Joomla Skill for Claude

A skill for building Joomla 5+ and Joomla 6 extensions — components, modules, plugins, and templates — using modern MVC architecture, PSR-4 namespaces, dependency injection, and service providers.

Works with Claude Code (as a plugin) and with Claude.ai (as an uploadable Skill).

What this skill covers

• Scaffolding new components, modules, plugins, and templates
• Writing services/provider.php service providers
• MVC layer: controllers, models, views, layouts
• Manifest XML files (<extension>, install/uninstall scripts)
• Database migrations and schema files
• Language files (INI) and translation patterns
• Custom form fields and form rules
• Plugin event subscribers (SubscriberInterface)
• Module dispatchers
• Web Asset Manager (WAM) — registering CSS/JS, dependencies, attributes
• Web Services REST API (JSON:API) — webservices plugin routes, ApiController / JsonapiView, API tokens, consuming the API
• Console commands (php cli/joomla.php) via console plugins and AbstractCommand
• Backward-compatible patterns (Joomla 5 → 6, no compat plugin required)

Reference files in skills/joomla/references/ provide deep-dive guidance, loaded on demand to keep the per-load token cost low.

Per extension type:

• component.md — full component scaffolding (frontend + backend)
• module.md — module structure with dispatchers
• plugin.md — plugin event subscribers (SubscriberInterface, CMSPlugin)
• library.md — shared library packages

Cross-cutting (shared across extension types):

• manifest.md — universal <extension> manifest XML elements
• install-script.md — <scriptfile> lifecycle hooks (preflight / install / update / postflight / uninstall)
• language-files.md — .ini filename / key-prefix / plural / Text::script() conventions
• service-provider.md — universal services/provider.php wrapping pattern + per-type binding table
• component-router.md — SEF URL router walkthrough (component-specific)

Topical deep-dives:

• admin-routing.md — task= vs view= URL routing and the checkout pattern preventing concurrent overwrites
• coding-standards.md — PSR-12 / PHPDoc / ESLint / PHPCS conventions
• component-advanced.md — toolbar API, batch, ordering, tags, versioning, workflow, webservices, mail templates, dashboards, custom rules
• component-lifecycle.md — model save flow, prepareTable(), Table::bind()/store(), filter forms, install script, config.xml, site-side differences, service interfaces, AJAX, HTMLHelper services, showon, fieldset tabs
• console-commands.md — CLI commands for php cli/joomla.php: console plugin, AbstractCommand, container-loader registration, what breaks under the console
• database.md — install / update SQL, #__ prefix, DDL-vs-DML rule
• editor-api.md — JoomlaEditor JS API + XTD button surface
• form-fields.md — built-in field types + custom-field authoring
• layouts.md — LayoutHelper::render(), override priority, sublayouts, key built-in layouts
• menu-items.md — site-view menu item type XML (request fields, params, useglobal, multi-layout)
• packaging.md — manual zip, build scripts, package extensions, include/exclude checklist, changelog XML for the in-admin changelog viewer
• testing.md — PHPUnit + Jest patterns with real-CMS bootstrap
• update-server.md — update server XML, <targetplatform> regex, SHA hashes, per-type tweaks
• web-assets.md — joomla.asset.json schema, useStyle/useScript, dependencies
• webservices-api.md — Joomla JSON:API REST layer: route registration, ApiController / JsonapiView, API tokens, errors, CORS, consuming from PHP / JS / curl
• gotchas.md — hard-won J5/J6 pitfalls (controller parents, routing, WAM, modal cleanup, etc.)

Requirements

• Joomla: 5.x or 6.x (target: native 6, backward compatible with 5)
• PHP: 8.3+ minimum and supported, 8.4 recommended (Joomla 6.x — see manual.joomla.org/docs/get-started/technical-requirements)
• Coding standard: PSR-12 (PHP), Joomla ESLint config (JavaScript)

Installation

There are four install paths — three for Claude products, plus a universal package for other AI coding tools.

