Package Manifest

3. Package Manifest — `package.agent.json`¶

The manifest is the single required file. It identifies the package and declares its contents.

Schema¶

{
  // === REQUIRED ===
  "name": "my-package",                        // [a-z0-9-] or @scope/name, max 64/130 chars
  "version": "1.0.0",                          // SemVer

  // === RECOMMENDED ===
  "description": "Brief description",          // Max 1024 chars
  "author": "org-or-user",
  "license": "Apache-2.0",
  "repository": "https://github.com/org/repo",
  "homepage": "https://docs.example.com",      // Project homepage or docs URL

  // === OPTIONAL ===
  "category": "Developer Tools",               // Marketplace category
  "keywords": ["testing", "python"],            // Discovery tags
  "engines": {                                  // Platform compatibility
    "claude-code": ">=1.0",
    "cursor": ">=2.2",
    "copilot": "*",
    "codex": "*"
  },

  // === ARTIFACT DECLARATIONS (optional, explicit registry; auto-discovered if omitted) ===
  // Declaring artifacts explicitly enables richer registry metadata and description per artifact.
  "artifacts": {
    "skills": [
      { "name": "pdf-tools", "path": "skills/pdf-tools/", "description": "Extract text from PDFs" },
      { "name": "ocr-reader", "path": "skills/ocr-reader/", "description": "OCR support for scanned documents" }
    ],
    "agents": [
      { "name": "code-auditor", "path": "agents/code-auditor/", "description": "Security audit agent" },
      { "name": "github-reviewer", "path": "agents/github-reviewer/", "description": "Review pull requests on GitHub" }
    ],
    "commands": [
      { "name": "review", "path": "commands/review.md", "description": "Code review command" },
      { "name": "audit-finding", "path": "commands/audit-finding.md", "description": "Finding template" }
    ]
  },

  // === PACKAGE CONTENT SELECTION (optional) ===
  // Restricts which files are included in the published .aam archive. See §12.1.
  "files": [
    "skills/**",
    "commands/**",
    "agents/**",
    "README.md",
    "LICENSE"
  ],

  // === DEPENDENCIES (optional) ===
  "dependencies": {                             // Other agent packages required
    "code-review": "^1.0.0",                   //   SemVer range
    "testing-utils": ">=2.1.0 <3.0.0"
  },
  "optionalDependencies": {                     // Nice-to-have, install doesn't fail
    "ai-image-gen": "^1.0.0"
  },
  "peerDependencies": {                         // Must be provided by host environment
    "eslint-rules": ">=3.0.0"
  },
  "dependencyGroups": {                         // Non-runtime, opt-in dependency sets
    "dev": {
      "description": "Local authoring and CI tooling",
      "dependencies": {
        "test-harness": "^2.0.0",
        "lint-utils": "^1.4.0"
      },
      "systemDependencies": {
        "packages": {
          "npm": ["markdownlint-cli@^0.41"]
        }
      }
    },
    "docs": {
      "dependencies": {
        "site-preview": "^1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "extras": {                                   // Public feature bundles selected by consumers
    "ocr": {
      "description": "OCR support for scanned PDFs",
      "dependencies": {
        "image-tools": "^2.0.0"
      },
      "systemDependencies": {
        "packages": {
          "apt": ["tesseract-ocr"]
        }
      },
      "artifacts": {
        "skills": ["ocr-reader"]
      },
      "permissions": {
        "shell": {
          "allow": true,
          "binaries": ["tesseract"]
        }
      }
    },
    "github": {
      "dependencies": {
        "gh-integration": "^1.5.0"
      },
      "artifacts": {
        "agents": ["github-reviewer"]
      },
      "permissions": {
        "network": {
          "hosts": ["api.github.com"],
          "schemes": ["https"]
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "systemDependencies": {                       // OS-level / runtime requirements
    "python": ">=3.10",
    "node": ">=18",
    "packages": {                               //   Package manager installs
      "pip": ["pypdf", "pdfplumber>=0.10"],
      "npm": ["prettier", "eslint"],
      "brew": ["graphviz"],
      "apt": ["poppler-utils"]
    },
    "binaries": ["git", "docker"],              //   Must exist on $PATH
    "mcp-servers": ["filesystem"]              //   Required MCP servers
  },

  // === ENVIRONMENT & SECRETS (optional) ===
  "env": {                                      // Required environment variables
    "GITHUB_TOKEN": { "description": "Required for PR creation", "required": true },
    "DEBUG_MODE": { "description": "Enable verbose logging", "required": false, "default": "false" }
  },

  // === PERMISSIONS (optional) ===
  "permissions": {                              // Requested agent capabilities
    "fs": {                                     // Filesystem access — path-scoped
      "read":  ["src/**", "docs/**"],           //   Glob patterns the package may read
      "write": ["output/**", ".cache/**"]       //   Glob patterns the package may write/delete
    },
    "network": {                                // Network access
      "hosts": ["api.github.com", "*.npmjs.org"], // Exact host or wildcard subdomain
      "schemes": ["https"]                      // Allowed URI schemes (https | http | wss)
    },
    "shell": {                                  // Shell execution
      "allow": true,                            //   false = no shell; true = allow listed binaries
      "binaries": ["git", "npm", "python3"]     //   Explicit allow-list (ignored when allow=false)
    }
  },

