[BUG] /reload-plugins does not load skills from newly installed marketplace plugins

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?

After installing a marketplace plugin containing skills, /reload-plugins reports success and increments the plugin count, but the new skills do not appear in the available skills list or slash command autocomplete. The skills only become available after a full session restart.

Related but distinct from:

• #17271 — plugin skills not in slash commands (autocomplete-specific)
• #18949 — marketplace plugin skills not in autocomplete (autocomplete-specific)

This issue is about /reload-plugins specifically: it should make newly installed plugin skills available without a restart, but does not.

What Should Happen?

After running /reload-plugins, newly installed plugin skills should be available immediately — both via the Skill tool and in slash command autocomplete.

Error Messages/Logs

# Before install: 8 plugins, 30 commands
/reload-plugins
> Reloaded: 8 plugins · 30 commands · 18 agents · 4 hooks · 0 plugin MCP servers

# Install plugin
claude plugin install subagent-orchestration@subagent-orchestration
> ✔ Successfully installed plugin: subagent-orchestration@subagent-orchestration (scope: user)

# After reload: count increments but skills not available
/reload-plugins
> Reloaded: 10 plugins · 31 commands · 21 agents · 4 hooks · 0 plugin MCP servers

# Skills not in available skills list, not in autocomplete, Skill tool says unknown

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a marketplace plugin with skills following the standard structure:

``
my-marketplace/
├── .claude-plugin/
│ └── marketplace.json # source: "./plugin"
└── plugin/
├── .claude-plugin/
│ └── plugin.json
└── skills/
└── my-skill/
└── SKILL.md
``

1. Add marketplace and install plugin:

``sh
claude plugin marketplace add <source>
claude plugin install my-plugin@my-marketplace
``

1. Run /reload-plugins — plugin count increments but skills are not available

1. Restart session — skills now appear and work

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Claude Code Version

2.1.78 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

iTerm2

Additional Information

Reproduction repo: https://github.com/PabloLION/subagent-orchestration

The plugin has two skills (install-subagent-orchestration-rule and uninstall-subagent-orchestration-rule). Both are correctly structured with SKILL.md in their respective directories and valid frontmatter. claude plugin list shows the plugin as enabled.