Constrain plugin dependency versions

 
 If the field is missing or does not include the target marketplace, install fails with a `cross-marketplace` error naming the field to set. Users can still install the dependency manually first, which satisfies the constraint without changing the allowlist.
 
+## Test a plugin and its dependency locally
+
+If you're developing a plugin and the plugin it depends on at the same time, load both with `--plugin-dir`:
+
+```bash theme={null}
+claude --plugin-dir ./my-dependency --plugin-dir ./my-plugin
+```
+
+The local copy of the dependency satisfies your plugin's dependency entry, even when the entry names a marketplace, so you don't need to install the dependency from its marketplace. Claude Code doesn't check a [version constraint](#declare-a-dependency-with-a-version-constraint) against a local copy, so the local `plugin.json` doesn't need a `version`. Before v2.1.242, a dependency entry that named a marketplace never matched the local copy, and Claude Code disabled your plugin at load.
+
+If you haven't installed the dependency from its marketplace, your plugin stops loading when the local copy goes away:
+
+* **You disabled the local copy**: Claude Code disables your plugin at the next plugin load. For a dependency entry that names a marketplace, Claude Code reports `Dependency "<name>@inline" is disabled — enable it or remove the dependency`; for a bare-name entry, it reports the dependency by its bare name. `<name>@inline` is how Claude Code identifies every `--plugin-dir` and `--plugin-url` plugin.
+* **You started a session without the dependency's `--plugin-dir` flag**: Claude Code reports the dependency as not installed. Pass the flag again, or install the dependency from its marketplace.
+
 ## Tag plugin releases for version resolution
 
 Claude Code resolves version constraints against git tags on the repository that hosts the dependency: the plugin's own repository for `github`, `url`, and `git-subdir` [plugin sources](/docs/en/plugin-marketplaces#plugin-sources), or the marketplace repository for a plugin the marketplace references by a relative path. For Claude Code to find a dependency's available versions, the upstream plugin's releases must be tagged using a specific naming convention.

 When you uninstall the last plugin that constrains a dependency, the dependency is no longer held and resumes tracking its marketplace entry on the next update.
 
 ## Enable or disable a plugin with dependencies
+
+This section covers plugins installed from a marketplace. For a copy you loaded with `--plugin-dir`, see [Test a plugin and its dependency locally](#test-a-plugin-and-its-dependency-locally).
 
 Enabling a plugin also enables the plugins it depends on, and disabling a plugin is blocked if another enabled plugin still needs it.