Plugin Visual

Agent Extension Visual

Analyze agent extensions and generate self-contained HTML wiki reports (or inline markdown) with security audit and plugin profiles. Currently supports Claude Code plugins.

Instructions

Input Parsing

Determine the analysis target from the user's message:

1. Path contains / → local path (resolve relative to cwd)
2. Contains github.com or https:// → GitHub URL
3. Other text → installed plugin name (search ~/.claude/plugins/cache/)
4. Nothing specified → current directory (scan .claude/, CLAUDE.md, plugins/)

For GitHub URLs, support subpath patterns:

• github.com/owner/repo → clone entire repo
• github.com/owner/repo/tree/branch/plugins/foo → clone repo, analyze subpath only

Language Detection

Determine the output language:

1. Explicit language argument: --lang <code> (e.g., --lang ko, --lang fr, --lang zh) → use that language. Any language code is valid
2. User message text: Detect the language of the message (excluding URL/path) and match it
   • Examples: Korean text → Korean, Japanese text → Japanese, "en español" → Spanish, "auf Deutsch" → German
3. URL only with no other text: Use AskUserQuestion to ask the user's preferred language

Pass the detected language to sub-agents and use it for Phase 5 report assembly.

Analysis Mode Detection

Determine what to analyze:

Output Format Detection

Determine how to present the result (independent of analysis mode):

Channel, flags, and config follow ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/design-system/channel-decision.md — read it before writing. In short: for analyze+HTML, capable accounts publish to a claude.ai Artifact and --local (or "keep it local", "don't publish") forces the local wiki; every markdown report — analyze --format md, security, overview — stays local unless this turn asks to publish it. Config artifact applies to analyze+HTML only. Stored config: node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/config.js get --data-dir "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}".

Intent Check

Why: An analysis for potential users focuses on capabilities and compatibility; an analysis for security reviewers focuses on permissions and risk. The audience shapes emphasis across all report sections.

If the user's message already conveys clear intent (e.g., "security audit", "is this plugin safe", or a specific analysis mode keyword), skip this step.

If the request is ambiguous (e.g., just a plugin path with no other context), use AskUserQuestion to ask up to 2 questions:

1. Audience: Who will read this? (yourself, your team, plugin marketplace reviewers)
2. Focus: Any specific concern? (security, architecture, compatibility, general overview)

Defaults:

• Audience: the user themselves (evaluating the plugin)
• Focus: balanced full analysis

Pass audience and focus context to the analysis and report generation phases.

Workflow

Phase 1: Source Acquisition

• Local path: Verify directory exists, proceed directly
• Installed plugin: Search ~/.claude/plugins/cache/ for matching directory
• GitHub URL: Clone to /tmp/plugin-visual-{dirname}:
  1. Generate {dirname} — pick any 8-character hex string yourself (e.g., a1b2c3d4)
  2. Clone directly (no mkdir needed — git creates the target directory):

     Copy code
     Bash(gh repo clone {owner/repo} /tmp/plugin-visual-{dirname})
     

     This is the only Bash command needed for cloning. Do not add extra commands for saving state or generating random strings. For subpath URLs (github.com/owner/repo/tree/branch/plugins/foo):
  3. Extract owner/repo for cloning
  4. Extract the subpath after /tree/{branch}/ (e.g., plugins/foo)
  5. Clone the full repo, then set the analysis target to the subpath within the clone
• Current directory: Use cwd

If source cannot be found, inform user and stop.

Source context — save for later phases (source links in report):

When cloning a subpath URL (e.g., github.com/owner/repo/tree/main/plugins/foo), include the subpath in both source_base and github_url so that relative paths from the plugin root produce correct source links.

Phase 2: Discovery

Why: Accurate component inventory prevents analysis agents from missing or hallucinating plugin components.

Scan the target directory for all plugin components.

Step 1: Run 3 Glob calls in parallel (single message):

Step 2: If Glob results are sparse (< 5 files found), run additional Glob calls (never Bash):

Copy code
Glob("*", path: {target-directory})
Glob("**/*", path: {target-directory})

Then run targeted Glob on discovered directories (e.g., skills/**/*, agents/**/*, commands/**/*).

Step 3: Classify results into component types:

Build a component inventory with counts and file lists.

