[DOCS] Plugins reference missing dependency version requirement and recovery docs

Documentation Type

Missing documentation (feature not documented)

Documentation Location

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins-reference

Section/Topic

Plugin manifest schema, plugin install / plugin update, and plugin troubleshooting for dependency resolution

Current Documentation

No documentation currently exists for plugin dependency declarations or for how Claude Code resolves dependency version requirements during plugin install and plugin update.

The closest current docs say:

The .claude-plugin/plugin.json file defines your plugin's metadata and configuration. This section documents all supported fields and options. | version | string | Semantic version. If also set in the marketplace entry, plugin.json takes priority. You only need to set it in one place. |

And the CLI reference currently only documents the command surface:

claude plugin install <plugin> [options] claude plugin update <plugin> [options]

Related version-range documentation is currently limited to marketplace npm source definitions:

| version | string | Optional. Version or version range (for example, 2.1.0, ^2.0.0, ~1.5.0) |

What's Wrong or Missing?

Changelog v2.1.111 says:

Improved plugin error handling: dependency errors now distinguish conflicting, invalid, and overly complex version requirements; fixed stale resolved versions after plugin update; plugin install now recovers from interrupted prior installs

But the docs do not currently explain:

A. Plugin dependency declarations and version requirements

The plugin docs do not describe where dependencies are declared in plugin.json, what version requirement syntax is supported, or how dependency resolution works.

B. Install/update behavior

The plugin install and plugin update docs do not explain that dependency versions are resolved during install/update, that updates can re-resolve versions, or that interrupted prior installs can now be recovered automatically.

C. Troubleshooting guidance

There is no troubleshooting guidance for the new dependency error categories (conflicting, invalid, and overly complex version requirements), so plugin authors and marketplace maintainers have no documented way to diagnose these failures.

Suggested Improvement

Add a new dependency-resolution subsection to https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins-reference that documents:

1. Where plugin dependencies are declared
2. The supported version requirement syntax, with valid and invalid examples
3. What plugin install auto-resolves or auto-installs
4. How plugin update handles re-resolution and version refresh
5. How Claude Code recovers from interrupted prior installs
6. A troubleshooting table for conflicting, invalid, and overly complex version requirement errors

Also add short cross-references from discover-plugins and plugin-marketplaces so users looking up install/update problems can find the dependency-resolution docs quickly.

Impact

Medium - Makes feature difficult to understand

Additional Context

Affected Pages:

| Page | Line(s) | Context |
|------|---------|---------|
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins-reference | 287-355 | Manifest schema claims to document supported fields, but there is no dependency field or dependency-resolution guidance |
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins-reference | 595-708 | plugin install and plugin update list syntax and scope flags only |
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-marketplaces | 384-415 | Documents marketplace npm version ranges, but not plugin-to-plugin dependency version requirements |
| https://code.claude.com/docs/en/discover-plugins | 256-360, 420-427 | Covers install/manage flows and generic troubleshooting, but not dependency resolution or interrupted-install recovery |

Total scope: 4 pages affected

Source: Changelog v2.1.111

Exact changelog entry: Improved plugin error handling: dependency errors now distinguish conflicting, invalid, and overly complex version requirements; fixed stale resolved versions after plugin update; plugin install now recovers from interrupted prior installs