Plugin skills not loaded in Claude Code when installed via marketplace: Missing skills/ directory structure

[MiQ42]

Problem

Skills from this repository installed via the official Claude Code marketplace feature are not loaded by Claude Code, resulting in progressive disclosure not working.

Installation Method

Installed using: Official Claude Code marketplace functionality ()
NOT: Manual git clone

The marketplace correctly installs the plugin to:
~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/anthropic-agent-skills/

And shows in settings:

"enabledPlugins": {
  "document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills": true,
  "example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills": true
}

Environment

• Claude Code Version: Latest (2025-10-27)
• OS: macOS Darwin 24.6.0
• Installation: Via /plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills

Debug Evidence

From ~/.claude/debug/latest:

[DEBUG] Loading plugin document-skills from source: "./"
[DEBUG] Loading plugin example-skills from source: "./"
[DEBUG] Loaded 2 skills total (managed: 0, user: 2, project: 0)
[DEBUG] Total plugin skills loaded: 0    ← ❌ Problem!

User skills (manually placed in ~/.claude/skills/) work fine: 2 loaded
Plugin skills: 0 loaded

Root Cause

According to the Claude Code Plugin documentation, plugins must have this structure:

my-plugin/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json
├── skills/                   ← ⚠️ REQUIRED
│   ├── skill-1/
│   │   └── SKILL.md
│   └── skill-2/
│       └── SKILL.md

However, this repository (when installed via marketplace) has:

anthropic-agent-skills/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── marketplace.json
├── mcp-builder/             ← ❌ Directly in root!
│   └── SKILL.md
├── document-skills/
│   ├── xlsx/
│   │   └── SKILL.md
├── skill-creator/
│   └── SKILL.md

The marketplace.json references skills with paths like:

"skills": [
  "./mcp-builder",
  "./skill-creator",
  "./document-skills/xlsx"
]

But Claude Code expects them under a skills/ subdirectory to be loaded.

Impact

• ❌ Progressive disclosure does not work - Skills are not automatically loaded into Claude's context
• ❌ All marketplace skills affected - mcp-builder, skill-creator, document-skills (xlsx, docx, pptx, pdf), canvas-design, algorithmic-art, webapp-testing, artifacts-builder, slack-gif-creator, theme-factory, brand-guidelines
• ❌ Manual workaround required - Users must manually copy skills to ~/.claude/skills/
• ❌ Inconsistent with documentation - Official Anthropic repository doesn't follow official plugin structure documentation

Expected Behavior

When plugins are enabled via marketplace installation:

1. Skills should be automatically discovered
2. Progressive disclosure should work (Skills loaded automatically based on semantic relevance)
3. Debug log should show: Total plugin skills loaded: 10+

Proposed Solutions

1. Restructure repository - Add a skills/ directory and move all skills into it
2. Update Claude Code - Support marketplace-specific flat structure (if intentional)
3. Update documentation - Clarify that marketplace structure differs from standard plugin structure

Workaround

Manually copy skills to user directory:

cp -r ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/anthropic-agent-skills/mcp-builder ~/.claude/skills/
cp -r ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/anthropic-agent-skills/skill-creator ~/.claude/skills/
cp -r ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/anthropic-agent-skills/document-skills ~/.claude/skills/
# etc.

After copying, Claude Code correctly loads them:

[DEBUG] Loaded 5 skills total (managed: 0, user: 5, project: 0)

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This is a critical issue as it prevents the core functionality (progressive disclosure) of Skills from working for users who install via the official marketplace method.