Name: create-plugin-scaffold
Rating: 68.8 (1 reviews)
Author: cursor

create-plugin-scaffold

Create a new Cursor plugin scaffold with a valid manifest, component directories, and marketplace wiring. Use when starting a new plugin or adding a plugin to a multi-plugin repository.

Quality

83%

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Securityby

Passed

No findings from the security scan

Quality

Content

78%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

A well-structured, largely self-contained instruction skill with a clearly sequenced workflow and concrete file/field specifics. The main improvements are deduplicating the repeated default-path rule and adding example manifest snippets plus an error-recovery step for failed validations.

Suggestions

State the default output path once (Output Location) and reference it elsewhere as 'the default path' — it currently appears verbatim four times, which costs tokens without adding information.

Add a minimal example plugin.json (and marketplace.json entry) so the manifest shape is copy-paste ready instead of inferred from the field list.

Extend the validation steps (name format, manifest paths) with a brief fix-and-retry instruction so the workflow has an explicit feedback loop.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body is lean and assumes Claude's competence — no concept explanations, just paths, file names, and field lists. The one trimmable redundancy is the default path '~/.cursor/plugins/local/<plugin-name>/' repeated four times (Output Location, Workflow step 2, Guardrails, Output), which keeps it at anchor 4 rather than 5.	4 / 5
Actionability	Concrete, executable guidance throughout: exact directory paths, required frontmatter fields per component type ('Rules: .mdc with description, alwaysApply, optional globs', 'commands/*.(md\|txt)'), and a manifest field list. It falls short of anchor 5 only because no example plugin.json or marketplace.json snippet is given, so the manifest shape must be inferred.	4 / 5
Workflow Clarity	A clear 7-step sequence with explicit validation checkpoints: step 1 validates the name format, step 7 validates manifest paths, and the Output section requires a validation report of required fields and component metadata. It misses anchor 5 because there is no error-recovery feedback loop (e.g., what to do when name or path validation fails).	4 / 5
Progressive Disclosure	No bundle files exist and none are needed — the skill is a single self-contained document with well-organized, clearly headed sections (Trigger, Required Inputs, Output Location, Workflow, Guardrails, Output) and no inlined bulk that belongs in a separate file. All navigation is one page, so nothing is buried and there are no nested references.	5 / 5
	Total	17 / 20 Passed

Description

87%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

A strong description that clearly states what the skill does and when to use it, with concrete actions and a well-scoped niche. The only room for improvement is slightly broader trigger-term coverage and mentioning the component-file/validation work in the capability list.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists several concrete actions — 'a valid manifest', 'component directories', 'marketplace wiring' — naming the domain (Cursor plugin scaffolding) with specific deliverables. It stops short of anchor 5 because coverage has minor gaps: component-file creation with frontmatter and the post-creation validation are part of the skill but not reflected here.	4 / 5
Completeness	Explicitly answers both: the 'what' is 'Create a new Cursor plugin scaffold with a valid manifest, component directories, and marketplace wiring' and the 'when' is the concrete trigger phrase 'Use when starting a new plugin or adding a plugin to a multi-plugin repository', matching the anchor-5 pattern of clear what plus explicit when clauses.	5 / 5
Trigger Term Quality	Good natural keyword coverage: 'Cursor plugin', 'scaffold', 'new plugin', 'multi-plugin repository', 'marketplace' — phrases a user would plausibly say. A few natural variants are missing (e.g., 'plugin template', 'plugin boilerplate', 'set up a plugin'), so it sits between anchors 3 and 5 rather than fully comprehensive.	4 / 5
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	'Cursor plugin scaffold' carves out a clear niche with distinct triggers ('starting a new plugin', 'multi-plugin repository') that would not naturally fire for unrelated skills, and it is written in third person. Conflict risk with generic scaffolding or docs skills is minimal.	5 / 5
	Total	18 / 20 Passed

Validation

100%

Warnings & errors only

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 16 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Repository: cursor/plugins
Path: create-plugin/skills/create-plugin-scaffold/SKILL.md
Commit: c47b128

Reviewed: 2 days ago

Table of Contents

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