create-plugin-scaffold

Create plugin scaffold

Trigger

You need to create a new Cursor plugin from scratch and make it ready for local use or marketplace submission.

Required Inputs

• Plugin name (lowercase kebab-case)
• Plugin purpose and target users
• Component set to include (rules, skills, agents, commands, hooks, mcpServers)
• Repository style (single-plugin or multi-plugin marketplace)

Output Location

By default, create the plugin inside the user's local plugin directory:

~/.cursor/plugins/local/<plugin-name>/

This path makes the plugin immediately available to Cursor without any install step. If the user explicitly asks to create the plugin elsewhere (e.g. inside an existing repo or a specific directory), respect that choice instead.

Workflow

1. Validate plugin name format: lowercase kebab-case, starts and ends with an alphanumeric character.
2. Determine the target directory:

• Default: ~/.cursor/plugins/local/<plugin-name>/
• Override: use the path the user specifies, if any.
• Create the directory (and parents) if it does not exist.

1. Create base files inside the target directory:

• .cursor-plugin/plugin.json
• README.md
• LICENSE
• optional CHANGELOG.md

1. Populate plugin.json:

• Required: name
• Recommended: version, description, author, license, keywords
• Add explicit component paths only when non-default discovery is needed.

1. Create component files with valid frontmatter:

• Rules: .mdc with description, alwaysApply, optional globs
• Skills: skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md with name, description
• Agents: agents/*.md with name, description
• Commands: commands/*.(md|txt) with name, description

1. If repository uses .cursor-plugin/marketplace.json, add plugin entry:

• name
• source
• optional metadata (description, keywords, category, tags)

1. Ensure all manifest paths are relative, valid, and do not use absolute paths or parent traversal.

Guardrails

• Keep the plugin focused on one use case.
• Prefer concise, actionable skill and rule text over long prose.
• Do not reference files that do not exist.
• Use folder discovery defaults unless custom paths are required.
• Always save to ~/.cursor/plugins/local/<plugin-name>/ unless the user provides a different path.

Output

• Created file tree for the plugin (with full path to the output directory)
• Final plugin.json
• Marketplace entry (if applicable)
• Short validation report of required fields and component metadata
• Confirmation that the plugin is saved under ~/.cursor/plugins/local/ and ready for use