How Claude Code uses prompt caching changedprompt-caching
Nearest release: v2.1.282, published 7 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 24 Sep 2026 23:46 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 25 Sep 2026 00:07 UTC.
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115115
116116### Enabling or disabling a plugin
117117
118When you enable or disable a [plugin](/docs/en/plugins), what the change costs depends on which component types the plugin provides. The cases below cover each component type, when Claude Code applies the change, and what happens when you disable a plugin again in the same session.
118When you enable or disable a [plugin](/docs/en/plugins/overview), what the change costs depends on which component types the plugin provides. The cases below cover each component type, when Claude Code applies the change, and what happens when you disable a plugin again in the same session.
119119
120120#### Plugin components that keep the cache
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123123
124124#### Plugins that provide MCP servers
125125
126When you enable or disable a plugin that provides [MCP servers](/docs/en/plugins-reference#mcp-servers), Claude Code follows the same rules as when you [connect or disconnect an MCP server](#connecting-or-disconnecting-an-mcp-server):
126When you enable or disable a plugin that provides [MCP servers](/docs/en/plugins/components#mcp-servers), Claude Code follows the same rules as when you [connect or disconnect an MCP server](#connecting-or-disconnecting-an-mcp-server):
127127
128128* If Claude Code defers the server's tools, it keeps the cache.
129129* If Claude Code loads them into the prefix, the next request re-reads the entire conversation.
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131131#### Code intelligence plugins
132132
133When you enable a [code intelligence plugin](/docs/en/discover-plugins#code-intelligence), Claude gets the [LSP tool](/docs/en/tools-reference#lsp-tool-behavior).
133When you enable a [code intelligence plugin](/docs/en/plugins/code-intelligence), Claude gets the [LSP tool](/docs/en/tools-reference#lsp-tool-behavior).
134134
135135#### When plugin changes apply
136136
137A change you make in the `/plugin` menu goes through [`/reload-plugins`](/docs/en/discover-plugins#apply-plugin-changes-without-restarting), which Claude Code runs for you when you close the menu. You pay the cost, whether appended announcements or a full re-read, on the first turn after the change applies. Claude Code can also apply a change on its own:
137A change you make in the `/plugin` menu goes through [`/reload-plugins`](/docs/en/plugins/cli-reference#reload-plugins), which Claude Code runs for you when you close the menu. You pay the cost, whether appended announcements or a full re-read, on the first turn after the change applies. Claude Code can also apply a change on its own:
138138
139* For a plugin with a `command` source, Claude Code [can reload the plugin itself](/docs/en/plugin-marketplaces#when-claude-code-re-runs-the-command).
140* When you [install a plugin from the `/plugin` interface](/docs/en/discover-plugins#install-plugins), Claude Code can activate it during the install. The install summary tells you whether it did.
139* For a plugin with a `command` source, Claude Code [can reload the plugin itself](/docs/en/plugins/loading#when-a-command-source-re-runs).
140* When you [install a plugin from the `/plugin` interface](/docs/en/plugins/install#install-a-plugin), Claude Code can activate it during the install. The install summary tells you whether it did.
141141* When you [move the session with `/cd`](/docs/en/permissions#move-the-session-to-another-directory) on v2.1.246 or later, Claude Code applies the plugins the new directory's settings enable as part of the move, without the full re-read warning that holds a `/reload-plugins`.
142* In interactive sessions, when you add or remove a plugin in a [folder of plugins](/docs/en/plugins#test-your-plugins-locally) you passed with `--plugin-dir`, the change applies right away. If applying it would trigger a full re-read, Claude Code holds the change instead and shows a notice to run `/reload-plugins`. Requires Claude Code v2.1.265 or later.
142* In interactive sessions, when you add or remove a plugin in a [folder of plugins](/docs/en/plugins/create#load-a-directory-or-archive-for-one-session) you passed with `--plugin-dir`, the change applies right away. If applying it would trigger a full re-read, Claude Code holds the change instead and shows a notice to run `/reload-plugins`. Requires Claude Code v2.1.265 or later.
143143
144144When `/reload-plugins` runs and the reload would trigger a full re-read, Claude Code shows a warning and doesn't apply the reload. Run `/reload-plugins --force` to apply it anyway.
145145
146146`/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`, when you type it into the session directly. Requires Claude Code v2.1.260 or later.
147147
148In those sessions the reload applies everything except plugin MCP server changes, which [take effect in your next session](/docs/en/discover-plugins#apply-plugin-changes-without-restarting) and so never cost a full re-read mid-session.
148In those sessions the reload applies everything except plugin MCP server changes, which [take effect in your next session](/docs/en/plugins/cli-reference#reload-plugins) and so never cost a full re-read mid-session.
149149
150150#### Plugins you enable and then disable in one session
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