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Marketplace Consumer Guide

Learn how to discover, preview, and install artifacts from the SkillMeat marketplace using the web interface or CLI.

Overview

The marketplace consumer experience provides:

  • Browse & discover — Curated artifact catalog with search and filtering
  • Inspect before import — Rich item pages with metadata, contents, versions, and trust info
  • Dry-run preview — See what will be imported without writing files
  • Download packs — Share and deploy .skillmeat-pack archives offline
  • CLI installation — Copyable pinned commands for reproducible installs

Browsing the Marketplace

Web Interface

Navigate to /marketplace in the web UI to view the catalog.

Main features: - Search box — Full-text search across artifact names and descriptions - Type filter — Filter by artifact type (Skill, Command, Agent, Context Entity, etc.) - Tag filter — Filter by artifact tags to narrow down results - Tier filter — Show Tier 0 (foundation), Tier 1 (domain), or Tier 2+ (composite) artifacts - Sorting — Sort by relevance, newest first, or alphabetically - View modes — Toggle between grid (card) and list view - Group by — Group results by artifact type or source repository - Entry cards — Each card shows name, type, version, description preview, and action buttons

Marketplace Card Interaction

The marketplace displays artifacts as flip cards with an interactive 3D effect:

Front face (visible by default): - Type indicator with color bar at top - Artifact icon and type badge - Title and brief description - Tags displayed as small chips - Source repository link (bottom)

Back face (revealed on hover or click): - File count (how many files/members) - Detected version - Status and confidence level - Download count / popularity rating - License information

Click anywhere on the card to open the full artifact detail modal. The flip effect respects prefers-reduced-motion for accessibility.

Filtering and Grouping Marketplace Results

The marketplace search results support the same filtering and organization options as the /artifacts collection page:

Search and filters (top bar): - Full-text search — Search artifact names, descriptions, and tags - Type filter — Select one or more artifact types (Skills, Commands, Agents, etc.) - Tag filter — Select specific tags to narrow results - Sort options — Relevance (default), newest, alphabetical, most-downloaded - View toggle — Switch between grid (flip cards) and list view

Grouping (optional): - No grouping — Simple flat list (default) - Group by type — Organize results under Skill, Command, Agent, etc. headings with lazy-loaded sections - Group by source — Organize by the repository or instance the artifact came from

All filters are URL-driven (state preserved in ?type=X&tags=Y&search=Z), so you can share filtered views with colleagues.

Artifact Detail Page

Click any artifact card to open /marketplace/items/[entry_id] with six tabs:

Overview Tab

Displays full metadata, description, publisher info, and screenshot/preview content. Review this before deciding to import.

Install Tab

Shows the copyable install command for reproducible installation:

skillmeat marketplace install <entry_id> --pin <sha>

Click the Copy button to copy the full command to your clipboard. This command includes a content hash (--pin) ensuring you always install the exact version, even if the upstream source updates.

For unimported entries, the Install tab shows an "Import first" call-to-action. You must import the entry from a marketplace source before download is available.

Versions Tab

Browse release history for the artifact with dates and version tags. Jump to any previous version for inspection.

Contents Tab

Lists all member artifacts (Tier 1/2 artifacts) or source files (single artifacts) included in this entry. For bundles or composites, shows: - Artifact name and type - Tier level - Dependencies between members

Dependencies Tab

Displays the Bill of Materials (BOM) with trust indicators for each dependency: - Dependency name and type — What is required - Trust level — Community/verified/certified status - Version range — Pinned or flexible versioning

Trust Tab

Shows signature verification status and publisher information: - Signature — Ed25519 verification result (valid/invalid/unavailable) - Publisher — Name and profile link (if available) - Compliance — License and security scanning results - Import history — When and by whom the entry was imported

Installing from the Marketplace

Web UI Installation

  1. Browse to /marketplace and find an artifact
  2. Click the artifact card to view details
  3. Review the Overview, Contents, and Trust tabs
  4. Click Download in the Install tab
  5. For unimported entries, click Import from source first
  6. Choose conflict strategy (if importing duplicates):
  7. Skip — Keep your existing version
  8. Overwrite — Replace with imported version
  9. Rename — Import as a new variant (e.g., my-skill → my-skill-2)
  10. Confirm to add artifacts to your collection

CLI Installation

Use the copyable command from the Install tab:

skillmeat marketplace install <entry_id> --pin <sha>

Example: 

skillmeat marketplace install skill:canvas-design-system --pin abc123def456

The --pin <sha> flag locks the installation to a specific version. Omit it to install the latest available version (not recommended for reproducibility).

