agent-skill-deploy

Original🇺🇸 English
Translated
3 scripts

Deploys agent skill collections from any GitHub repository with a /skills folder to one or more distribution surfaces: GitHub releases, Claude Code marketplace, VS Code plugin marketplace, and Copilot CLI plugin marketplace. Handles pre-flight validation, conventional commit analysis, version bumping across surface configs, and surface-specific publishing with dry-run support. Use when releasing, publishing, or deploying a skills collection to any supported marketplace or creating a GitHub release for a skills repository. Don't use for deploying non-skill packages, npm modules, Docker images, or Azure resources.

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NPX Install

npx skill4agent add webmaxru/ai-native-dev agent-skill-deploy

Tags

Translated version includes tags in frontmatter

Agent Skill Collection Deploy

Purpose

Automate multi-surface deployment of agent skill collections:
  • Pre-flight validation of git state, skills inventory, and surface readiness
  • Conventional commit analysis with version bump recommendation
  • Version bumping across all detected surface configuration files
  • Surface-specific deployment with dry-run capability
  • User approval gates before irreversible operations

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user:
  • Asks to "release", "deploy", "publish", or "ship" a skills collection
  • Wants to bump versions and push to one or more marketplaces
  • Needs to create a GitHub release for a skills repository
  • Wants to publish skills to Claude Code, VS Code, or Copilot CLI marketplaces
  • Asks to check deployment readiness or run a dry-run release
Do not use for npm packages, Docker deployments, Azure resource provisioning, or repositories without a
/skills
directory.

Supported Surfaces

SurfaceConfig FilesDeploy ActionTool Required
githubGit remote URLCreate tag + GitHub release
gh
claude-code
.claude-plugin/plugin.json
(required),
.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
(optional)
Bump plugin version, commit, push
git
vscode
package.json
Bump version, commit, push
git
copilot-cli
package.json
,
.github/plugin/plugin.json
,
.github/plugin/marketplace.json
(optional)
Bump plugin version, commit, push
git

Bundled Scripts

This skill includes three Node.js helper scripts in
scripts/
for cross-platform operation (Windows and macOS):
  1. deploy-preflight.mjs — Validates git state, discovers surfaces, checks tool availability, verifies version consistency (including git tag version)
  2. deploy-analyze.mjs — Inventories skills, analyzes commits since last tag, recommends version bump
  3. deploy-execute.mjs — Bumps versions in all detected config files (regardless of selected surfaces), commits, tags, and deploys to selected surfaces
Run scripts from the skill directory:
bash
node scripts/deploy-preflight.mjs
node scripts/deploy-analyze.mjs
node scripts/deploy-execute.mjs 1.2.0 --surfaces github,claude-code --dry-run

Version Handling Rules

Marketplace.json files contain two distinct version fields with different semantics:
  • plugins[].version
    (plugin version) — Tracks the version of each listed plugin. Bumped during releases for local plugins (where
    source
    is
    "."
    ).
  • metadata.version
    (marketplace version) — Tracks the version of the marketplace collection itself. Never bumped during skill/plugin releases. Managed independently.
Cross-file sync rules:
  • All plugin versions must stay consistent:
    plugin.json
    ,
    package.json
    ,
    plugins[].version
    in marketplace files, and the git tag.
  • All
    metadata.version
    values across marketplace.json files (
    .claude-plugin/marketplace.json
    and
    .github/plugin/marketplace.json
    ) must stay in sync with each other.

Deploy Workflow

Follow these steps in order. Stop immediately if any step fails.

Step 1: Pre-flight Checks

Run the preflight script to validate readiness:
bash
node scripts/deploy-preflight.mjs
This checks:
  • Current directory is a git repository
  • Current branch is
    master
    or
    main
  • Working tree is clean (no uncommitted changes)
  • /skills
    directory exists and contains at least one skill
  • Detects which surfaces are configured based on existing config files
  • Verifies required tools are available for each surface
  • Checks that both
    .claude-plugin/plugin.json
    and
    .github/plugin/plugin.json
    exist; warns if either is missing (auto-created during deploy)
  • Reports version consistency across all surface configs, including git tag version
If checks fail, report the problem and suggest a fix. Do not proceed.

