What
Plugin sync is how Claude Code downloads the plugins set up for your account or organization. Plugins are add-ons that extend Claude Code. Several parts of it changed:
- Download order: plugins already on the machine come first, then plugins whose
installationPreference(installation_preference) is"required", then the rest. In the sync list result, only the order changes. - Renames: when a plugin's id on the server differs from the id stored locally, sync detects this and handles it as a rename.
- Asked lists:
askedListIdsis now saved in the manifest, the local record of what was synced. - Reuse shortcut: reusing an earlier sync round now needs one extra check to pass.
- Skills as plugins: the check for whether to sync skills as plugins is now worked out once per session. It no longer applies only in the
hosted_workermode. It also applies when the mode is"none"and a further condition holds, and it is gated byCLAUDE_CODE_SYNC_PLUGINSor a function. A separate check decides whether the skills list asks for this. Before,CLAUDE_CODE_SYNC_SKILLSwas an opt-in for some cases. - Converted skills: when enabled, the skills sync round waits for an earlier step and passes a
convertedSkillsAsPluginsflag to the bucket sync and the list call. The key for the last listing gets a.converted-skillssuffix, so switching this mode forces a fresh listing instead of reusing an old one.
Why
Required plugins are fetched before optional ones, which matters if a sync is cut short. Syncing skills as plugins may now happen in sessions that are not hosted, and changing that mode no longer reuses a stale list.