Previewing Imports with Dry-Run

Before committing artifacts to your collection, preview what will be imported:

Web UI Preview

  1. Click Preview instead of Download on the item page
  2. Review the import plan:
  3. New — Artifacts not in your collection
  4. Update — Newer versions available
  5. Duplicate — Same name/type already present
  6. Conflict — Incompatible existing artifact
  7. Choose your conflict strategy (skip/overwrite/rename)
  8. Click Confirm to proceed with import

CLI Dry-Run

skillmeat bundle import my-bundle.skillmeat-pack --dry-run

Output shows a preview table: 

Import Plan Preview (no changes made)
┌──────────────────┬──────┬─────────────┐
│ Artifact         │ Type │ Disposition │
├──────────────────┼──────┼─────────────┤
│ canvas-design    │ Tier1│ new         │
│ color-utilities  │ Tier1│ duplicate   │
│ my-skill         │ Tier1│ conflict    │
└──────────────────┴──────┴─────────────┘

Downloading Packs for Offline Use

Prerequisites

The artifact must be imported into your marketplace sources before download is available.

Downloading

  1. Navigate to the item page
  2. Click Download in the Install tab
  3. Your browser saves a .skillmeat-pack file (named <artifact-name>.skillmeat-pack)

Sharing & Installing Offline

Share the .skillmeat-pack file with teammates:

# On the receiving end
skillmeat bundle import /path/to/my-artifact.skillmeat-pack

No marketplace access required — everything is self-contained in the pack.

Connecting to Marketplace Sources

Before browsing and importing, you must connect to at least one marketplace source. Marketplace sources can be either GitHub repositories or SkillMeat instances.

GitHub Repository Sources

  1. Navigate to /marketplace/sources (or Marketplace → Sources in the web UI)
  2. Click + Add Source
  3. Select GitHub as the source type
  4. Paste a GitHub repository URL (e.g., https://github.com/my-org/my-artifact-catalog)
  5. Click Scan to index the repository's artifacts
  6. Once indexed, all published artifacts appear in the /marketplace browse view

SkillMeat Instance Collection Sources

For enterprise deployments, you can connect to other SkillMeat instances and browse their collections directly:

  1. Navigate to /marketplace/sources
  2. Click + Add Source
  3. Select SkillMeat Instance as the source type
  4. Paste the target instance URL (e.g., https://skillmeat-team.example.com)
  5. Select a collection from that instance to browse
  6. Click Scan to index artifacts from the remote collection
  7. All indexed artifacts appear in the /marketplace browse view with an Instance badge showing the source

Multiple collections: You can register the same instance multiple times targeting different collections to organize artifacts by type or team.

For more details, see the Marketplace Full Guide.

Troubleshooting

"Import first" shows on the Install tab

The entry exists in the catalog but hasn't been imported into your collection yet. Click the Import from source link or navigate to /marketplace/sources and scan the source containing this artifact.

Download button is disabled

Either the entry is not imported, or it's in a deferred state. Check the item page status and run a source scan if needed.

Dry-run shows conflicts, but I want to update anyway

Use the Overwrite conflict strategy to replace existing artifacts. After import, use skillmeat sync to pull in upstream changes if the artifact tracks an upstream source.

Pack file is very large

.skillmeat-pack files include all artifact dependencies. For large bundles (100+ artifacts), consider downloading only the specific artifacts you need via marketplace source import instead.

Command copy doesn't work

Check that JavaScript is enabled in your browser. If using a command-line, you can manually copy the command text from the page.