[BUG] Plugin installPath uses hardcoded absolute home directory, breaks in containers

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

When Claude Code installs plugins, it persists installPath as a hardcoded absolute path (e.g., /home/malbrecht/.claude/...). When ~/.claude is mounted into a Docker container where HOME points to a different directory (e.g., /home/builduser), plugins fail to load because the stored absolute path no longer exists inside the container.

What Should Happen?

installPath should be stored relative to ~/.claude (or resolve $HOME/~ at runtime) so that it works across environments with different home directories.

Error Messages/Logs

# No specific error output — plugins silently fail to load because the path doesn't exist

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Claude Code and a plugin on the host where HOME=/home/alice
2. Observe that .claude stores plugin installPath as an absolute path like /home/alice/.claude/plugins/...
3. Mount ~/.claude into a Docker container where HOME=/home/builduser (e.g., via volume = /home/alice/.claude:/home/builduser/.claude:rw)
4. Start Claude Code inside the container
5. Plugin fails to load because /home/alice/.claude/plugins/... does not exist inside the container

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.75 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Other Linux

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

The workaround is to create a symlink inside the container mapping the host home directory path:

ln -s /home/builduser /home/alice

This affects anyone running Claude Code in containers with a different home directory than the host, which is a common setup for development environments with remote execution.