Plugin cache not refreshed when version number is unchanged after uninstall/install
Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Apr 9, 2026 by wish0728 Closed Apr 12, 2026
Bug Description
When a plugin's source files are updated in the marketplace repo (new git commits merged) but the version number in plugin.json remains the same, both /plugin update and /plugin uninstall followed by /plugin install fail to refresh the cached plugin files.
Steps to Reproduce
- Install a plugin from a marketplace:
/plugin install performance-review@buzzvil-plugins(version1.0.0) - Push new commits to the marketplace repo (e.g., update skill files, fix YAML parsing, add features)
- The marketplace local repo fetches the latest commits successfully
- Run
/plugin update performance-review@buzzvil-plugins— outputs "already at the latest version (1.0.0)" - Run
/plugin uninstallthen/plugin install— cache files are still stale
Expected Behavior
Plugin cache should be refreshed when the git commit SHA has changed, even if the version string remains the same. Either:
/plugin updateshould compare git commit SHAs (not just version strings)/plugin install(after uninstall) should always copy fresh files from the marketplace source
Actual Behavior
/plugin updateonly compares version strings, so same version = "already up to date"/plugin installafter uninstall does not overwrite the cached filesinstalled_plugins.jsonretains the oldgitCommitShaeven after reinstall
Evidence
Marketplace source (latest) vs Cache (stale):
- Source SKILL.md: 39,002 bytes
- Cache SKILL.md: 34,966 bytes
The marketplace local repo has the latest commit (0285b86), but the cache still has files from the older commit (13453e5).
Workaround
Manually sync the cache from the marketplace source:
rm -rf ~/.claude/plugins/cache/<marketplace>/<plugin>/<version>/skills
cp -R ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/<marketplace>/plugins/<plugin>/skills ~/.claude/plugins/cache/<marketplace>/<plugin>/<version>/skills
Environment
- Claude Code version: 2.1.97
- OS: macOS (Darwin 25.3.0)
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