04 — Package, install, and verify

Goal and starting workspace

• Begin in author, after 03; finish with a clean sibling consumer using an installed package.
• Packaging and installation are learner activities. This release preparation does not install anything into a client.

Build it yourself

1. Author toolkit/plugin.json: Agent Plugins 1.0 schema, name user-search-toolkit, version 1.0.0, description.
2. Write toolkit/catalog.md: purpose, learner-maintained owner role (no invented repository owner), compatibility, source, version, permissions, rollback.
3. Run npm run toolkit:build. Inspect exact skill-only files, manifest, and provenance.
4. Run npm run consumer:create -- --destination ../workshop-consumer.
5. Open consumer, run npm ci and baseline. Confirm .github/skills is absent and client has no duplicate lab registration.
6. Explicitly install/register the author-built package using your route below; invoke planning in consumer.

Inspect the example

• Browse examples branch.
• Only metadata/catalog; use the explicit 03 prerequisite if needed. Never distribute an opaque prebuilt archive.

Bring in this step

# AUTHOR only
npm run lab:example -- --step 04-plugin --preview
npm run lab:example -- --step 04-plugin --stage
npm run lab:example -- --step 04-plugin --apply
npm run toolkit:build

If you already changed these files

• Stage and merge metadata/catalog yourself. Do not replace learner skill content.
• Existing package version with different bytes is refused; bump version rather than overwrite. Existing consumer path is refused; choose a new sibling.
• Safe imports · Complete installation/update/rollback procedure.

Client steps

VS Code

• Open consumer in a separate window; merge one absolute author-package path under workspace chat.pluginLocations, value true.
• Reload consumer, inspect plugin and skill source/version, then invoke planning through the packaged skill.
• Do not register the canonical source and package simultaneously. See the exact settings shape in plugin procedure.

Copilot CLI

• In consumer, inspect copilot plugin list --json, then explicitly run copilot plugin install "/ABSOLUTE/AUTHOR/toolkit/dist/user-search-toolkit-1.0.0".
• Inspect list JSON again; /skills reload and /skills info; retain installed source/version and planning invocation.
• This registration may affect your user profile. Installation needs your approval; preparation has not performed it.

Copilot app

• CLI-assisted bridge, unverified: perform the CLI install, then open the consumer project/session and inspect Customize Plugins/Skills.
• If actual app discovery shows this package, record version/source and invoke. Otherwise continue with CLI/VS Code or label walkthrough-only.
• Never call this app-native local installation or simulate it by copying .github/skills.

Verify the result

• Author: npm run verify:exercise -- --step 04-plugin; npm run toolkit:build repeated unchanged.
• Consumer: npm run verify:baseline; local skill absent, one package registration, actual source/version and invocation observed.
• Recovery/cleanup: remove/disable only the lab package registration, preserve all unrelated settings. No broad cache/profile cleanup.
• Next: 05 — MCP and update.