Documentation: Publishing plugins as npm packages

Summary

The plugin marketplace documentation covers the npm source type for consuming plugins (marketplace.json schema, package, version, registry fields), but there is no publisher-side documentation for how to structure and publish a Claude Code plugin as an npm package.

What exists today

• plugin-marketplaces.md documents the npm source entry in marketplace.json
• plugins.md documents the plugin directory structure (.claude-plugin/plugin.json, skills/, commands/, etc.)
• The installation mechanism is noted as npm install

What's missing

1. Step-by-step guide for publishing a plugin to npm (or a private registry)
2. package.json requirements — are there any special fields needed (main, exports, a custom key)? Or does the package root just need to be a valid plugin directory?
3. Example npm-published plugin — even a minimal reference implementation would be very helpful
4. Private registry guidance — how to publish to a private npm registry (e.g. AWS CodeArtifact, Artifactory, Verdaccio) for organisations that want to distribute plugins internally without using GitHub

Why this matters

For organisations distributing plugins internally, npm is an attractive option because:

• It decouples plugin distribution from GitHub seat licensing (not everyone who needs Claude Code skills has a GitHub seat)
• Private npm registries (CodeArtifact, Artifactory) are common in enterprise environments
• It provides familiar versioning and dependency management semantics

The git-based source types are well-documented, but they require consumers to have git credentials for the source repo. npm distribution would allow organisations to use their existing package registry infrastructure.

Desired outcome

A dedicated section (or page) in the plugin docs covering:

• How to structure a package.json for a Claude Code plugin npm package
• Any special fields or conventions required
• A minimal working example
• Guidance on private registry configuration for both publishers and consumers