---
title: "Share a pack"
description: "Find packs with `hcpx search`, add yours to the catalog by pull request, publish one as an npm package or extract a gold pack into its own repository."
canonical: https://harnesscontextprotocol.io/docs/packs/share
---

# Share a pack

> Find packs with `hcpx search`, add yours to the catalog by pull request, publish one as an npm package or extract a gold pack into its own repository.

A shared pack is a directory someone else can lint, install and exec. GitHub
holds the files and the community catalog indexes them by pull request, with an
npm package as a convenience install on top.

## Minimum to share

| File | Required |
|------|----------|
| `surface.json` | Yes |
| `policy.json` | Yes |
| `HARNESS.md` | Yes |
| `LICENSE` | Yes for a standalone repo |
| `README.md` | Yes for a standalone repo |
| Wrapped `bin` | Inside the pack directory, relative path |

Keep credentials out of the pack, host-absolute paths out of the Skill and
product brand names out of public gold packs.

## Catalog

[Packs](/packs) lists every pack you can install today, with its commands and
what each one asks before it writes. `hcpx search` reads the same index
(`/api/v1/packs`), and `HCP_CATALOG_URL` points it at a private one.

```bash
hcpx search transit --json
hcpx init transit --template transit
hcpx install ./transit --json
hcpx activate transit --json
hcpx exec transit plan --json -- from=A to=B
```

| Surface | Use |
|---------|-----|
| [`/api/v1/packs?query=`](/api/v1/packs?query=transit) | Search |
| [`/api/v1/packs/{id}`](/api/v1/packs/transit) | One entry |

To add your own, scaffold it (`--class public-read` or `gated-write`), lint it
and let `hcpx share` print the catalog row:

```bash
hcpx init weather --class public-read
# edit the three files
hcpx lint ./weather --json
hcpx share ./weather --json
```

Paste the row into
[`content/catalog/packs.json`](https://github.com/harnesscontextprotocol/hcp-docs)
in a pull request. Reviewers check lint, the class, and that the Skill names
every command.

Pack signing, provenance, integrity hashes and `pack_id@version` resolution
belong to the [HCP/2.0 registry](/docs/community/roadmap), and a catalog pull
request does not mint them. Until then you install from a directory or a
scaffold the CLI writes, and a runtime may install any directory that lints.

## npm package

A pack directory can also be an npm package, by this convention:

| Field | Value |
|-------|--------|
| `"hcp": { "pack": "." }` | Where `surface.json` lives inside the package |
| `dependencies["@harnesscontextprotocol/cli"]` | Installs the CLI (`hcpx`, also `hcp`) |
| `bin` | Optional wrap CLI (`transit`, `weather`, …). Never name it `hcpx` or `hcp` |
| `files` | The three protocol files plus wrap `bin/` |

```bash
hcpx install npm:@scope/hcp-pack-name --json
hcpx install npm:./path/to/pack --json
```

HCP's own packages stay a private preview on GitHub Packages by choice
(`access: restricted` on `@harnesscontextprotocol/sdk`,
`@harnesscontextprotocol/cli` and `@harnesscontextprotocol/example`), so they
are not on the public npm registry.

## Extract a gold pack into its own repository

`examples/standalone/transit` in the SDK repo is the gold pack built to
extract, with the demo binary next to the three files, an MIT licence and a
vendor-neutral README, so the extract is a plain copy. Work through this list
before `gh repo create harnesscontextprotocol/hcp-example-transit`, and keep
the repository private until every item holds:

1. `bun run verify:legal` passes on the docs site.
2. The pack lints clean from a fresh clone: `hcpx lint . --json`.
3. `wrap.bin` is a path inside the repo (`./bin/transit.mjs`), not `../../bins/`.
4. README shows install, activate, and one read exec.
5. No tokens, `.env`, or host paths.
6. Licence matches the SDK (MIT for executable examples).

## Related

- [Build a pack](/docs/packs)
- [Examples](/docs/packs/examples)

## Sitemap

- [Documentation](https://harnesscontextprotocol.io/docs)
- [Packs](https://harnesscontextprotocol.io/packs)
- [Glossary](https://harnesscontextprotocol.io/docs/reference/glossary)
- [llms.txt](https://harnesscontextprotocol.io/llms.txt)
- [llms-full.txt](https://harnesscontextprotocol.io/llms-full.txt)
- [OpenAPI](https://harnesscontextprotocol.io/openapi.json)
- [MCP](https://harnesscontextprotocol.io/mcp)