Formats

Understanding PRPM format support

Formats

PRPM supports multiple AI tool formats, allowing you to install packages for different IDEs and development environments.

Supported Formats

Format	Tool	Description
claude	Claude Code	Agents and skills for Claude Code
cursor	Cursor IDE	Rules, plugins, commands, and configurations for Cursor
continue	Continue.dev	Prompts for Continue extension
windsurf	Windsurf IDE	Rules for Windsurf
copilot	GitHub Copilot	Instructions, chat modes, and skills for Copilot
kiro	Kiro AI	Agents and steering files for Kiro
gemini	Gemini CLI	Custom commands and extensions for Gemini CLI
opencode	OpenCode AI	Agents, commands, and tools for OpenCode
ruler	Ruler	Coding rules and agents for Ruler
droid	Factory Droid	Skills, commands, and hooks for Factory Droid
trae	Trae IDE	Rules for Trae IDE (ByteDance)
aider	Aider	Conventions and rules for Aider AI coding assistant
zencoder	Zencoder	Rules for Zencoder AI coding assistant
replit	Replit Agent	Instructions for Replit Agent
agents.md	Agents.md	Universal agent format (works with OpenAI, Gemini, etc.)
mcp	Model Context Protocol	MCP server configurations
generic	Multiple	Works across multiple tools

Format Aliases

Some formats have aliases for compatibility:

• claude.md → claude
• gemini.md → installs GEMINI.md (Gemini markdown); gemini installs Gemini CLI commands into .gemini/commands

Cursor Format Details

The cursor format supports multiple subtypes:

• Rules (subtype: rule): Project guidelines in .cursor/rules/*.mdc with MDC frontmatter (description, globs, alwaysApply)
• Slash Commands (subtype: slash-command): Custom commands in .cursor/commands/*.md
• Hooks (subtype: hook): Event-triggered scripts configured in hooks.json
• Plugins (subtype: plugin): Bundles of rules, skills, agents, commands, hooks, and MCP servers defined by a .cursor-plugin/plugin.json manifest

Plugins are the most comprehensive package type for Cursor, containing multiple components in a single distributable unit. The plugin.json manifest requires only a name field and optionally includes description, version, author, keywords, logo, and paths to component directories.

{
  "name": "my-plugin",
  "description": "Development toolkit with linting and testing",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "author": { "name": "Jane Doe" },
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@playwright/mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor plugins are available via the Cursor Marketplace. See the official plugin docs for full details.

Copilot Format Details

The copilot format supports three subtypes:

• Rules (subtype: rule): Path-specific instructions in .github/instructions/*.instructions.md
• Chat Modes (subtype: chatmode): Custom chat modes in .github/chatmodes/*.chatmode.md
• Skills (subtype: skill): Reusable task-specific capabilities in .github/skills/<name>/SKILL.md

Skills are discovered by Copilot based on context and loaded when relevant. Each skill requires:

• A name field (lowercase, hyphens for spaces, max 64 chars)
• A description field (max 1024 chars)
• Markdown body with detailed instructions

Skills require VS Code Insiders with the chat.useAgentSkills setting enabled.

Gemini Format Details

The gemini format supports two subtypes:

• Slash Commands (subtype: slash-command): Custom commands defined in .toml files, installed to .gemini/commands/
• Extensions (subtype: extension): Full extensions with MCP servers and context files, installed to .gemini/extensions/<name>/gemini-extension.json

Extensions support:

• MCP (Model Context Protocol) server configurations
• Custom context files
• Tool exclusions
• Experimental settings

MCP Format Details

The mcp format is for MCP (Model Context Protocol) server packages. Use subtype: tool.

When installed, PRPM reads the mcpServers object from your package’s JSON file and merges each server entry into the user’s editor config. This works across 11 editors — Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Codex, Windsurf, Gemini, Kiro, OpenCode, Trae, Amp, and Zed.

Your package file should be a JSON file with a mcpServers object:

mcp-server.json

{
  "name": "My MCP Server",
  "description": "What this server does",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@my-org/my-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

See the MCP Servers guide for full publishing and installation details.

Installing for Specific Formats

Auto-detect format from your project:

prpm install @prpm/@username/typescript-best-practices

Specify a format explicitly:

prpm install @prpm/@username/typescript-best-practices --as cursor

Format Detection

PRPM auto-detects the format based on your project structure:

• .claude/ directory → claude
• .cursor/ directory → cursor
• .continue/ directory → continue
• .windsurf/ directory → windsurf
• .kiro/ directory → kiro
• .agents/ directory → agents.md
• .ruler/ directory → ruler
• .opencode/ directory → opencode
• .factory/ directory → droid
• .trae/ directory → trae
• .aider/ or CONVENTIONS.md file → aider
• .zencoder/ directory → zencoder
• .replit/ directory or .replit file → replit
• .mcp/ directory → mcp

File Installation Paths

Each format has a standard installation path:

Format	Directory	Example
claude	.claude/agents/, .claude/skills/, or .claude/commands/	.claude/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md
cursor	.cursor/rules/, .cursor/commands/, or .cursor-plugin/	.cursor/rules/typescript.mdc or .cursor-plugin/plugin.json
continue	.continue/prompts/	.continue/prompts/refactor.md
windsurf	.windsurf/rules/	.windsurf/rules/python.md
copilot	.github/instructions/, .github/chatmodes/, or .github/skills/	.github/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md
kiro	.kiro/agents/ or .kiro/steering/	.kiro/agents/code-reviewer.json
gemini	.gemini/commands/ or .gemini/extensions/	.gemini/commands/refactor.toml or .gemini/extensions/my-ext/gemini-extension.json
opencode	.opencode/agent/ or .opencode/command/	.opencode/agent/code-reviewer.md
ruler	.ruler/rules/ or .ruler/agents/	.ruler/rules/typescript.md
droid	.factory/skills/ or .factory/commands/	.factory/skills/code-review/SKILL.md
trae	.trae/rules/	.trae/rules/typescript.md
aider	CONVENTIONS.md or .aider/	CONVENTIONS.md
zencoder	.zencoder/rules/	.zencoder/rules/typescript.md
replit	.replit/ or replit_agent_instructions.md	replit_agent_instructions.md
agents.md	.agents/	.agents/code-reviewer.md
mcp	.mcp/servers/	.mcp/servers/filesystem.json

Multi-Format Packages

Some packages support multiple formats. PRPM will install the appropriate version based on your environment:

{
  "name": "@username/typescript-rules",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "files": [
    {
      "path": ".cursor/rules/typescript.mdc",
      "format": "cursor"
    },
    {
      "path": ".windsurf/rules/typescript.md",
      "format": "windsurf"
    }
  ]
}

Next Steps

Packages

Learn more about packages

Publishing Guide

Publish multi-format packages