Validate

Overview

cursorist plugin validate checks that your plugin is correctly structured and ready to deploy. Run it before cursorist plugin deploy to catch errors early.

What Validate Checks

Check	Description
`Manifest exists`	`.cursor-plugin/plugin.json` is present
`Required fields`	`name`, `version`, and `description` are set
`Components array`	`components` is a non-empty array
`Asset files exist`	At least one file under `rules/`, `skills/`, `commands/`, `mcp/`, `agents/`, or `hooks/`

Usage

cursorist plugin validate [--dir <path>]

Option	Description
`--dir <path>`	Plugin root directory (default: current working directory)

Examples:

# Validate from current directory
cursorist plugin validate

# Validate from a specific path
cursorist plugin validate --dir ./my-plugin
cursorist plugin validate --dir /Users/me/projects/team-starter

Example Output

Valid Plugin

$ cursorist plugin validate

✓ Plugin validation successful

Manifest:
  Name: acme-engineering-starter
  Version: 0.1.0
  Components: rules, skills, commands, mcp

Assets:
  Total files: 5

Invalid Plugin

$ cursorist plugin validate

Validation failed: Missing plugin manifest at /path/to/project/.cursor-plugin/plugin.json

Common Validation Errors and Fixes

Missing plugin manifest

Error: Missing plugin manifest at .../.cursor-plugin/plugin.json

Fix: Create the manifest and directory structure:

mkdir -p .cursor-plugin

Then add:

{
  "name": "my-plugin",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "description": "Plugin description",
  "components": ["rules"]
}

Manifest requires name, version, and description

Error: Manifest requires name, version, and description

Fix: Ensure all three fields are present and non-empty in plugin.json:

{
  "name": "my-plugin",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "description": "A short description of the plugin",
  "components": ["rules"]
}

Manifest requires at least one component

Error: Manifest requires at least one component

Fix: Add at least one component to the components array:

{
  "name": "my-plugin",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "description": "Plugin description",
  "components": ["rules"]
}

Valid component values: rules, skills, commands, mcp, agents, hooks.

No plugin assets found

Error: No plugin assets found. Add files under rules/skills/commands/mcp/agents/hooks.

Fix: Add at least one file in a component directory. For example:

mkdir -p rules
echo "# Project Standards" > rules/project-standards.mdc

Or for skills:

mkdir -p skills/project-lead
echo "# Project Lead Skill" > skills/project-lead/SKILL.md

When to Run Validate

Before deploy — Catch structural issues before uploading
After editing — Confirm changes didn't break the manifest or references
In CI — Add cursorist plugin validate to your pipeline to gate deploys

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