You'll noticeTier: how much it should matter to you
2Useful: my rating, 1 to 5
1Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5
PluginsArea: what it touches
ImprovementsKind: in v2.1.282,
ImprovementsSection of the release
Unclear It is not confirmed that the "Marketplace name refused by the look-alike check" wording is exactly what is shown for this failure.
What
A plugin marketplace is a catalog that Claude Code installs plugins from. Claude Code already refused marketplace names that imitate an official Anthropic or Claude marketplace, but the refusal surfaced as a generic "Failed to load marketplace" error, and the cache-miss message suggested running /reload-plugins. Now the refusal is reported as its own case:
The error reads: Claude Code refuses the marketplace name "": it looks like one of Anthropic's own. Reloading won't help. Other load failures keep the generic "Failed to load marketplace" text.
The message explains how to remove the marketplace: a plugin marketplace remove command, or /plugin then Marketplaces.
If the marketplace is declared in a settings file, it adds "it is declared in a settings file: to keep it, rename it there". Otherwise it adds "if its maintainer renames it, update it instead".
It warns that removing a marketplace uninstalls its plugins and deletes their saved data.
The failure is recorded with nameRefused, plus nameRefusedDeclaredInSettings when the marketplace came from settings. The reader for cached marketplaces tracks refusals the same way.
Load failures flagged nameRefused are excluded by the check that decides whether a plugin error is shown or counted, as untrusted reserved names already were.
Why
A marketplace posing as an Anthropic one will not load however many times you reload. The message now says so and tells you what to do instead.
How sure we are
Something disagreesSomething we can check disagrees with this entry, or the writer said they could not settle it.
The writer flagged doubtIt is not confirmed that the "Marketplace name refused by the look-alike check" wording is exactly what is shown for this failure.