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183183 </Step>
184184
185185 <Step title="Use your new plugin">
186 Check the install summary: if it reports `Run /reload-plugins to activate.`, run `/reload-plugins`, and if that warns that the reload will re-read the conversation, rerun it as `/reload-plugins --force`.
186 If the install summary reports `Run /reload-plugins to activate.`, Claude Code then runs that reload for you. If the reload warns that your next message would re-read the conversation, run `/reload-plugins --force` to activate the plugin.
187187
188188 Plugin skills are namespaced by the plugin name, so **commit-commands** provides skills like `/commit-commands:commit`.
189189
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313313When you install from the `/plugin` interface, the install summary tells you whether the plugin is active in your current session:
314314
315315* `Plugin is now active.`: Claude Code activated the plugin as part of the install.
316* `Run /reload-plugins to activate.`: the plugin isn't active yet, because activating it would [invalidate the prompt cache](/docs/en/prompt-caching#enabling-or-disabling-a-plugin) or because the activation attempt failed. Run the command to activate the plugin.
316* `Run /reload-plugins to activate.`: the plugin isn't active yet, because activating it would [invalidate the prompt cache](/docs/en/prompt-caching#enabling-or-disabling-a-plugin) or because the activation attempt failed. Claude Code then runs `/reload-plugins` for you. If that reload warns about the prompt cache, run `/reload-plugins --force` to [activate the plugin anyway](#apply-plugin-changes-without-restarting).
317317* If the plugin fails to load, the summary reports the failure and the `/plugin` **Errors** tab shows the detail.
318318
319319Before v2.1.221, no install took effect in the current session until you ran `/reload-plugins` or restarted.
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355355
356356You can also manage plugins with direct commands:
357357
358* When you run `/plugin disable`, `/plugin enable`, or `/plugin uninstall`, Claude Code opens the plugin panel to apply the change and leaves it open. Press **Esc** to close the panel before typing another command.
358* When you run `/plugin disable`, `/plugin enable`, or `/plugin uninstall`, Claude Code opens the plugin panel to make the change and leaves it open. Press **Esc** to close the panel before typing another command. [Apply plugin changes without restarting](#apply-plugin-changes-without-restarting) describes when the change takes effect in your session.
359359* For scripting, use the `claude plugin` shell commands instead, which don't open the panel.
360360
361361List installed plugins without opening the menu:
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397397
398398### Apply plugin changes without restarting
399399
400When the [install summary](#install-plugins) reports `Plugin is now active.`, Claude Code already activated the plugin, and you can skip this step. For everything else, plugins you enabled or disabled during the session and installs whose summary reports `Run /reload-plugins to activate.`, apply all changes without restarting:
400When you close the `/plugin` menu, Claude Code runs `/reload-plugins` for you to apply the changes you made in it, such as installing, enabling, disabling, and uninstalling plugins. If the reload would [invalidate the prompt cache](/docs/en/prompt-caching#enabling-or-disabling-a-plugin), it warns and leaves the changes pending instead; run `/reload-plugins --force` to apply them anyway. If Claude is still responding when you close the menu, the reload runs after the response finishes.
401401
402```shell theme={null}
403/reload-plugins
404```
402For plugin changes that happen outside the menu, run `/reload-plugins` yourself. These changes include:
405403
406When the reload would invalidate the prompt cache, the command warns and skips until you rerun it with `--force`.
404* A `claude plugin` command you ran in another terminal
405* Edits to a plugin you loaded with [`--plugin-dir`](/docs/en/plugins#test-your-plugins-locally) while you develop it
406* A plugin [auto-update](#configure-auto-updates) whose notification asks you to reload
407* A change in a [`--plugin-dir` folder](/docs/en/plugins#test-your-plugins-locally) that Claude Code held because applying it would invalidate the prompt cache
408
409Before v2.1.268, plugins you enabled, disabled, or uninstalled in the menu, and installs that didn't activate during the install, stayed pending until you ran `/reload-plugins`.
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408411`/reload-plugins` also runs in sessions without an interactive terminal, such as the desktop app, the Agent SDK, and [non-interactive mode](/docs/en/headless) with `-p`. Requires Claude Code v2.1.260 or later. Two limits apply in those sessions:
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