What Are Waymaker Plugins & Why Build One?

The Plugin Ecosystem

Waymaker plugins are modular extensions that add new capabilities to the platform. They let you customize Waymaker for specific industries, workflows, or use cases without modifying the core codebase.

What Plugins Can Do

| Capability | Description | Example | |-----------|-------------|---------| | Commands | Slash commands that perform actions | /deploy to trigger a deployment | | Skills | Contextual abilities that activate on triggers | Auto-format code when saving | | Hooks | Intercept and modify tool calls | Validate SQL before execution | | Agents | Custom AI agents with specialized prompts | Industry-specific consultant | | MCP Servers | Connect to external services | Pull data from Jira, Notion, etc. |

Real-World Plugin Examples

Industry Plugins:

• Legal Plugin — Contract templates, compliance checks, legal agent
• Healthcare Plugin — HIPAA compliance hooks, patient form templates
• E-commerce Plugin — Inventory commands, Shopify integration, pricing agent
• Real Estate Plugin — Listing templates, CRM integration, showing scheduler

Workflow Plugins:

• Git Workflow — Enforce branch naming, auto-commit messages
• Testing Plugin — Auto-generate tests, run test suites
• Documentation Plugin — Auto-generate docs, enforce doc standards
• Deployment Plugin — One-command deploy to multiple platforms

Tool Plugins:

• Database Admin — Schema visualization, migration helpers
• API Builder — Generate endpoints, test APIs, document routes
• Design System — Component library, style enforcement

The Developer Opportunity

Building plugins lets you:

1. Customize Waymaker for your specific workflow
2. Share with community — Help other builders
3. Monetize — Sell premium plugins in the marketplace
4. Build reputation — Become known for your plugin expertise
5. Learn deeply — Understanding plugin architecture means understanding the platform

Plugin Capabilities Matrix

| Feature | Scope | Complexity | |---------|-------|-----------| | Commands | Single action | Low | | Skills | Contextual behavior | Medium | | Hooks | Event interception | Medium | | Agents | Custom AI behavior | Medium-High | | MCP Servers | External service integration | High |

Pro Tips

• Start with a command — Simplest way to get started
• Solve your own problem — The best plugins come from real needs
• Keep it focused — One plugin, one purpose
• Look at existing plugins — Learn from how others structure theirs

Plugin Structure — plugin.json, Skills, Commands, Hooks

Directory Layout

A Waymaker plugin follows a standard directory structure:

my-plugin/
  plugin.json          # Manifest file (required)
  README.md            # Documentation
  commands/            # Slash commands
    deploy.md
    test.md
  skills/              # Contextual skills
    auto-format.md
    lint-check.md
  hooks/               # Event hooks
    pre-commit.md
    validate-sql.md
  agents/              # Custom agents
    consultant.md
  .local.md            # Local config (not published)

The plugin.json Manifest

The manifest file is the heart of your plugin. It tells Waymaker what your plugin provides:

{
  "name": "my-awesome-plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "A brief description of what this plugin does",
  "author": "Your Name",
  "license": "MIT",
  "commands": [
    "commands/deploy.md",
    "commands/test.md"
  ],
  "skills": [
    "skills/auto-format.md",
    "skills/lint-check.md"
  ],
  "hooks": [
    "hooks/pre-commit.md",
    "hooks/validate-sql.md"
  ],
  "agents": [
    "agents/consultant.md"
  ],
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-service": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["my-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "${MY_SERVICE_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Manifest Fields:

| Field | Required | Description | |-------|----------|-------------| | name | Yes | Unique plugin identifier (kebab-case) | | version | Yes | Semantic version (major.minor.patch) | | description | Yes | Short description (under 100 chars) | | author | Yes | Your name or organization | | license | No | License type (MIT, Apache-2.0, etc.) | | commands | No | Array of command file paths | | skills | No | Array of skill file paths | | hooks | No | Array of hook file paths | | agents | No | Array of agent file paths | | mcpServers | No | MCP server configurations |

Component Types

Commands

Triggered explicitly by the user with a slash:

/deploy production
/test --coverage

Skills

Activate automatically based on context:

• When a specific file type is detected
• When certain keywords appear in conversation
• When a particular tool is being used

Hooks

Intercept events before or after they happen:

• PreToolUse — Before a tool executes
• PostToolUse — After a tool completes
• Stop — When the agent stops

Agents

Custom AI personalities with specialized knowledge:

• Industry-specific expertise
• Custom system prompts
• Restricted tool access

Auto-Discovery

Waymaker automatically discovers plugins by scanning:

1. Project-level .claude/plugins/ directory
2. Global ~/.claude/plugins/ directory
3. plugin.json in the project root

Key Concepts

• Convention over configuration — Follow the directory structure and Waymaker handles the rest
• Markdown-based — Commands, skills, hooks, and agents are all defined in Markdown files
• YAML frontmatter — Configuration lives in the YAML header of each Markdown file
• Progressive disclosure — Start simple, add complexity as needed