Step 2: Analyze Changes

Run the analysis script to understand what changed:
bash
node scripts/deploy-analyze.mjs
This will:
  • Inventory all skills in
    /skills
    with their names
  • Find the last release tag (or handle first release)
  • List all commits since that tag
  • Count commits by conventional type using anchored regex
  • Detect breaking changes (
    type!:
    suffix or
    BREAKING CHANGE
    in body)
  • Show file change statistics
  • Print a version bump recommendation
Version bump criteria:
BumpWhen
MajorBreaking changes —
type!:
prefix or
BREAKING CHANGE
body
MinorNew features — any
feat:
commits
PatchEverything else —
fix:
,
docs:
,
refactor:
,
chore:
, etc.

Step 2b: Build Per-Skill Changelog

When the github surface is selected, build a concise, human-readable changelog grouped by skill. This replaces GitHub's auto-generated notes.
Procedure:
  1. Identify the previous release tag from
    deploy-analyze.mjs
    output (the
    Last release tag
    line). If this is the first release, compare against the root commit.
  2. For each skill listed in the
    Skills Changed
    output, run:
    bash
    git diff v{{PREVIOUS}}..HEAD -- skills/{{SKILL_NAME}}/
  3. Analyze each diff and produce a concise bullet list summarizing user-visible changes per skill. Guidelines:
    • Write each bullet as a short, action-oriented statement (e.g., "Added X", "Fixed Y", "Removed Z").
    • Group by skill as a level-2 heading (
      ## skill-name
      ).
    • Omit internal-only changes (whitespace, line-ending normalization) unless they are the only change.
    • Mention version bumps within skill metadata only if no other substantive changes exist for that skill.
    • Cap at roughly 5–7 bullets per skill; combine minor items if needed.
  4. Store the assembled Markdown changelog text for use in Step 9.
Example output format:
markdown
## agent-package-manager
- Added subdirectory path and pinned tag dependency examples to template
- Expanded manifest reference with Azure DevOps and GitLab guidance
- Added "APM not installed" troubleshooting section

## agent-skill-deploy
- Made marketplace.json optional for Claude Code surface detection
- Simplified version bump recommendation logic

## github-agentic-workflows
- Added install.md URL reference for agent-assisted setup
If only a single skill changed, omit the heading and use a flat bullet list.

Step 3: Confirm Version and Surfaces with User

Present the analysis summary and ask the user to choose a version and target surfaces.
Use the AskUserQuestion tool for version:
AskUserQuestion:
  question: "Recommended: {{RECOMMENDATION}}. Which version bump for v{{CURRENT}} → v{{NEXT}}?"
  header: "Version"
  options:
    - label: "Major (v{{MAJOR}})"
      description: "Breaking changes — skill removals, renames, config restructuring"
    - label: "Minor (v{{MINOR}})"
      description: "New features — new skills, significant enhancements"
    - label: "Patch (v{{PATCH}})"
      description: "Fixes, docs, refactoring, chore, CI, tests"
    - label: "Cancel"
      description: "Abort the deployment"
Replace
{{CURRENT}}
with current version, compute
{{MAJOR}}
,
{{MINOR}}
,
{{PATCH}}
by incrementing the relevant segment (reset lower segments to 0).
If user selects Cancel, stop the workflow.
Use the AskUserQuestion tool for surfaces:
AskUserQuestion:
  question: "Detected surfaces: {{DETECTED_SURFACES}}. Which surfaces to deploy to?"
  header: "Surfaces"
  options:
    - label: "All detected ({{DETECTED_SURFACES}})"
      description: "Deploy to every surface that has config files"
    - label: "GitHub release only"
      description: "Create tag and GitHub release"
    - label: "Marketplaces only"
      description: "Update marketplace configs without GitHub release"
    - label: "Custom selection"
      description: "Specify exact surfaces"
    - label: "Cancel"
      description: "Abort the deployment"

Step 4: Dry Run (Recommended)

Before making changes, perform a dry run to verify what will happen:
bash
node scripts/deploy-execute.mjs {{VERSION}} --surfaces {{SURFACES}} --dry-run
Present the dry-run output to the user. The dry run shows:
  • Which files will be modified and how
  • Which git operations will be performed
  • Which surface-specific deploy commands will run
  • No files are changed, no git operations are executed
If the dry run reveals issues, address them before proceeding.

