Home/Claude Code Skills & Plugins/Episode 4

IntermediateEpisode 4 of 413 min

Build Your Own Claude Code Plugin

Package your skills and share them with your team or the community.

Building Your Own Plugin

You've created skills that work well for you. Now let's package them as a plugin so you can share with your team or the community.

What makes a plugin

A plugin is just a folder with a specific structure:

my-plugin/
  README.md           # What the plugin does, how to use it
  /skills/            # The skill files
    skill-one.md
    skill-two.md
  /examples/          # (Optional) Example CLAUDE.md files
    project-example.md
  /samples/           # (Optional) Sample data for testing
    sample-data.csv

That's it. No code, no configuration files, no build process. Just markdown files organized in folders.

Step 1: Decide what to include

A good plugin is focused. Don't throw every skill you have into one plugin. Group related skills:

Good scope:

"Business Email Pack" — 3 skills for drafting, responding to, and formatting emails
"Sales Data Toolkit" — skills for CRM exports, pipeline analysis, and deal tracking
"Expense Management" — categorization, reconciliation, and reporting skills

Too broad:

"Everything I Use" — random mix of email, data, scheduling, and code formatting

Pick one domain. Do it well.

Step 2: Create the plugin folder

bash

mkdir -p ~/my-plugins/business-email-pack/{skills,examples,samples}
cd ~/my-plugins/business-email-pack

Step 3: Add your skills

Copy or create your skill files in the /skills/ folder:

bash

cp ~/.claude/skills/email-drafting.md ./skills/

Or write them fresh. Here's an example set for a business email plugin:

skills/email-drafting.md:

markdown

# Email Drafting

Use this skill when composing new emails.

## Tone
- Professional but personable
- Match formality to relationship (formal for new contacts, casual for colleagues)

## Structure  
- Short paragraphs (2-3 sentences)
- Lead with the main point
- Clear call-to-action at the end

## Sign-off
- Use just first name for internal emails
- Full name and title for external contacts

skills/email-response.md:

markdown

# Email Response

Use this skill when replying to emails.

## Rules
- Acknowledge their main point first
- Answer questions directly before adding context
- Keep shorter than the original email when possible
- Don't repeat information they already know

skills/email-formatting.md:

markdown

# Email Formatting

Use this skill when the email contains data, lists, or structured information.

## Lists
- Use bullet points for 3+ items
- Number steps if order matters

## Data
- Use simple tables for comparisons
- Bold key figures that need attention

## Attachments
- Mention attachments explicitly in the email body
- Brief description of what's attached and why

Step 4: Write the README

This is what people see first. Make it useful:

markdown

# Business Email Pack

Three skills for writing better business emails with Claude Code.

## What's included

- **Email Drafting** — Compose new emails with the right tone and structure
- **Email Response** — Reply effectively without over-explaining
- **Email Formatting** — Handle data, lists, and attachments cleanly

## Installation

Copy the `skills/` folder contents to your Claude skills directory:

cp -r skills/* ~/.claude/skills/


## Usage

Just ask Claude to draft or respond to emails as you normally would. 
The skills activate automatically.

**Examples:**
- "Draft an email to the team about the deadline change"
- "Reply to this email declining the meeting politely"
- "Draft an email with the Q1 results attached"

## Customization

These skills are starting points. Edit them to match your style:
- Change the sign-off format in `email-drafting.md`
- Add forbidden phrases in any skill's "Avoid" section
- Adjust formality levels for your industry

## Author

Created by [Your Name]. Feedback welcome!

Step 5: Add examples (optional)

If your plugin works best with certain CLAUDE.md setups, include examples:

examples/sales-team-context.md:

markdown

# Example: Sales Team CLAUDE.md

Use this as a starting point for sales-related projects.

---

# Sales Communications

## Team context
- Our product: [Product Name]
- Target market: [Market]
- Key competitors: [Competitor 1], [Competitor 2]

## Email preferences
- Always mention our product by name
- Include a soft CTA in follow-ups
- Reference any prior conversations

Step 6: Test your plugin

Before sharing, test it works as a fresh install:

bash

# Temporarily remove your existing skills
mv ~/.claude/skills ~/.claude/skills-backup

# Create fresh skills folder
mkdir ~/.claude/skills

# Install your plugin
cp -r ~/my-plugins/business-email-pack/skills/* ~/.claude/skills/

# Test with Claude
claude

Ask Claude to draft a few emails. Verify the skills are working.

Then restore your original skills:

bash

rm -rf ~/.claude/skills
mv ~/.claude/skills-backup ~/.claude/skills

Step 7: Share it

For your team:

Put the plugin folder in a shared drive
Send them the folder or a zip file
Add to your team's internal tool documentation

For the community (GitHub):

bash

cd ~/my-plugins/business-email-pack
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial release"
# Create repo on GitHub, then:
git remote add origin https://github.com/yourusername/business-email-pack.git
git push -u origin main

For the marketplace (coming soon):

When the Claude Code plugin marketplace launches, there will be a submission process. Keep your plugin well-documented and it'll be ready to submit.

Plugin maintenance

Good plugins evolve:

Listen to feedback — If people say a skill does something weird, fix it
Version your releases — Tag releases in git so people can reference specific versions
Update the README — Keep installation instructions current

Recap

A plugin is just organized markdown files with documentation. Package your best skills, add a README, test it fresh, and share it. Start with your team, then consider the broader community.

The more useful plugins exist, the more powerful Claude Code becomes for everyone.

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