building-plugins SKILL.md skillA

building-plugins from protolabsai/protoagent is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.

Install it, pinned
mdr add protolabsai/protoagent/building-plugins@git:20260820.e235475

Pins git:20260820.e235475 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade
A, 17 of 17 checks passed
Kind
SKILL.md skill
Repository
protolabsai/protoagent
Path
plugins/plugin-devkit/skills/building-plugins/SKILL.md
Versions recorded
5
Latest version
git:20260820.e235475, committed Aug 20, 2026
First version recorded
Aug 7, 2026
Size
19,076 bytes
Repository stars
17
License
MIT

Use this when asked to build, create, write, scaffold, or publish a protoAgent plugin — e.g. "make a plugin that …", "add a plugin for X", "package this as a plugin", "write a plugin that adds a tool/dashboard/workflow", "publish a plugin so others can install it". Covers the plugin contract (manifest + register()), the full contribution surface (tools, subagents, SKILL.md skills, workflows, console views, routes, MCP servers, config/secrets/settings), the conventional repo layout, testing…

Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.

What the file says

# Building a protoAgent plugin

A plugin is a self-contained directory (optionally its own git repo) that extends
a running agent **without forking** core. Authoritative refs: ADR 0018 (surfaces),
0019 (config/secrets/settings), 0026 (console views), 0027 (distribution), 0045
(chat slot); guides `plugins`, `building-react-plugin-views`, `plugin-registry`.
The shipped `plugins/hello/` is the worked backend example — read it first. For a
**console view**, copy `examples/plugins/chat_example` — the gold-standard view
(the four rules + the init/theme handshake + slug-aware routing + the DS kit).

## Scale to the ask
A one-tool plugin is ~15 lines (manifest + `register()`). A "full bundle"
(tools + subagents + skills + workflows + a console view + config) is a directory
of conventional subdirs. Build the smallest thing that satisfies the ask; don't
scaffold a dashboard for a single tool.

## 1. Decide what it contributes
Map the ask to the contribution surface:
- **tool / subagent / route / MCP server** → code, via `register(registry)`.
- **SKILL.md skills** / **`*.yaml` workflows** → data, auto-discovered from
  conventional `skills/` and `workflows/` subdirs (no code).
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

The exact contents, by fingerprint
mdr add protolabsai/protoagent/building-plugins@sha256:f79933a461b07026

The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260820.e235475, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.

Badge

mdr badge

[![mdr](https://markdownregistry.com/badge/art_5pqa7nrl5uuopprc.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_5pqa7nrl5uuopprc)

3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.

Versions

The registry has recorded 5 versions of this file, between Aug 7, 2026 and Aug 20, 2026, about one every 3 days.

versioncommittedcommitsizeaudit
git:20260820.e235475 latest2026-08-20 e235475 19,076 BA view · diff
git:20260814.c15c7cf2026-08-14 c15c7cf 19,072 BA view · diff
git:20260807.eac35af2026-08-07 eac35af 18,865 BA view · diff
git:20260807.1c934a42026-08-07 1c934a4 18,609 BA view · diff
git:20260807.1518a662026-08-07 1518a66 17,827 BA view

Audit of the latest version

A  17 of 17 checks passed. Fixed automatic checks with no AI involved, so the same checks give the same answer every run.
  • pass: Frontmatter block present
  • pass: Frontmatter declares a name
  • pass: Frontmatter declares a description
  • pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (19076 bytes)
  • pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
  • pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
  • pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
  • pass: No credential-shaped string
  • pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
  • pass: No text hidden with inline styles
  • pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
  • pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
  • pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
  • pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
  • pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
  • pass: No link to a raw IP address
  • pass: No script tag

Source

GitHub

protolabsai/protoagent · 17 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-01 · branch main

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_5pqa7nrl5uuopprc
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=protolabsai/protoagent/building-plugins
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/f79933a461b07026da6cb3afd2f30e6663790b082e4a61787ba34e57963774b5

Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.

Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.

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Every file in protolabsai/protoagent

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