vfx-agent-toolkit: Instructions file for Claude Code

CLAUDE.md

Instructions for Claude Code sessions working inside this repo (contributors and maintainers). This is a public open-source repo published to github.com/sideshowroberto/vfx-agent-toolkit under the MIT license.

What this repo is

A Claude Code plugin marketplace plus MCP connector toolkit for VFX artists. Users add it with /plugin marketplace add sideshowroberto/vfx-agent-toolkit and install plugins from it. Everything in this repo ships to end users.

Repo layout

.claude-plugin\marketplace.json   Marketplace manifest - plugin list, versions
plugins\<plugin>\                 One directory per plugin
  .claude-plugin\plugin.json      Plugin manifest
  skills\<skill-name>\SKILL.md    Skills (markdown with YAML frontmatter)
  agents\<agent-name>.md          Agents (markdown with YAML frontmatter)
  install.ps1                     Optional setup script (vfx-core has one)
connectors\<app>\                 MCP bridge installers per application
  install.ps1 / register.ps1      Setup scripts
  bridge\                         Bundled bridge code (nuke, houdini, maya)
docs\                             GETTING-STARTED.md, ARCHITECTURE.md

Generated artifacts - do not hand-edit manifests

plugin.json and marketplace.json are GENERATED in the upstream development workspace and synced into this repo. If a skill or agent needs changing, edit the SKILL.md or agent markdown file. Do not hand-edit the manifests to add or remove plugins; manifest changes happen upstream and land here via sync. If a manifest looks wrong, flag it rather than patching it in place.

Rules for anything that ships

• ASCII only. No em dashes, curly quotes, arrows, box-drawing characters, or emoji in any file that ships (markdown, scripts, skill files). This repo is used on Windows where non-ASCII characters corrupt in some tools and terminals. Use -, -> spelled as text, and straight quotes.
• No secrets. Never commit API keys, tokens, credentials, or anything that looks like one. Setup scripts prompt for keys or read env vars.
• Generic examples only. No personal paths (C:\Users\<someone>), no studio or client names, no network drive paths. Use placeholders like C:\path\to\project or %USERPROFILE%.
• Windows-first scripts, portable content. Installers are PowerShell. Skills and agents must not assume any OS beyond what the target app requires. In script examples use python, not python3 (python3 does not exist on Windows).