What
The claude plugin update <plugin> command has a --scope option. Its help text now says "(default: auto-detect)" instead of "(default: user)". The enable and disable commands show the same auto-detect wording.
When you leave --scope out, the update command no longer fills in "user". The scope is left unset for Claude Code to work out, unless --cowork is set.
Why
If you update a plugin without naming a scope, the command no longer assumes the user scope. That matters for a plugin that was installed somewhere else.
Names in the bundleclaude plugin update--scope
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.
Confirmed since
Anthropic's documentation has since written up --scope, on Plugin commands reference.
| `-s, --scope <scope>` | Scope to update: `user`, `project`, `local`, or `managed`. Auto-detected when omitted |plugins/cli-reference see the edit
Added since
A small documentation edit on Install and manage plugins touched a line naming --scope after this was published.
* **Project scope**: the plugin is enabled for everyone who works in this repository. The entry goes in `.claude/settings.json`, which you commit. Committing that entry turns the plugin on for your collaborators but doesn't download it to …plugins/install see the edit
Confirmed since
Anthropic's documentation has since written up claude plugin update, on Error reference.
When a marketplace is already registered under such a name, its entry stops loading, and `/plugin`, `claude plugin install`, and `claude plugin update` warn:errors see the edit
Something disagreesSomething we can check disagrees with this entry, or the writer said they could not settle it.
The writer flagged doubt
The finding does not say how auto-detect chooses a scope or what scope is used when `--cowork` is set.
Anthropic's documentation agrees
Anthropic's documentation has since written up claude plugin update, on Error reference.
Anthropic's release notes agree
Fixed claude plugin update failing for project-scoped plugins when --scope is omitted — it now resolves the scope the plugin is installed at…