Step 4: Determine platform from Glob results (no additional Glob calls needed).

Check the file list from Step 1 for platform-unique signals:

If no known platform is detected, ask the user: "Could not detect the agent platform. Currently supported: Claude Code. Is this a Claude Code plugin?"

If Codex is detected, inform the user that Codex analysis is not yet supported.

Set {platform} variable for subsequent phases. Currently only claude-code is implemented.

Phase 3: Metadata Collection

Why: Reading identity files here avoids duplicate reads inside sub-agents, saving tokens.

Read identity files in a single message with parallel Read calls:

• plugin.json (or .claude-plugin/plugin.json — whichever Phase 2 found)
• hooks/hooks.json (only if found in Phase 2)

Existence of LICENSE, CHANGELOG.md, tests/ is already known from Phase 2.

Do NOT read README.md, SKILL.md, agent.md, command.md, or hook script files. Sub-agents read these files directly — the feature-architect reads README.md in its own analysis procedure. Reading them here wastes tokens through duplication.

Output for Phase 4: plugin identity + file path inventory + existence flags + language.

Phase 4: Parallel Analysis

Why: Feature and security analysis are independent concerns — parallel execution halves wall-clock time.

For overview mode, skip this phase — go directly to Phase 5.

For analyze and security modes, delegate to agents in parallel.

Agent prompt: Provide each agent with:

• Plugin identity (name, version, author, description — from plugin.json)
• Target directory path
• Component file paths grouped by type (from Phase 2 Glob)
• Output language
• Analysis mode
• Source context: source_type, source_base, github_url (if applicable) — so feature-architect can include relative paths that the orchestrator will later combine with source_base for links

For analyze mode with large plugins (total components > 15) — split feature-architect into batches.

Count total = skills + agents + commands. Split each type in half:

Copy code
S = number of skills, A = number of agents, C = number of commands

Task(subagent_type: "vision-powers:feature-architect", prompt: {
  skills 1..ceil(S/2) + agents 1..ceil(A/2) + commands 1..ceil(C/2)
})
Task(subagent_type: "vision-powers:feature-architect", prompt: {
  skills ceil(S/2)+1..S + agents ceil(A/2)+1..A + commands ceil(C/2)+1..C + MCP + LSP
})
Task(subagent_type: "vision-powers:security-auditor", prompt: {all file paths})

MCP, LSP, hooks, and rules are lightweight — keep them in Batch 2 only. All three tasks run in parallel. Merge feature-architect batch results before Phase 5.

For analyze mode with standard plugins (total components <= 15):

Copy code
Task(subagent_type: "vision-powers:feature-architect", prompt: {all file paths})
Task(subagent_type: "vision-powers:security-auditor", prompt: {all file paths})

For security mode — launch only security-auditor:

Copy code
Task(subagent_type: "vision-powers:security-auditor", prompt: {all file paths})

Phase 4.5: Environment Fit Diagnosis (analyze mode only)

Why: Even a well-built plugin can be wrong for the user's environment. This step catches conflicts, redundancies, and budget overruns before they cause confusion.

Diagnose whether this plugin is a good fit for the user's current environment — not just "can it run?" but "should it be installed here?"

Full procedure: Read ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/plugin-visual/references/platforms/claude-code/env-fit-diagnosis.md for the detailed 5-step process covering:

1. Extract plugin characteristics from feature-architect output (including rules, CLAUDE.md @imports, bundle source)
2. Run the environment scan script (env-fit-scan.js) — collects installed plugins, skills, commands, hooks, MCP servers, context metrics, and the status of each external requirement
3. Perform eight diagnostic analyses:
   • Via script data (steps 3A-3E, 3H): installation status, dependency check, context budget, functional overlap, hook impact, component dependencies
   • Via orchestrator (steps 3C extras, 3F, 3G): rules context cost (from feature-architect's rules analysis), CLAUDE.md @import chain, scope impact analysis, bundle source detection (from Phase 1 source context and plugin cache inspection)
4. Determine overall verdict (RECOMMENDED / CONDITIONAL / REDUNDANT / CONFLICTING)
5. Build diagnosis data structure for Phase 5/5R (includes scope_impact, bundle_source, and enhanced context_budget with always-loaded/deferred breakdown)

The environment scan script provides baseline data:

Copy code
Bash(node {plugin-root}/scripts/env-fit-scan.js --plugin-name {plugin-name} [--requirement <type>:<name> ...])

