Stale managed plugin entries are kept, with a warning, when the directory-bindings file is unusable
Claude Code no longer removes outdated managed or duplicate plugin entries unless it can use plugin-directory-bindings.json, and it now warns when it keeps them
You'll noticeTier: how much it should matter to you
2Useful: my rating, 1 to 5
2Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5
PluginsArea: what it touches
ImprovementsKind: in v2.1.292,
ImprovementsSection of the release
What
Managed plugins are plugins that an organisation's policy requires to be installed. When policy no longer requires one, or an entry is a duplicate, Claude Code tidies up the leftover entry.
Removing such entries now needs plugin-directory-bindings.json in the plugins folder, a file that records which repository each plugin was installed from.
If that file cannot be used or written, the stale managed or duplicate entries are kept instead of being removed.
When this happens, a warning is now logged. Before, entries were removed without this check, and nothing was said.
Why
If you see leftover plugin entries after an install, the warning explains why they are still there. The cleanup also no longer goes ahead without being able to record where the plugin came from.
