What
A plugin is an add-on package for Claude Code. Programs that drive Claude Code through the SDK (its developer kit) send a reload_plugins request to reload plugins. That request now takes an optional add_plugins list:
- Each entry is
{ type: "local", path }with an absolute path, the same shape as the SDKpluginsoption. It joins the session as one more--plugin-dirwould, and plugins already loaded stay loaded. - The plugins are installed before the reload, optionally without looking for their MCP servers.
- If the reload is held because it would affect the cache, or it fails, the added plugins are undone.
- Refusals come back with an error message. The request is refused for callers on another machine, when managed settings set
disableSideloadFlags, for Remote Control and cloud workers, in cloud-hosted sessions (which used to let it through), and withsandbox_deny_failedwhen a running sandbox, the protective boundary around commands Claude runs, cannot keep shell commands out of the new folders.
Also changed:
mcp_callacceptsresult_not_for_model, passed on asresultNotForModel. It is ignored on connections that do not redact.- A settings pins result now includes
settingsFiles, and a change summary tracks changes toagentProxy.
Why
A host program can add plugins to a running session without restarting it. Organizations that block sideloaded plugins with disableSideloadFlags also block this route.
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.
* **An administrator has turned on [`disableSideloadFlags`](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/settings-reference#disablesideloadflags) in your managed settings**: the message says `reload_plugins add_plugins is disabled by managed settings (…agent-sdk/typescript see the edit
* **A relative `path` or a malformed entry**: the error message says `add_plugins must be a list of { type: "local", path } entries with absolute paths`. Claude Code refuses the whole list over one bad entry, so pass every entry as `{ type…agent-sdk/typescript see the edit
Anthropic's documentation has since written up add_plugins, on Agent SDK reference - TypeScript.