diff --git a/frontend/packages/cli/src/commands/createPlugin.ts b/frontend/packages/cli/src/commands/createPlugin.ts
index 9eb46eebff..35ebabec29 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/cli/src/commands/createPlugin.ts
+++ b/frontend/packages/cli/src/commands/createPlugin.ts
@@ -212,8 +212,7 @@ const buildPlugin = async (pluginFolder: string) => {
 
   const prom_exec = promisify(exec);
 
-  // const commands = ['yarn', 'yarn build'];
-  const commands = ['yarn'];
+  const commands = ['yarn', 'yarn build'];
   for (const command of commands) {
     process.stdout.write(chalk.green(`  executing\t${chalk.cyan(command)}`));
     try {
diff --git a/frontend/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs b/frontend/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs
index e1b53882a8..709b65a7f9 100644
--- a/frontend/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs
+++ b/frontend/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs
@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
 {
   "name": "@spotify-backstage/plugin-{{id}}",
   "version": "0.0.0",
-  "main": "src/index.ts",
-  "main:src": "src/index.ts",
+  "main": "dist/cjs",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "private": false,
   "scripts": {
-    "build": "web-scripts build",
+    "build": "tsc --outDir dist/cjs --noEmit false --module CommonJS",
     "lint": "web-scripts lint",
     "test": "web-scripts test"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
+    "@spotify-backstage/cli": "^1.2.0",
     "@spotify/web-scripts": "^6.0.0"
   },
   "dependencies": {
diff --git a/frontend/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/tsconfig.json b/frontend/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9b376c2b1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  "extends": "../../../tsconfig.json",
+  "include": ["src"]
+}