  // === QUALITY (optional) ===
  "quality": {
    "tests": [
      { "name": "unit-tests", "command": "pytest tests/", "description": "Unit tests" }
    ],
    "evals": [
      {
        "name": "accuracy-eval",
        "path": "evals/cases/accuracy-eval.yaml",
        "description": "Measures accuracy against benchmark",
        "metrics": [
          { "name": "accuracy", "type": "percentage" }
        ]
      }
    ]
  },

  // === COMPONENT OVERRIDES (optional, defaults use convention) ===
  "skills": "./skills",                         // Default: ./skills
  "commands": "./commands",                     // Default: ./commands
  "agents": "./agents",                         // Default: ./agents
  "rules": "./rules",                           // Default: ./rules
  "hooks": "./hooks/hooks.json",                // Default: ./hooks/hooks.json
  "mcp": "./mcp/servers.json",                  // Default: ./mcp/servers.json

  // === DIST-TAGS (optional) ===
  // Publisher-managed version aliases. See §12.3 for full semantics.
  "dist-tags": {
    "stable": "1.0.0",                          // Manually maintained alias
    "latest": "1.0.0"                           // Auto-set on publish
  },

  // === DEPENDENCY OVERRIDES (optional) ===
  // Force a specific resolved version for a transitive dependency. See §13.9.
  "resolutions": {
    "git-utils": "2.1.0"                        // Force all transitive refs to this version
  },

  // === INSTALL MODE (optional, for adoption transitioning) ===
  // Controls deployment target when installing on platforms with partial UAAPS support.
  // See §11.1 for full semantics and deprecation path.
  "installMode": {                              // Default: "uaaps" for all platforms
    "default": "uaaps",                         // "uaaps" | "plugin"
    "claude-code": "plugin",                    // Per-platform override
    "cursor": "uaaps"
  },

  // === VENDOR EXTENSIONS (optional) ===
  // Keys MUST be "x-<vendor-id>" where vendor-id matches [a-z0-9-], max 32 chars.
  // Values MUST be JSON objects (not scalars or arrays).
  // Tools MUST silently ignore unrecognised x-* keys.
  "x-claude": {
    "marketplace": "anthropics/skills"
  },
  "x-cursor": {
    "category": "Developer Tools"
  }
}

Format Support¶

The canonical format is JSON (package.agent.json), but tools SHOULD also accept YAML (package.agent.yaml) for author convenience:

# package.agent.yaml (equivalent to JSON, author-friendly)
name: my-package           # or @scope/my-package for scoped
version: 1.0.0
description: Brief description
author: org-or-user
license: Apache-2.0
homepage: https://docs.example.com

skills: ./skills
commands: ./commands
agents: ./agents
files:
  - skills/**
  - commands/**
  - README.md

dependencies:
  code-review: "^1.0.0"

dependencyGroups:
  dev:
    description: Local authoring and CI tooling
    dependencies:
      test-harness: "^2.0.0"
  docs:
    dependencies:
      site-preview: "^1.2.0"

extras:
  ocr:
    description: OCR support for scanned PDFs
    dependencies:
      image-tools: "^2.0.0"
    artifacts:
      skills: [ocr-reader]
  github:
    dependencies:
      gh-integration: "^1.5.0"
    permissions:
      network:
        hosts: [api.github.com]
        schemes: [https]

x-claude:
  marketplace: anthropics/skills   # x-<vendor-id>, value MUST be an object

x-cursor:
  category: Developer Tools

Rules: - If both .json and .yaml exist, JSON takes precedence. - CLI tools (aam install, etc.) generate package.agent.json as the canonical output. - Lock files (package.agent.lock) are always JSON.

YAML round-trip guarantee: To ensure lossless JSON-to-YAML conversion, package.agent.yaml files MUST conform to the following constraints:

Constraint	Requirement
YAML version	MUST use YAML 1.2
Scalar types	MUST use only JSON-compatible types: strings, numbers, booleans, null
Anchors & aliases	MUST NOT use YAML anchors (`&`), aliases (`*`), or merge keys (`<<`)
Custom tags	MUST NOT use YAML tags (e.g. `!!python/object`)
Key types	All mapping keys MUST be strings
Duplicate keys	MUST NOT contain duplicate keys in the same mapping

Tools that convert between JSON and YAML MUST produce output that round-trips without data loss. A manifest that cannot be losslessly converted between formats is non-conformant.

Package Content Selection¶

The files field controls which paths are included when building a .aam archive.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`files`	`string[]`	No	Glob patterns relative to the package root. When present, only matching paths are eligible for inclusion, subject to the mandatory inclusions and exclusions in §12.1.

