---
name: developing-cursor-plugins-912ab677101a
description: Use when working on Cursor plugins (creating, modifying, testing, releasing, or maintaining) - provides streamlined workflows, patterns, and examples for the complete Cursor plugin lifecycle
metadata:
  last_updated: "2026-06-05"
---

# Developing Cursor Plugins

## Overview

This skill provides efficient workflows for creating Cursor plugins. Use it to make plugin development fast and correct — it synthesizes official docs into actionable steps and covers Cursor-specific patterns like `.mdc` rules, plugin manifests, and MCP integration.

## When to Use

Use this skill when:
- Creating a new Cursor plugin from scratch
- Adding components to an existing plugin (rules, skills, commands, agents, hooks, MCP servers)
- Writing `.cursor/rules/*.mdc` rule files
- Setting up a local development environment for plugin testing
- Troubleshooting plugin structure or loading issues
- Understanding plugin architecture and component choices
- Releasing or distributing a plugin (Cursor Marketplace, cursor.directory, team marketplace)

**For comprehensive official documentation**, use the `working-with-cursor` skill to access full docs.

## Quick Reference

| Need to... | Read This | Official Docs |
|-----------|-----------|---------------|
| Understand directory structure | `references/plugin-structure.md` | `plugins.md` |
| Choose a component pattern | `references/common-patterns.md` | `plugins.md` |
| Write .cursor/rules/*.mdc files | `references/cursor-rules-guide.md` | `context-rules.md` |
| Debug plugin issues | `references/troubleshooting.md` | Various |

## Plugin Development Workflow

### Phase 1: Plan

Before writing anything:

1. **Define your plugin's purpose**
   - What problem does it solve?
   - Who will use it — personal, team, or public?
   - Which components are needed?

2. **Choose your pattern** (read `references/common-patterns.md`)
   - Rules only (lightweight context injection)?
   - Rules + skills (guidance + reusable workflows)?
   - MCP integration (external tool access)?
   - Full-featured platform (all component types)?

3. **Review installed plugins** at `~/.cursor/plugins/` for examples

### Phase 2: Create Structure

1. **Create directories**:
   ```bash
   mkdir -p my-plugin/.cursor-plugin
   mkdir -p my-plugin/rules my-plugin/skills my-plugin/commands
   ```

2. **Create the manifest** `.cursor-plugin/plugin.json`:
   ```json
   {
     "name": "my-plugin",
     "version": "1.0.0",
     "description": "What this plugin does",
     "author": { "name": "Your Name" }
   }
   ```

3. **Add components** (see `references/plugin-structure.md` for full layout)

### Phase 3: Develop

**Rules** (`.cursor/rules/*.mdc`) — unique to Cursor, read `references/cursor-rules-guide.md` first:
```yaml
---
description: When to apply this rule (used by AI for auto-discovery)
globs: ["**/*.ts", "**/*.tsx"]
alwaysApply: false
---
# Rule content here
```

**Skills** (`skills/skill-name/SKILL.md`):
```yaml
---
name: skill-name
description: What this skill does and when to invoke it
---
# Skill content
```

**MCP servers** (`.cursor/mcp.json` at plugin root):
```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "my-mcp-package"]
    }
  }
}
```

### Phase 4: Test Locally

1. **Link plugin** for live iteration:
   ```bash
   ln -s $(pwd)/my-plugin ~/.cursor/plugins/local/my-plugin
   ```

2. **Reload Cursor** via `Developer: Reload Window` in command palette

3. **Verify loading** — check that rules appear, skills are discoverable, MCP tools connect

4. **Test each component**:
   - Rules: open a file matching the glob, confirm AI applies guidance
   - Skills: invoke via `/skill-name` in agent chat
   - MCP: check tool availability in agent context

### Phase 5: Release

**Distribution options:**
- **Cursor Marketplace** — official, reviewed, open-source: [cursor.com/marketplace/publish](https://cursor.com/marketplace/publish)
- **cursor.directory** — community platform for plugins and MCP servers
- **Team Marketplace** — internal GitHub repo, configured in Cursor team settings
- **Direct GitHub** — users install manually via local symlink

**Version bump:** Update `version` in `.cursor-plugin/plugin.json`, tag the release.

## Critical Rules

### `.cursor-plugin/` Contains ONLY the Manifest

❌ WRONG:
```
.cursor-plugin/
├── plugin.json
└── skills/          ← skills here
```

✅ CORRECT:
```
.cursor-plugin/
└── plugin.json      ← manifest only
skills/              ← components at plugin root
```

### Rules Live in `rules/` at Plugin Root

Rules bundled with a plugin go in `rules/*.mdc` at the plugin root. They are installed into `.cursor/rules/` when the plugin is activated — users should NOT hand-edit the installed copies.

### Use `.mdc` Extension for Rules

Rules in `.cursor/rules/` **must** use the `.mdc` extension. Plain `.md` files in that directory are ignored by Cursor.


---
Source attribution: joeblackwaslike
Original project: https://github.com/joeblackwaslike/agent-skills/blob/5ee9024524879d0fa619846a5a1e092964561dcf/skills/developing-cursor-plugins/SKILL.md
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 Joe Black

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.



# Mega AI Hub resource metadata

Creator / publisher: joeblackwaslike
Original project: https://github.com/joeblackwaslike/agent-skills/blob/5ee9024524879d0fa619846a5a1e092964561dcf/skills/developing-cursor-plugins/SKILL.md
Attribution basis: Source repository record

Fields of work: Development & Engineering, Product Management
Roles: Backend Developer, DevOps / SRE, Frontend Developer, Full-Stack Developer, Product Manager
Specialties: Backend, Word Documents, Frontend, Git, Testing
Tools: Cursor
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: 3118f6d0280b7df98f263a14ca35956f45d29374f87f776f067b2724f2fd8a97