feat(plugin): ship the Claude plugin from a generated plugin/ folder

[boshu2]

Why

The plugin marketplace validator (main @ f9c4b1c) raised 24 holds with one cause: the plugin folder was the repository root, so the screen walked 2,764 files (Go CLI, evals, docs, CI). Holds included BINARIES_NOT_INSPECTED (>512 files), UNREAD_ASSET_REFERENCED, MCP_FORWARDS_CREDENTIAL_ENV (release.yml), RUNTIME_FETCH_EXEC (README, CHANGELOG, .github, cli tests), ICON_MISSING and ARCHIVE_SYMLINK_SKIPPED. The plugin format has no file-exclusion mechanism; the portal's "Plugin path" field scans only the named folder.

Design

• plugin/ is the plugin folder; .claude-plugin/marketplace.json now has "source": "./plugin".
• plugin/{skills,hooks,agents,workflows}/ are generated by scripts/regen-plugin-tree.sh from the canonical root trees, which stay put (scripts, tests and ao skills link keep reading skills/).
• The copy follows git ls-files (tracked + untracked-not-ignored) and skips developer-only tests/, *.bats and Python caches.
• The generator refuses symlinks, non-image files over 256 KiB, binary non-image files, and more than 512 files, printing the paths; --check reports drift and is wired into scripts/regen-all.sh (both modes), so always.regen-all gates it.
• Hand-owned in plugin/: .claude-plugin/plugin.json (moved from root; release version lives here), .claude-plugin/icon.png (1024x1024, 286 KB, from docs/assets/logo.svg), and a short README.md with no fetch-and-run commands or images.

Result: 262 files, no symlinks; the only file over 256 KiB is the icon PNG.

Behavior change: bin/ no longer ships

The manifest reference lists bin/ as a plugin component: its files go on the Bash PATH, and claude.ai and Cowork do not install a plugin that has one. The root-folder plugin was therefore putting bin/factory and bin/ralph on users' PATH. They are operator tools (factory reads a private ~/.config/factory), so the projection leaves them out. Noted in CHANGELOG Unreleased.

Consumers updated

• cli/cmd/ao/version_manifest_parity_test.go: root marker is now .claude-plugin/marketplace.json; surface is plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json (a mutation to 9.9.9 fails the test).
• .githooks/pre-commit, scripts/ci-local-release.sh, tests/docs/validate-doc-release.sh, images/claude/verify.sh, scripts/validate-manifests.sh, tests/run-all.sh, tests/skills/test-runtime-claude-code-smoke.sh
• Fixtures: tests/scripts/explicit-skill-requests.bats, tests/scripts/test-codex-plugin-metadata-schema.sh
• schemas/plugin-manifest.v1.schema.json: adds icon (additionalProperties: false)
• .github/CODEOWNERS (/plugin/), doc links in docs/MIGRATION.md and docs/contracts/multi-runtime-tier-charter.md, CHANGELOG (both copies)
• skills/doc/scripts/audit-oss-docs.sh: removed an unused variable (SC2034) that shell.shellcheck-changed flagged on the new copy
• Unchanged on purpose: evals/skills-rpi/** copies .claude-plugin/ (still present with marketplace.json; ao never reads plugin.json); historical docs/releases/** and docs/plans/**.

Installs after this

• Claude Code: claude plugin marketplace add boshu2/agentops then claude plugin install agentops@agentops-marketplace are unchanged. A marketplace's relative source resolves from the marketplace root, so ./plugin is valid. An existing install should pick up the new layout on its next marketplace update; that upgrade path was not exercised here.
• Codex: unchanged. Codex reads plugins/marketplace.json (path: "./") and root .codex-plugin/plugin.json (skills: "./skills"), neither of which this PR touches.

Checks

• bash scripts/regen-plugin-tree.sh && bash scripts/regen-plugin-tree.sh --check: regenerated 262 files, then "plugin/ is current". Failure paths also exercised: a hand-edited copy -> --check rc=1 with a diff summary; a symlink in workflows/ -> refused; a 300 KB file -> refused.
• bash scripts/regen-all.sh --check: all 8 steps pass, including "Claude plugin folder".
• find plugin -type l empty; find plugin -type f | wc -l = 262; find plugin -type f -size +256k = only plugin/.claude-plugin/icon.png.
• claude plugin validate plugin: passed with 2 warnings (unquoted ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} in hooks/hooks.json, pre-existing; --strict fails on them). claude plugin validate .: marketplace passed.
• shellcheck -S warning on the new script and every edited script: clean.
• cd cli && go build ./... && go vet ./... && go test ./cmd/ao/...: pass.
• bats tests/scripts/explicit-skill-requests.bats 5/5; test-codex-plugin-metadata-schema.sh 2/2; Claude runtime smoke 8/8; images/claude/verify.sh OK; validate-manifests.sh and validate-doc-release.sh pass.
• ao gate check --full (ao built from this branch): 65/66 pass. go.lint fails on cmd/skill-frontmatter-json/main.go (untouched): the local golangci-lint cannot read Go 1.27.2 export data ("export data version 5 is greater than maximum supported version 4") after the toolchain bump in chore(deps): update go toolchain directive to v1.27.2 #1201. Unrelated to this change.
• Local install smoke with a scratch CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR: marketplace add from the worktree path, install, details shows 29 skills, 4 agents, 1 hook; the install cache holds exactly the 262 files of plugin/, workflows included. Uninstalled afterwards.

Not verified here

• The portal's security screens run only on submission; resubmit with Plugin path plugin.
• Workflow .js files still ship, so COMMAND_SCRIPT_NOT_FOLLOWED stays a reviewer hold by design.
• Dead links in the shipped copy: skills/skill-eval/SKILL.md and two of its references link to repo evals/, scripts/ and docs/ paths that are outside the plugin folder.