Session-Only Plugin Zip Loading / Claude Code v2.1.128

--plugin-dir now explicitly supports .zip files and reports when an inline plugin zip is extracted.

Usage

claude --plugin-dir ./my-plugin.zip

Details

Help text now documents repeatable directory or zip loading.
Zip extraction emits debug output, making plugin load failures easier to diagnose.
Existing managed-setting checks still apply to session-only plugins.

Evidence

Plugin flag help and zip extraction path (search for "Load a plugin from a directory or .zip" and "Extracted inline plugin zip to")

Strings lifted out of the shipped bundle, so the claim above can be checked against them.

How sure we are

One source agreesOne thing we can check says the same as this entry.

Anthropic's release notes agree--plugin-dir now accepts .zip plugin archives in addition to directories

See this entry in the whole of v2.1.128 →

The build it came inv2.1.128

4 May 2026 · 10 entries, this one is #4.

Either side of it

v2.1.126Older
v2.1.129Newer

Open the release →

Names in this entry

cli--plugin-dir
Load a plugin from a directory or .zip archive, or several from a folder of plugins, for this session only. Each flag takes one path. Repeat the flag for more paths: --plugin-dir A --plugin-dir B.zip. Passing a folder of plugins requires Claude Code v2.1.265 or later

Anthropic's notes

Upstream's own release notes for v2.1.128 name something this entry names, so the two are probably about the same change. Probably: the pairing is made on a shared name rather than on the words around it.

--plugin-dir now accepts .zip plugin archives in addition to directories
Fixed /plugin Components panel showing "Marketplace 'inline' not found" for plugins loaded via --plugin-dir
Headless --output-format stream-json: init.plugin_errors now includes --plugin-dir load failures in addition to dependency demotions

Is this right?