--plugin-dir
A Claude Code CLI flag, read out of the shipped bundle. It has been in the build since v2.1.138, including the newest one read.
What it is
Load a plugin from a directory or .zip archive for this session only. Each flag takes one path. Repeat the flag for multiple plugins: --plugin-dir A --plugin-dir B.zip
Anthropic's own wording. Read off CLI reference, captured 2026-08-28.
Presence across releases
| Releases | Reading | Declared type | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1.245 – 2.1.250 5 releases | never mined | — | — |
| 2.1.138 – 2.1.243 95 releases | in the build | — | — |
A row reading never mined is a release with no archived bundle behind it. Nothing was read out of it, so nothing here says whether the name was in it. A declared type or a default is only ever what that release's own bundle stated.
Changelog entries naming it
-
v2.1.239Command-line flag parsing rewritten around an explicit table of value-taking flags
Flags that take values no longer swallow or drop their arguments, and
--is handled.named in this entry
-
v2.1.239Plugin errors now say what to do based on where the plugin came from
Plugin load errors now give advice matched to how the plugin was installed, including synced copies being shadowed.
named in this entry
Documentation pages
- CLI reference reference table Claude Code CLI
- Manage multiple agents with agent view mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Claude Code changelog mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Discover and install prebuilt plugins through marketplaces mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Run Claude Code programmatically mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Deploy managed settings mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Constrain plugin dependency versions mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Create plugins mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Plugins reference mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Manage sessions mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Claude Code settings mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Week 19 · May 4–8, 2026 mentions it Claude Code CLI
- Week 20 · May 11–15, 2026 mentions it Claude Code CLI
A reference table page is one whose own table defines this name, and it is where the description above came from. A page that mentions it carries the name somewhere in its text and may say nothing about it at all. Every page carrying it.
Names beside it
Every CLI flag in the inventory starting --plugin, up to twelve of them.
Read out of the published npm bundle release by release, and out of Anthropic's own documentation as this site captured it. Nothing on this page is a description anybody here wrote about what the CLI flag does. All CLI flags.