mattermost/create-mattermost-plugin

Create Mattermost Plugin

Scaffold a new Mattermost plugin by cloning the starter template into the current directory and customizing it.

The plugin name is the current folder name (e.g. if pwd is /home/user/mattermost-plugin-foo, the plugin name is mattermost-plugin-foo). The Go module path is github.com/mattermost/<plugin-name>.

Step 1: Pre-flight

Check if pwd has files beyond dotfiles. If non-empty, warn the user with AskUserQuestion and let them choose to proceed or abort.

Step 2: Scaffold from the starter template

Prefer Option A so GitHub records the new repo as "Generated from mattermost/mattermost-plugin-starter-template" in its UI. Fall back to Option B when gh is unavailable or not authenticated.

Decide which path to take with:

if command -v gh >/dev/null 2>&1 && gh auth status >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  # Option A
else
  # Option B
fi

Option A — create remote repo from template via gh

1. Use AskUserQuestion to gather:

   • Owner: the GitHub owner for the new repo. Default to gh api user --jq .login; offer mattermost as an alternative for staff plugins.
   • Visibility: --public, --private, or --internal.

2. Create the remote repo from the template, then clone it into pwd via a tmpdir so the .git (with the new remote already wired up) is preserved:

   TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)
   trap 'rm -rf "$TMPDIR"' EXIT INT TERM
   gh repo create "$OWNER/$PLUGIN_NAME" \
     --template mattermost/mattermost-plugin-starter-template \
     "$VISIBILITY_FLAG"
   git clone "https://github.com/$OWNER/$PLUGIN_NAME.git" "$TMPDIR"
   if command -v rsync >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     rsync -a "$TMPDIR"/ ./
   else
     cp -R "$TMPDIR"/. ./
   fi
   

Option B — fallback when gh is unavailable

Plain shallow clone of the template, no remote:

TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)
trap 'rm -rf "$TMPDIR"' EXIT INT TERM
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-plugin-starter-template "$TMPDIR"
rm -rf "$TMPDIR/.git"
if command -v rsync >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  rsync -a "$TMPDIR"/ ./
else
  cp -R "$TMPDIR"/. ./
fi

Step 3: Customize (follow README "Getting Started" steps)

Derive values:

• PLUGIN_NAME = basename of pwd (e.g. mattermost-plugin-foo)
• MODULE_PATH = github.com/mattermost/$PLUGIN_NAME
• PLUGIN_ID = com.mattermost.$PLUGIN_NAME (dots replaced for the id portion after com.mattermost.)

1. Edit plugin.json: set id, name, description (use the plugin name as a sensible default for name/description, the user can refine later). Update homepage_url and support_url to point to https://$MODULE_PATH and https://$MODULE_PATH/issues.

2. Replace the old module path everywhere: Use Grep to find all files containing github.com/mattermost/mattermost-plugin-starter-template, then Edit each with replace_all to substitute the new MODULE_PATH.

Step 4: Git commit (and push if Option A)

• Option A path: .git is already present and tied to the new remote. Stage + commit, then push.
• Option B path (no remote):
  • If .git does not exist, run git init first.
  • If .git already existed before the skill ran (i.e. pwd was an existing repo), use AskUserQuestion to choose: reuse and commit, skip all git ops, or abort.

Commit:

git add -A
git commit -m "Initial plugin scaffold from mattermost-plugin-starter-template"

If Option A, push the initial commit to the new remote:

git push

Step 5: Verify the build

Run make to confirm the scaffolded plugin builds end-to-end. If it fails, surface the error and stop — do not proceed to the summary until the build is green. Analyze the problems shown during the build and address them.

Step 6: Summary

Print what was created and confirm that make completed successfully.