The orchestrator then supplements with:

• Rules context cost: Count rules from feature-architect output, classify as always-loaded (no paths:) or on-demand (paths: present), estimate tokens as file_size / 4
• Scope impact: All marketplace plugins install globally; check for framework-specific hooks/MCP that may warrant per-project activation
• Bundle source: Determine from Phase 1 source_type (local/github) or plugin cache path patterns (marketplace/symlink)

Save the combined environment_fit data for Phase 5/5R. Omit empty categories.

Phase 5: Report Assembly (inline markdown)

For security mode, overview mode, or analyze mode with --format md — assemble inline markdown report:

Assemble the report using ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/plugin-visual/references/platforms/claude-code/report-template.md format. This template is an information-structure schema — which sections appear and what data each one carries — not an aesthetic template; it governs the inline-markdown report only and says nothing about visual design. (The HTML mode in Phase 5R is templateless by contrast: you author its design from scratch.)

• overview mode: Identity + Component Inventory sections only
• security mode: Security-focused report with risk summary, permission matrix, findings
• analyze mode (--format md): Full report with analysis, Environment Fit Diagnosis, Skill Design Quality, and Plugin Profile

For Plugin Profile and Skill Design Quality, apply criteria from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/plugin-visual/references/platforms/claude-code/analysis-criteria.md. For risk levels, apply rules from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/plugin-visual/references/platforms/claude-code/security-rules.md. Environment Fit Diagnosis is a standalone section between Feature Deep Dive and Usage (not part of Plugin Profile). Include the full diagnosis from Phase 4.5: verdict, context budget (200K/1M scenarios), installation status, dependency check, overlap/trigger findings, hook impact, component dependencies, and recommendations. Skill Design Quality includes: skill category distribution, per-skill design assessment (description quality, progressive disclosure, gotchas, scripts, hooks, data persistence, maturity level), and improvement recommendations. This data comes from the feature-architect's Skill Design Quality output.

Output the report in the detected language, using ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/plugin-visual/references/platforms/claude-code/report-template.md format. Translate all section headers, labels, and descriptions to the target language. Keep component names, file paths, and technical terms (CRITICAL, HIGH, MEDIUM, LOW) untranslated.

Before delivering, give the assembled markdown a quick pass (a guideline, not a script). The md path has no artifact-gate — artifact-gate.js is HTML-only — so this hand-check is what catches the scaffolding the gate would otherwise flag: no leftover {placeholder} / {{ }} / [STUB] tokens copied from the template schema, and every link resolves — source links use the full github_url/file:// base from the source context, not a bare relative path that breaks once the report leaves this directory. Fix any you find, then deliver.

Output the report directly to the user (inline markdown), and save the same content to ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/reports/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{plugin-name}-report.md (append -security / -overview to the basename for those modes, so they never collide with an analyze report from the same day) — the chat text is the delivery, the file is the record that lets report-manager list and refine this report later.

Phase 5 — Artifact channel (on request). Only when this turn asks to publish the markdown report — follow "Markdown on request" in channel-decision.md: save to the path above with .md replaced by .artifact.md, publish without asking, then record the sidecar (Phase 5R "Publish").

HTML routing. analyze+HTML goes to "Phase 5R — Artifact channel" by default, and to the local wiki below for --local or a failed publish. Local path, installed name, and GitHub URL all resolve to the same target in Phase 1, so the input form never changes routing.

Phase 5R: HTML report — local design-system channel (--local / non-capable fallback)

Entered for --local, or as the non-capable fallback after a failed publish. Write a self-contained HTML file yourself — <!DOCTYPE html> to </html>. No visual template, no intermediate JSON, no agent chains: the design is yours to author from scratch. (The md mode's report-template.md is an information-structure schema for the inline-markdown path, not a visual template — it doesn't apply here.)

