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Sweep 03 Oct 2026 · 20:28Z Build v2.1.289 510 read Stable v2.1.285 Latest v2.1.289 Next v2.1.289 Feeds RSS JSON llms.txt llms-full.txt Unofficial
HomeDocsClaude Code CLI 4 Oct 2026
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Plugin loading reference changedplugins/loading

Nearest release: v2.1.289, published 8 hours before upstream edited the page. Shown because the two are within 24 hours of each other. Nothing here says the release caused the edit.

Upstream edited this page at 4 Oct 2026 04:47 UTC, give or take a minute or two: the time comes from Anthropic’s own sitemap rather than from a commit. This site recorded the change at 4 Oct 2026 05:07 UTC.

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178178Claude Code loads some plugins in place from where you keep them and copies the rest into the cache, according to their origin:
179179 
180180* **`--plugin-dir` and skills-directory plugins**: the directory loads in place and is never copied. A `--plugin-url` archive or a `--plugin-dir` `.zip` is extracted into a session temp directory first
181* **Relative-path plugins in a marketplace you added from a local directory**: the plugin loads in place from its path inside the marketplace folder. Your edits to the source directory take effect at the next session start or `/reload-plugins`, and you don't need to increase the version. The plugin's hook processes and MCP and LSP servers receive a `CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT` that points at the source directory. For its Node.js package dependencies, see [When the dependency install runs](#when-the-dependency-install-runs)
181* **Relative-path plugins in a marketplace you added from a local path**: the plugin loads in place from its path inside the marketplace folder. Your edits to the source directory take effect at the next session start or `/reload-plugins`, and you don't need to increase the version. The plugin's hook processes and MCP and LSP servers receive a `CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT` that points at the source directory. For its Node.js package dependencies, see [When the dependency install runs](#when-the-dependency-install-runs)
182182* **`command`-source plugins in [link mode](/docs/en/plugins/marketplace-reference#command-plugin-source)**: the directory the command printed loads in place, through links in the cache entry
183183* **Every other marketplace plugin**: Claude Code copies the plugin into `cache/<marketplace>/<plugin>/<version>/` at install and loads that copy. Files outside the plugin directory aren't copied, so when a script inside a copied plugin reads a path above the plugin root, such as `../shared`, it doesn't find them
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212212* When Claude Code updates a plugin to a new version
213213* At session start when an enabled plugin isn't cached yet, such as on a new machine
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215For a relative-path plugin [loaded in place](#in-place-and-copied-plugins) from a local-directory marketplace, Claude Code doesn't install the dependencies into the source directory. Install them there yourself, or from a hook into [`${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}`](/docs/en/plugins/components#path-variables-and-persistent-data).
215For a relative-path plugin [loaded in place](#in-place-and-copied-plugins) from a marketplace you added from a local path, Claude Code doesn't install the dependencies into the source directory. Install them there yourself, or from a hook into [`${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}`](/docs/en/plugins/components#path-variables-and-persistent-data).
216216 
217217The install runs only when the plugin's root directory contains both a `package.json` and a supported lockfile.
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272272A manifest that pins `"version"` is one way the computed version stays the same across commits. See [How Claude Code computes the version](#how-claude-code-computes-the-version) for the resolution order.
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274A plugin [loaded in place](#in-place-and-copied-plugins) from a local-directory marketplace loads its current source files at every session start, whatever its version string says. For a plugin from a [marketplace hosted on claude.ai](/docs/en/plugins/install#add-from-claude-ai), the version claude.ai records for the plugin is its version, and the manifest's `version` isn't read.
274A plugin [loaded in place](#in-place-and-copied-plugins) from a marketplace you added from a local path loads its current source files at every session start, whatever its version string says. For a plugin from a [marketplace hosted on claude.ai](/docs/en/plugins/install#add-from-claude-ai), the version claude.ai records for the plugin is its version, and the manifest's `version` isn't read.
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276276### How Claude Code computes the version
277277 
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