BAT/exchangeResources/claude-skills/ignition-exchange-publish/SKILL.md

name, description

name

description

ignition-exchange-publish

Package and upload a finished Ignition resource to the Ignition Exchange — which file format to export, what to verify inside the archive before uploading, and what to put in every field of the Exchange upload form (title, tagline, categories, version, minimum Ignition platform, required modules, package files, custom installation instructions). Use when asked how to publish, export, or upload an Ignition project to the Exchange, or what format the Exchange expects. Not for checking conformance (use ignition-exchange-conformance) or converting a project into Exchange shape (use ignition-exchange-convert).

Publishing to the Ignition Exchange

The artifact is a project export .zip

Produced by Designer → File → Export, or Gateway → Config → Projects → project → Export. Both give the same file.

Never upload a gateway backup (.gwbk). It contains the entire gateway — datasource credentials, journal profiles, tags, every other project. Wrong artifact, and it leaks configuration into a public resource.

A repo that stores projects as unpacked files (the gateway-as-files pattern) has no zip in it — one has to be generated.

What goes in the upload

The Exchange accepts multiple package files, 10 MB each.

File	Upload as	When
<resource>.zip	Package file	Always — the project export
README.md / PDF	Package file	Always, as a separate file
Tag export .json	Package file	Only if it needs tags/UDTs
Database dump .sql	Package file	Only if it needs a schema or seed data
Screenshots	Images & Screenshots	Optional, strongly encouraged

The README is probably not inside the zip. Ignition's export serialises recognised project resources — each is a directory with a resource.json. A loose README.md at the project root is not one, so the export is expected to drop it. Unzip and check rather than assuming. The guide asks for docs as a separate package file regardless:

Note: If you already have detailed documentation for your resource please note it here and include the documentation file in the Package File upload.

Note that a conformance checker's documentation rule inspects the working directory, not the archive — a passing lint does not prove the zip carries docs.

Before packaging

The guide names four pre-upload checks. Three are often N/A; the first never is.

1. Check the project export — import the zip into a brand-new project, and into a project that already has content. The second is the case the whole namespacing convention exists for and the only way to prove nothing collides.
2. Include the tags — if it binds to tags or UDTs, export them and verify coverage.
3. Database backups — if it expects tables or seed data, include the dump and name the vendor (MySQL / MSSQL / PostgreSQL) in both the description and the install instructions.
4. Take notes while testing — they become the Custom Installation Instructions. Readers range from beginner to intermediate.

Verify the archive

unzip -l <resource>.zip
unzip -o <resource>.zip -d /tmp/verify-export

• File count matches the project on disk, minus anything the export legitimately drops
• Every view, style class and script module present
• README.md presence — confirm, do not assume
• No .resources/ (gateway-owned cache), __pycache__, editor backups
• No credentials anywhere

The upload form

Overview

Field	Guidance
Visibility	Public unless genuinely private
Title	Short, Title Case, says what it does; usually matches project title
Tagline	One sentence, must not repeat the title
Description	What it does, how it's used, who benefits, relevant industries
Resource Type	Closest dropdown match + skill level for install/use complexity
Background Image	Optional card styling
Category	Up to 3: Alarming, Analytics, Connectivity, Dashboard, Diagnostics, Edge Computing, Enterprise, HMI, IIOT/MQTT, MES, Maintenance, Mapping/GIS, Mobile, Monitoring, Reporting, SCADA, Scripting, Security, Simulation, Trending/Charting, Utility
Contact the Developer	Optional; your address is never shown
Tags	Up to 10 search keywords
Images & Screenshots	Optional, highly encouraged

Package

Field	Guidance
Version	1.0.0 first release; later auto-increment. Never put the version in the project name
Ignition Platform	The minimum required. Guide: "If unsure, select the Ignition platform version in which the package was developed with." Do not claim an untested floor
Release Tagline	Short summary of this version's changes; required even for the first
Release Notes	Fuller explanation of what changed and its impact
Required Modules	IA / Cirrus Link / Sepasoft modules needed
Maker Edition	Tick if it runs on Maker; unavailable if you require unsupported modules
Other Requirements	External prerequisites, one per line; blank if none
Package Files	The zip plus docs / tags / SQL
Custom Installation Instructions	Step-by-step; assume a beginner. If you shipped separate docs, say so here

The Exchange auto-generates a readme from the Description and Custom Installation Instructions — write both properly.

Verifying a minimum-version claim

Load the project on a throwaway gateway at the version you intend to declare, using a copy of the files — an older gateway rewrites resource.json metadata and leaves root-owned .resources/ behind.

A clean load proves resources parse. It does not prove screens render: a component property added in a later version fails at render time. Open the client and look. If you cannot test the lower version, declare the version you developed on.

After publishing

• Updates are new package versions on the same resource, not new resources.
• Never rename the namespace folders between versions — that turns an upgrade into a duplicate set of resources in every user's project.
• Re-run conformance before every release.
• Non-English resources: the guide encourages shipping a language dropdown with English alongside.

Provenance

Field list and quoted text from Exchange Resources Style Guide v1.1.0, §Before You Upload and §Uploading to the Exchange. Export-drops-README is reasoning from how Ignition serialises resources, not an observed export — verify it.