Step 5: Bump Versions

Execute the version bump across all detected surface configs:
bash
node scripts/deploy-execute.mjs {{VERSION}} --surfaces {{SURFACES}} --bump-only
IMPORTANT — version sync invariant: The script always bumps every detected config file (plugin.json, marketplace.json, package.json) regardless of which surfaces were selected via
--surfaces
. This prevents version drift between surfaces. The
--surfaces
flag only controls which deployment actions run in
--push
mode.
Auto-creation of missing plugin.json: Before bumping, the script checks that both
.claude-plugin/plugin.json
(claude-code surface) and
.github/plugin/plugin.json
(copilot-cli surface) exist. If either file is missing, it is automatically created from the sibling plugin.json (preferred) or from
package.json
metadata (name, description, version, author, repository, license, keywords) as a fallback. The copilot-cli variant also gets
"skills": "skills/"
.
This updates version fields in:
  • .claude-plugin/plugin.json
    .version
    (claude-code surface)
  • .claude-plugin/marketplace.json
    .plugins[0].version
    (claude-code surface, only if the file exists)
  • package.json
    .version
    (vscode and copilot-cli surfaces)
  • .github/plugin/plugin.json
    .version
    (copilot-cli surface, only if the file exists)
  • .github/plugin/marketplace.json
    .plugins[0].version
    and
    .metadata.version
    (copilot-cli surface, only if the file exists)
If
marketplace.json
is absent, the plugin is assumed to be listed by a marketplace defined in another repository. Only
plugin.json
is bumped.
Verify all files were updated correctly by reading them back.

Step 6: Commit Version Bump

Stage and commit all modified config files:
bash
git add -A
git commit -m "Release v{{VERSION}}"

Step 7: Create Git Tag

Tag the release commit:
bash
git tag v{{VERSION}}

Step 8: User Approval Before Push

CRITICAL: Always pause here for user approval.
Present a summary and ask for confirmation.
Use the AskUserQuestion tool:
AskUserQuestion:
  question: "Ready to push v{{VERSION}} and deploy to {{SURFACES}}?"
  header: "Deploy"
  options:
    - label: "Yes — push and deploy"
      description: "Push commits, tags, and run surface-specific deployments"
    - label: "Push only — skip surface deploys"
      description: "Push commits and tags but skip marketplace-specific actions"
    - label: "No — keep local"
      description: "Keep local commit and tag, do not push"
If user selects No, inform them:
  • The commit and tag remain local
  • To undo:
    git reset --hard HEAD~1 && git tag -d v{{VERSION}}

Step 9: Push and Deploy

Only after user approves:
  1. Save the per-skill changelog from Step 2b to a temporary file:
    bash
    echo '{{CHANGELOG}}' > /tmp/release-notes.md
  2. Run the push and deploy:
    bash
    node scripts/deploy-execute.mjs {{VERSION}} --surfaces {{SURFACES}} --push --notes-file /tmp/release-notes.md
This performs:
  1. git push && git push --tags
    for all surfaces
  2. For github surface: create the release using the per-skill changelog from Step 2b:
    bash
    gh release create v{{VERSION}} --title "v{{VERSION}}" --notes-file /tmp/release-notes.md
    If
    --notes-file
    is not provided, the script falls back to
    --generate-notes
    . Always prefer providing the per-skill changelog.
After pushing, print the remote URL and relevant marketplace links.

Error Handling

  • No
    /skills
    directory:
    Report that the repository does not follow the expected skill collection layout and stop.
  • Missing tools: Report which tools are missing for which surfaces. Suggest installation commands. Allow deployment to surfaces whose tools are available.
  • Version mismatch across surfaces: Report the mismatch and suggest running the bump step to synchronize all config files.
  • Tag already exists: Report the conflict and suggest either choosing a different version or deleting the existing tag with user confirmation.
  • Push failure: Report the error. Do not retry automatically. Suggest checking remote access and authentication.
  • Surface deploy failure: If one surface fails, report it but continue with remaining surfaces. Provide per-surface status summary at the end.
  • Dry-run divergence: If the actual execution differs from the dry run, pause and report the divergence to the user.