Option 1 — Claude Code plugin (recommended for Claude Code users)

Inside Claude Code (CLI, desktop app, or IDE extension):

/plugin marketplace add Joomla-Bible-Study/claude-skill-joomla
/plugin install joomla@joomla-bible-study
/reload-plugins

The skill becomes available as joomla:joomla and updates with /plugin update.

Option 2 — Claude.ai consumer app (web, Mac, Windows desktop)

The Claude.ai chat app does not load Claude Code plugins, but it does support uploading skills as a zip file.

1. Open the latest release.
2. Download the joomla-skill-vX.Y.Z.zip asset.
3. In Claude.ai, go to Settings → Capabilities (or in the desktop app: profile menu → Settings → Capabilities).
4. Find the Skills section and choose Create skill / Upload skill.
5. Drop in the zip. Claude reads the name and description from SKILL.md's frontmatter.
6. Toggle the skill on for any Project (or globally) where you want it active.

To get the most out of the skill in Claude.ai, enable the Code execution / Analysis tool for the conversation so Claude can generate scaffolded files as downloadable artifacts. Pair it with a Project that holds your component source for richer context.

Option 3 — Manual copy into ~/.claude/skills/ (Claude Code, no plugin)

If you'd rather not use the plugin system:

git clone https://github.com/Joomla-Bible-Study/claude-skill-joomla.git
cp -R claude-skill-joomla/skills/joomla ~/.claude/skills/

Or symlink so updates flow in with git pull:

ln -s "$PWD/claude-skill-joomla/skills/joomla" ~/.claude/skills/joomla

Option 4 — Other AI coding tools (Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, Cline, Aider, Codex)

Each release also ships a joomla-skill-universal-vX.Y.Z.zip artifact containing the same Joomla guidance repackaged as project-root rule files for non-Claude tools. One source, one shared references/ directory.

1. Open the latest release.
2. Download joomla-skill-universal-vX.Y.Z.zip and unzip into your Joomla project's root.
3. Keep only the file(s) for the tool(s) you use (you can delete the rest); leave references/ in place.

Multiple tools can coexist in the same repo — each reads its own file and ignores the others. To rebuild the package locally from a clone of this repo, run bash scripts/build-universal.sh; output lands in dist/universal/.

Usage

Once installed, the skill activates automatically whenever you mention Joomla extension development. Trigger phrases include:

• "Add a new view to my Joomla component"
• "Create a Joomla 5 plugin that listens for onContentAfterSave"
• "Scaffold a module that displays..."
• "Set up a service provider for..."
• "Register web assets via joomla.asset.json"
• "Write an install script for my J6 component"
• "Override a layout in my template"

The skill also matches the J5 / J6 / J7 shorthands and specific minor versions (Joomla 5.4, Joomla 6.1, Joomla 6.2, Joomla 7).

You can also invoke it explicitly: ask Claude to "use the joomla skill" for any Joomla-based project.

Project context

This skill is maintained by Christian Web Ministries (org currently published as Joomla-Bible-Study on GitHub) and was developed alongside production Joomla extensions including:

• Proclaim — Bible study management
• CWMScriptureLinks — auto-link Scripture references
• Other CWM extensions

Patterns are derived from the joomla-cms core and real-world production components. The skill's ## Canonical sources section in skills/joomla/SKILL.md lists every upstream reference (joomla-cms, manual.joomla.org + its joomla/Manual source repo, api.joomla.org, framework.joomla.org) Claude consults when verifying patterns — and the fallback order when WebFetch is unavailable.

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for:

• what kinds of contributions are most useful (bug reports, API drift, new patterns/references)
• how to test changes locally before opening a PR (symlink as a skill, install as a plugin, or upload zip to Claude.ai)
• authoring guidelines for SKILL.md and references (frontmatter is load-bearing — be deliberate)
• versioning, CHANGELOG expectations, and the release flow

Quick rule of thumb: if you spot a Joomla 6 API change or an outdated pattern, file an issue with the prompt + the bad response and we'll work from there.

License

GPL-2.0-or-later — matching the Joomla ecosystem.