[itsnotaboutthecell]

Summary

Add SQL Apps 0.2.3 as an external plugin from microsoft/sql-apps, using the dedicated plugins/sql-apps bundle rather than installing the repository root.

• Add an external GitHub-source entry using the existing WorkIQ subdirectory pattern.
• Match the plugin manifest's version, description, author, homepage, keywords, license, and repository.
• Add SQL Apps to the README's external-plugin list.
• Preserve .claude-plugin/marketplace.json as its existing symlink to the canonical GitHub catalog; there is no second catalog to duplicate or overwrite.

The bundle contains six focused application, local lifecycle, diagnostics, validation, cloud-preview, and design skills plus a Node launcher. First-project creation requires a SQL Apps foundation checkout; generated applications restore the exact pinned tooling package. The README explicitly states the checkout prerequisite.

Validation

Run from this repository:

node --input-type=module -e "import assert from 'node:assert/strict'; import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs'; import { join } from 'node:path'; const catalog = JSON.parse(readFileSync(join('.github','plugin','marketplace.json'),'utf8')); assert.equal(new Set(catalog.plugins.map(p => p.name)).size, catalog.plugins.length); const entries = catalog.plugins.filter(p => p.name === 'sql-apps'); assert.equal(entries.length, 1); assert.deepEqual(entries[0].source, { source: 'github', repo: 'microsoft/sql-apps', path: 'plugins/sql-apps' }); assert.equal(entries[0].version, '0.2.3'); assert.ok(readFileSync('README.md','utf8').includes('https://github.com/microsoft/sql-apps')); console.log('Catalog JSON, unique names, SQL Apps source/version and README link passed.');"

Result: passed.

• git diff --check origin/main...HEAD - passed.
• git ls-tree HEAD .claude-plugin/marketplace.json - verified mode 120000; the existing compatibility symlink is unchanged.
• In a separate, empty COPILOT_HOME, copilot plugin marketplace add microsoft/sql-apps, copilot plugin install sql-apps@sql-apps-skills, copilot plugin list --json, and copilot skill list --json passed: the remote 0.2.3 bundle is enabled and all six SQL Apps skills are discovered. The normal user profile was not modified.
• A local registration of the proposed default catalog was rejected because copilot-plugins is a reserved marketplace name. That safeguard was respected; this is not reported as a successful default-catalog installation.
• No repository-wide catalog test/lint command is documented in the contributing guide; no new validation framework was added.

Why this is a draft

The source prerequisite is complete: microsoft/sql-apps#10 merged into main at fb099cf4249d91c74818ddf8a1270ee52ad281f1. Its post-merge main CI passed all seven jobs: cold diagnostics on Ubuntu/Windows/macOS and full Ubuntu/Windows validation with Node 22/24. A post-merge local npm test also passed 552 tests with two Windows symlink skips; npm run typecheck passed and npm audit --omit=dev reported zero vulnerabilities. GitHub marks Dependabot alert 1 fixed, not dismissed.

Please keep this listing in draft until the remaining release prerequisite is verified:

1. The exact @microsoft/sql-apps@0.2.3 tooling package must be published by an authorized owner and restored successfully from the intended public feed. npm view @microsoft/sql-apps@0.2.3 version --fetch-retries=0 --fetch-timeout=15000 still returns E404 on the configured public feed as of 2026-10-18. No local-tarball substitution is claimed as clean-feed acceptance.

Plugin distribution has been verified separately from complete new-application setup. The main-branch fixes are complete; public tooling-package availability and clean-feed installation remain outstanding.

AI disclosure

An AI assistant using Copilot SDK in VS Code prepared the focused catalog change, ran the validation above, and drafted this submission. Human maintainer review is required.