Plugin Manifest Required Keys

A plugin manifest (.claude-plugin/plugin.json) must declare name and description. name is the plugin's unique identifier and the namespace every bundled skill is prefixed with (/<name>:<skill>); description is the text shown in the plugin manager when browsing or installing. A manifest missing name has no namespace to mount its skills under; one missing description shows blank in the manager. version and author are optional. Declare name and description so the plugin installs and displays.

Antipatterns

• Manifest with only a version. Writing {"version": "1.0.0"} and relying on the directory name — the manifest namespace comes from name, not the folder.
• Relying on author.name. Declaring {"author": {"name": "Your Name"}} and no top-level name — the author block names the maintainer, not the plugin, so the manifest still has no namespace.
• Skipping the description. Shipping {"name": "my-plugin"} with no description, so the plugin manager lists it with no summary for users deciding whether to install.

Pass / Fail

Pass

{
  "name": "my-plugin",
  "description": "Adds a greeting workflow.",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "author": { "name": "Your Name" }
}

Fail

{
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

Limitations

Checks that name and description are present as top-level keys of the manifest object with a non-empty string value. Nested objects and arrays are skipped whole, so a name or description inside author (or any other nested value) does not satisfy the top-level requirement. Does not validate the value shapes of optional keys (version semver, author object), and does not reject a non-string value.

Fires when the manifest is checked directly: ails check plugins, or ails check .claude-plugin/plugin.json. A default project scan (ails check / ails check ., or MCP validate on the project) reads instruction and rule files, not the plugin manifest, so a .claude-plugin/plugin.json missing name/description does not appear in it.