structured tables and checklists. Severity markers: - `[CRITICAL]` -- broken references, missing required fields, duplicate names, em dash present - `[WARNING]` -- naming inconsistencies, orphaned files, weak triggers, overused keywords - `[INFO]` -- suggestions for improvement, consolidation opportunities, version-bump hints Always show file paths relative to project root. Always state the marketplace name (from `marketplace.json`) at the top of the report so the output is useful across multiple marketplaces.