The SDK reload_plugins request takes add_plugins to load extra plugin folders without restarting, refused in cloud sessions and under disableSideloadFlags
What probably matters to youSection of the release
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 SDK plugins option. It joins the session as one more --plugin-dir would, 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 with sandbox_deny_failed when a running sandbox, the protective boundary around commands Claude runs, cannot keep shell commands out of the new folders.
Also changed:
mcp_call accepts result_not_for_model, passed on as resultNotForModel. It is ignored on connections that do not redact.
A settings pins result now includes settingsFiles, and a change summary tracks changes to agentProxy.
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.
Read from
Names in the bundleadd_pluginsreload_plugins--plugin-dir
Since it was published
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 sinceAnthropic's documentation has since written up --plugin-dir, on Claude Code changelog.* Windows: Fixed every file write being refused or asked about for projects on exFAT or FAT32 drives, including in sessions started with `--plugin-dir`changelogsee the edit
How sure we are
One source agreesOne thing we can check says the same as this entry.
Anthropic's documentation agreesAnthropic's documentation has since written up --plugin-dir, on Claude Code changelog.