1. Determine output path:

Default output path: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/reports/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{plugin-name}-report.html

Where:

• {YYYY-MM-DD} is today's date
• {plugin-name} is from plugin.json name field (or directory name if no plugin.json)

Existing report check: Before generating, use Glob to search for *-{plugin-name}-report.html in ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/reports/. If any exist, use AskUserQuestion to let the user choose between creating new or updating existing.

2. Write the HTML report:

Include all analysis data from Phase 4 (feature-architect + security-auditor) and Phase 4.5 (environment fit diagnosis). The report should contain these sections (adapt based on analysis results):

Skip sections with no data (e.g., no security findings → slim security section).

Diagrams: Mermaid (mermaid-patterns.md). Architecture diagrams with 15+ components → show 3-5 representatives per layer with total counts, or split into an overview plus per-layer diagrams, so each stays within the density budget. Status indicators: coloured dots via CSS, no emoji. The rest of the local rules (CSS, gate, self-audit) are in channel-decision.md "Local channel".

Source links: When source_type is github, make file paths clickable with {github_url}/{relative-path} links. For local sources, use file:// URLs.

Content integrity: All analysis data from sub-agents must survive intact in the report — specific numbers, finding details, risk levels, recommendations. If you're writing "the security audit found issues" instead of listing the actual findings — that's compression.

This cardinal rule is summary-leak, one of the reflexes in ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/design-system/anti-slop-tells.md that pass every gate and still flatten the output — read it while shaping the report (e.g. a forced flowchart on a flat permission list, or security, architecture, and dependency map all at the same weight).

3. Validate: node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/artifact-gate.js <output-path> — fix and re-run, max 2 retries.

4. Visual self-audit: node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/render-report.js <output-path> --data-dir "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}", then read the PNG (procedure: visual-self-audit.md). Look for:

• Density — is any section a uniform grey wall, or is the architecture/dependency diagram past its budget and unreadable?
• Hierarchy — do the security, architecture, and component-map sections all have the same weight?
• Mermaid integrity — did the component map or security diagram render as raw <pre> text or as crossing/overlapping edges?
• Overflow — does a diagram, permission matrix, or label run past its container or off the page?

5. Open and present: Run open <output-path>. Tell the user the report is ready and ask if they want changes.

Phase 5R — Artifact channel (default on a capable account)

Same sections and content decisions as the local wiki; the channel rules are in channel-decision.md "Artifact channel". The Architecture, Feature Deep Dive, and Environment Fit diagrams become inline SVG or HTML+CSS. Source links (github_url or file://) stay as plain <a href>.

Watch density here. This report packs more sections than doc-visual or diff-visual — permission matrix, component map, feature deep dive, environment fit — into the same width. A wide permission table or a 15+-component architecture diagram is the most likely place the page overflows or wraps badly.

Save to ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/reports/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{plugin-name}-report.artifact.html.

Publish:

1. node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/artifact-gate.js <output-path> --content-only — fix and re-run, max 2 retries.
2. Publish the file with the Artifact tool, description = one sentence on the plugin and what the report covers.
3. node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/write-artifact-sidecar.js --report <output-path> --url <artifact-url> --title <title>
4. Reply with the URL and the publish notice (channel-decision.md "Artifact channel").

Publish unavailable or failed: regenerate as the local wiki (Phase 5R local, its own path), don't open the Artifact file. A markdown report goes to the response body instead. Say so in one line, don't ask.

Continue to Phase 7 (cleanup) as normal once publish (or fallback) completes.

Phase 7: Cleanup

Clean up temporary files:

Copy code
Bash(rm -rf /tmp/plugin-visual-{dirname}-sections)

If the source was also cloned from GitHub:

Copy code
Bash(rm -rf /tmp/plugin-visual-{dirname})

After cleanup, suggest optional next steps:

• /fact-check — verify the report's factual accuracy against the actual codebase
• /report-manager refine — refine specific sections

This is informational — just a brief suggestion, not an automatic invocation.

