[BUG] VS Code Manage Plugins panel renders only Installed — available list & search missing in v2.1.161 (native binary returns 196 available)

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I searched existing issues; this is not a duplicate of #65068 (there the native binary returns []) or #64956. In my case the native binary returns 196 available plugins — the bug is purely in the VS Code "Manage Plugins" panel rendering.
• [x] Single bug report
• [x] Using the latest version (2.1.161)

What's Wrong?

In the VS Code extension, the Manage Plugins panel only renders the Installed section (21 plugins). The list of available plugins that used to appear below "INSTALLED" (with the per-scope install picker) is completely gone, and the search field at the top does not respond to typing (typing e.g. expo filters/shows nothing).

This is a regression — ~1–2 weeks ago (after updating into the 2.1.16x line) the same panel showed a scrollable list of all available plugins under the installed ones, with User/Project/Local install scope selection.

Crucially, the backend is fine — the native binary shipped with the extension returns the full catalog. Only the panel UI fails to render it.

What Should Happen?

The Manage Plugins panel should render the available-plugins section (the 196 available plugins the binary returns) below Installed, and the search field should filter them — as it did before the regression.

Error Messages/Logs

Running the extension's own native binary directly proves the data layer is healthy:

$ .../anthropic.claude-code-2.1.161-darwin-arm64/resources/native-binary/claude plugin list --json --available
# exit 0, valid JSON, 117 KB:
{ "installed": [ ...21 items... ], "available": [ ...196 items... ] }

$ .../resources/native-binary/claude plugin marketplace list --json
[ { "name": "claude-plugins-official", "source": "git",
    "url": "https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official.git", "installLocation": "..." } ]

So installed: 21, available: 196, marketplace resolves correctly. The panel still shows only the 21 installed and an unresponsive search box.

~/.claude/plugins/plugin-catalog-cache.json is also present and fresh (208 plugins, fetchedAt today). Note: the cache marketplace_sha (c917011c…) differs from the cloned marketplace .gcs-sha (ab91f484…) — possibly related, possibly not.

Steps to Reproduce

1. VS Code with Claude Code extension v2.1.161 (darwin-arm64), official marketplace claude-plugins-official added.
2. Open Manage Plugins → Plugins tab.
3. Observe: only the INSTALLED group renders; no available/browse list below it; the Search plugins… field does not react to input.
4. Confirm the data exists: run the bundled resources/native-binary/claude plugin list --json --available → returns installed: 21, available: 196.

Tried (did not help)

• Developer: Reload Window and reopening the panel.
• Checking for / applying extension updates.

Claude Code Version

2.1.161 (darwin-arm64) — VS Code extension

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS (Darwin 25.5.0, arm64)