What
When installing a plugin or seeing the 'already installed' message, Claude Code now computes and shows the plugin's installedVersion versus its availableVersion.
- If the plugin loads in place from a local or linked source, the message notes that edits take effect at the next session start or via
/reload-plugins, and includes a command hint to re-record the version. - If a newer version is available, the message notes that and includes a hint for the update command to run.
Why
This makes it clearer to users whether their installed plugin is current, out of date, or running from a local/linked source that needs a reload to pick up changes, instead of showing a bare 'already installed' message with no version context.
Names in the bundle/reload-plugins
The entry above is what we published on the day. These lines were added later, as Anthropic's own pages caught up, and they sit beside the original rather than replacing it.
Added since
A small documentation edit on Week 32 · August 3–7, 2026 touched a line naming /reload-plugins after this was published.
<div>Plugins you install from <a href="/docs/en/plugins/install#install-a-plugin"><code>/plugin</code></a> activate in the current session when it's safe to do so; the install summary reports <code>Plugin is now active.</code> or tells you…whats-new/2026-w32 see the edit
Confirmed since
Anthropic's documentation has since written up /reload-plugins, on Push events into a running session with channels.
When the install asks for an installation scope, choose the user scope option so the plugin is available across all your projects. Check the install summary: if it reports `Run /reload-plugins to activate.`, see [Apply plugin changes witho…channels see the edit
One source agreesOne thing we can check says the same as this entry.
Anthropic's documentation agrees
Anthropic's documentation has since written up /reload-plugins, on Push events into a running session with channels.