Gotchas

• GitHub URL analysis requires gh CLI: gh repo clone is used for source acquisition from GitHub URLs. If gh is not installed or not authenticated, GitHub URL analysis will fail. Local path and installed plugin analysis work without gh.
• GitHub rate limiting: gh repo clone and gh api calls can fail silently with HTTP 403 when the user's token is rate-limited. If clone fails, check gh auth status before retrying.
• Plugin cache has multiple versions: ~/.claude/plugins/cache/ stores every installed version (e.g., 2.6.0/, 2.7.1/). Phase 4.5 uses the session context directly (not cache scanning), but if you ever need to inspect the cache manually, always pick the latest version per plugin to avoid counting stale entries.
• Large plugin batching threshold: The 15-component threshold for splitting feature-architect is approximate. Plugins with many small commands but few skills may not need splitting, while plugins with 10 dense skills might. Use judgment — the goal is keeping each agent under context limits.
• Existing report overwrite prompt: The "create new or update" prompt uses AskUserQuestion. If the user is running non-interactively or in a pipeline, this blocks. Default to "create new" if no user response is available.
• Temp directory collision: The 8-char hex {dirname} has a negligible collision risk, but if a previous run crashed without cleanup, /tmp/plugin-visual-* directories may linger. The cleanup phase handles the current run only — it does not garbage-collect stale dirs.
• Skill category misclassification: Skills that span multiple categories (e.g., a deploy skill with review features) should be classified by primary purpose — what the user invokes it for. Don't try to assign multiple categories; pick the best fit and note the overlap in the description.
• Design quality false negatives: A skill with no scripts/ directory isn't necessarily "Basic" — some skills genuinely don't need scripts (pure knowledge/reference skills). Apply the N/A classification for criteria that don't apply to the skill type.
• Plugin agent ignored frontmatter fields: permissionMode, hooks, mcpServers are silently ignored on plugin agents. The fields effort, model, tools, disallowedTools, maxTurns, skills, memory, background, isolation work normally. Analysis agents use effort: high and inherit the session model.
• Agent effort field: The effort field (low/medium/high/max) is distinct from the model field. A Haiku agent with effort: max is different from an Opus agent with default effort. Report both when present.
• Instruction layer analysis false positives: Step 10 of the security-auditor analyzes SKILL.md body text for adversarial patterns (env var exfiltration, obfuscation, undeclared URLs). Setup/config skills that reference env var names as documentation, API skills with endpoint URLs, and encoding skills with base64 examples will trigger pattern matches. Context Modifiers handle common cases, but review flagged findings carefully — a MEDIUM on a config skill's env var reference is usually informational, not a real threat.
• Mermaid node labels with special chars: Node labels containing :, /, <, > must be double-quoted in Mermaid code (C1["gsd:new-project"] not C1[gsd:new-project]). Unquoted special chars cause Mermaid parsing errors.
• Command-based plugins and empty Skill Design Quality: Plugins built on commands/ instead of skills/ will have empty skill_design_quality data. Adapt analysis for command-based plugins rather than leaving sections empty.
• Discovery phase must use Glob only, never Bash: Phase 2 file discovery must use Glob calls exclusively. Bash calls like ls or find are not in allowed-tools and trigger a user permission prompt that blocks execution (observed: 185s wait). All file listing needs are covered by Glob patterns — there is no case where Bash is needed for discovery.
• Rules with paths: frontmatter are deferred: Rules that have a paths: field in frontmatter are NOT always-loaded — they only activate when matching file paths are in context. Treat them as zero always-on cost in context budget analysis. Rules WITHOUT paths: load their full content at session start.
• Plugin settings.json only supports agent field: A plugin's settings.json at the root level only supports the agent field for setting a default agent. It does NOT support permissions, hooks, or other settings — these are silently ignored. Don't report unsupported settings as features.
• Bundle source detection is best-effort: ~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json has no entry for a plugin loaded with --plugin-dir, and cache path patterns can vary. Always fall back to plugin.json repository field or mark as unknown. Don't report missing provenance as a security issue.
• Scope impact for marketplace plugins: All marketplace-installed plugins operate at the global scope. Their hooks fire for every project. If the plugin is highly framework-specific (e.g., React, Django), note this as a scope appropriateness concern — the user may want to conditionally disable it for non-matching projects.
• Context budget empirical grounding: Context budget recommendations reference empirical estimates of ~20% structural waste in production sessions (unused tools, duplicates, stale results). Use this as motivation for context-aware recommendations, but note it's a general finding — individual plugin impact varies.

Reference Files

Read these during report generation (not upfront — read the relevant one when you need it):