Feature: Lazy loading for plugins to reduce context overhead

Problem

Plugins load all their agents, skills, and MCP tools into context at session start, even when they won't be used. For feature-rich plugins like compound-engineering, this can consume 8-15% of available context (15k+ tokens) before the user even types anything.

Current Workaround

Users must:

1. Disable the plugin in settings.json
2. Use --settings '{"enabledPlugins":{"plugin@marketplace":true}}' via alias when needed

This works but is clunky.

Proposed Solution

Add lazy/on-demand plugin loading. Options could include:

1. --enable-plugin <name> CLI flag - Enable a disabled plugin for this session only (inverse of current behavior)

1. Lazy discovery mode - Only load plugin name/description at startup; load full agents/skills/MCP when first invoked

1. Per-project plugin configs - Allow .claude/settings.local.json to override which plugins are enabled for specific projects

1. Plugin profiles - Define named plugin sets (e.g., claude --profile heavy vs default lite)

Use Case

I use compound-engineering for complex code reviews and planning workflows, but not for quick queries. Currently I either:

• Pay the 15k token tax every session, or
• Maintain shell aliases with JSON overrides

A first-class solution would improve UX significantly.

Environment

• Claude Code version: latest
• OS: macOS