Claude Plugins Community Marketplace Manifest File Location and Structure

The main marketplace manifest file in the anthropics/claude-plugins-community repository is located at .claude-plugin/marketplace.json.

This JSON file serves as the central registry for the Claude plugins ecosystem, defining top-level marketplace metadata and cataloging all published plugins. Understanding the location and structure of this marketplace manifest file is essential for contributors submitting new plugins or debugging validation failures in the CI pipeline.

Location of the Main Marketplace Manifest File

The primary marketplace manifest resides in a hidden directory at the repository root. According to the source code, the canonical path is:

.claude-plugin/marketplace.json

You can access this file directly on GitHub at https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-community/blob/main/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json.

This file defines the marketplace's core configuration including the name, owner, and renames fields, alongside a complete enumeration of published plugins with their metadata such as name, description, source URLs, and homepages.

CI Validation and Manifest Processing

The repository uses GitHub Actions to validate the marketplace manifest file on every contribution. The workflow definition in .github/workflows/validate-plugins.yml orchestrates the validation process.

Helper functions located in .github/actions/validate-plugins/lib/common.sh handle the actual parsing. Specifically, the resolve_external_manifest function reads and resolves references within the manifest during the CI pipeline. These scripts ensure that every plugin entry adheres to the required schema before being accepted into the marketplace.

Querying and Validating the Manifest

You can inspect the marketplace manifest file locally using standard CLI tools. The repository maintains a CLI tool specifically for validation.

View the manifest structure:

cat .claude-plugin/marketplace.json | jq '.name, .plugins | length'

Extract a list of all plugin names:

jq -r '.plugins[].name' .claude-plugin/marketplace.json

Validate the manifest using the repository's built-in tool (as executed in CI):

claude plugin validate .claude-plugin/marketplace.json

Summary

• The marketplace manifest file is located at .claude-plugin/marketplace.json in the repository root.
• It contains JSON metadata defining the marketplace properties and a complete list of available plugins.
• The CI pipeline validates this file via .github/workflows/validate-plugins.yml using helper functions in .github/actions/validate-plugins/lib/common.sh.
• Contributors can query the manifest using jq or validate changes locally using the claude plugin validate command.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the main marketplace manifest file located?

The main marketplace manifest file is located at .claude-plugin/marketplace.json in the anthropics/claude-plugins-community repository root. This path is hardcoded into the CI validation scripts that load and verify the file during pull request checks.

What format is the marketplace manifest file?

The marketplace manifest file uses standard JSON format. It contains top-level keys for name, owner, and renames, plus a plugins array where each element specifies a plugin's name, description, source repository, and homepage URL.

How is the marketplace manifest validated in CI?

The validation occurs through the workflow defined in .github/workflows/validate-plugins.yml. This workflow invokes helper functions in .github/actions/validate-plugins/lib/common.sh, including resolve_external_manifest, to parse the JSON and verify that all plugin entries meet the repository's schema requirements.

What information does the marketplace manifest contain?

The manifest contains marketplace metadata (name, owner, renames) and a comprehensive plugins catalog. Each plugin entry includes its display name, description, source code URL, and homepage, which the marketplace UI uses to render the plugin directory.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}