Rules: - files entries MUST be relative paths using forward slashes. - files entries MUST NOT resolve outside the package root. - files entries MUST NOT use negated patterns (!foo/**). - aam pkg pack MUST fail if the computed packlist excludes a file referenced by the manifest or by a declared artifact. - If files is omitted, tools MUST use the default inclusion algorithm defined in §12.1.

Dependency Groups¶

The dependencyGroups field defines named, non-runtime dependency sets for authoring and tooling workflows such as local development, documentation builds, and eval runs.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`dependencyGroups`	`object`	No	Map of group name to non-runtime dependency declaration. Selected explicitly during install; never installed implicitly for consumers.

Each group entry uses this shape:

Field	Type	Required	Description
`description`	`string`	No	Human-readable purpose of the group.
`dependencies`	`object`	No	UAAPS package dependencies used only for the selected workflow.
`systemDependencies`	`object`	No	Non-runtime system requirements applied only when the group is selected.

Rules: - Group names MUST match [a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*. - Each group MUST declare at least one of dependencies or systemDependencies. - dependencyGroups MUST be root-local metadata. Dependencies declared inside a group MUST NOT be exposed transitively when another package depends on this package. - Tools MUST install group dependencies only when the group is selected explicitly, as defined in §13.1.

Extras¶

The extras field defines public, consumer-facing feature bundles that can be selected at install time.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`extras`	`object`	No	Map of feature-selector name to an optional install bundle. Extras extend the package only when selected explicitly by the consumer.

Each extra entry uses this shape:

Field	Type	Required	Description
`description`	`string`	No	Human-readable summary of the feature.
`dependencies`	`object`	No	UAAPS package dependencies activated by selecting the extra.
`systemDependencies`	`object`	No	Additional system requirements activated by selecting the extra.
`artifacts`	`object`	No	Additional root-package artifacts activated only when the extra is selected.
`permissions`	`object`	No	Additional root-package permissions requested only when the extra is selected.

Rules: - Extra names MUST match [a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*. - Each extra MUST declare at least one of dependencies, systemDependencies, artifacts, or permissions. - Extras are part of the package's public install contract and MAY be selected by consumers as defined in §13.1. - When an extra declares artifacts, the package MUST declare the top-level artifacts registry explicitly. Extra-scoped artifact references MUST resolve by artifact name within that registry. - Non-referenced artifacts remain part of the base package. Artifacts referenced by an extra MUST be activated only when that extra is selected. - Extra-scoped permissions are additive to the root package's permissions declaration. They MUST use the same schema and enforcement model as top-level permissions. - Extras MUST NOT change manifest parsing semantics.

Vendor Extensions¶

Vendor extensions allow platforms and tools to attach platform-specific metadata to a package manifest without conflicting with the core schema.

Naming Rules¶

Keys MUST use the prefix x-<vendor-id>, where vendor-id is a lowercase alphanumeric slug matching [a-z0-9-]+, maximum 32 characters (e.g. x-claude, x-cursor, x-copilot).
The vendor-id SHOULD match either a registered platform identifier from the compatibility matrix or the package's own scope identifier (e.g. x-myorg for @myorg/ scoped packages).
Extension values MUST be JSON objects. Scalar values (strings, booleans, numbers) and arrays MUST NOT be used as the top-level value of an x-* key.
Packages SHOULD NOT declare more than 5 x-* keys. aam validate MUST warn when more than 5 are present (see §16 Validation).

Interoperability Rules¶

Tools and runtimes MUST silently ignore unrecognised x-* keys. Tools MUST NOT error or refuse to install a package solely because of an unknown x-* key.
Registry indexing: only x-<known-platform> keys (those matching a registered platform) are indexed and searchable. Unknown x-* keys are stored but not indexed.
Registry validation SHOULD produce a WARN-level diagnostic for x-* keys that do not match any registered platform identifier, to alert the author that the key will not be indexed.

Conflict Avoidance¶

Two packages MUST NOT declare the same x-* key with structurally incompatible schemas. The registry MAY enforce a canonical JSON Schema per registered x-<vendor> key.
Authors MUST NOT use another vendor's registered x-* key to override or shadow that vendor's metadata.
Private extensions for in-house tooling SHOULD use the package owner's scope as the vendor-id (e.g. x-myorg) to avoid collisions with future registered platforms.

Vendor Mapping¶

Manifest Field	Claude Code (`plugin.json`)	Cursor (`.cursor-plugin/plugin.json`)
`name`	`name`	`name`
`version`	`version`	`version`
`description`	`description`	`description`
`homepage`	N/A	N/A
`skills`	(auto-discovered in `skills/`)	(auto-discovered in `skills/`)
`commands`	`commands`	N/A (uses rules)
`agents`	`agents`	N/A (uses rules/agents)
`hooks`	`hooks` path	`.cursor/hooks.json`
`mcp`	`mcpServers`	`mcp.json`
`dependencies`	N/A (no native equivalent)	N/A (no native equivalent)
`systemDependencies`	Skill `compatibility` field	N/A
`quality`	N/A	N/A