## Preflight Checklist - [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet - [x] This is a single bug report - [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code ## Bug Description When running `claude --plugin-dir= ` with a plugin that has the same name as a marketplace-installed plugin, the marketplace version loads instead of the one at the specified path. The `--plugin-dir` flag should override (or at minimum merge with precedence over) marketplace-installed plugins

Thanks for the detailed report. I tried to reproduce this on **2.1.233** (Linux): installed a marketplace plugin `demo` v2.0.0, kept a local dev copy (v1.0.0 with an extra skill and agent) at another path, and ran `claude --plugin-dir `. The local copy correctly took precedence — its extra skill/agent were available and the marketplace copy was not loaded. This is the documented behavior (see [Plugins docs](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins)), and per the [changelog](https://github.c

[BUG] --plugin-dir does not take precedence over marketplace-installed plugin with same name

Status Closed — not planned

Reported on v2.1.195

Maintainer reply ✓ Yes — bcherny

Workaround ✓ Mentioned in description ↑

Activity 5 comments · opened Jun 29, 2026 · closed Aug 24, 2026

💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (bcherny, collaborator) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

Preflight Checklist

[x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
[x] This is a single bug report
[x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

Bug Description

When running claude --plugin-dir=<path> with a plugin that has the same name as a marketplace-installed plugin, the marketplace version loads instead of the one at the specified path. The --plugin-dir flag should override (or at minimum merge with precedence over) marketplace-installed plugins.

Steps to Reproduce

Have a plugin installed via marketplace (e.g. ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/<org>/<plugin-name>/, version 2.0.0)
Have a local development copy of the same plugin at a different path (e.g. ~/dev/my-plugin/, version 1.0.0) that contains an agent definition not present in the marketplace version
Run: claude --plugin-dir=~/dev/my-plugin "invoke the agent only in the local version"
The marketplace version loads instead — the agent unique to the local version is unavailable

Expected Behavior

The plugin from --plugin-dir should take precedence over the marketplace-installed copy when they share the same plugin name. Agents and skills from --plugin-dir should be the ones loaded.

Actual Behavior

The marketplace version loads. Agent definitions only present in the --plugin-dir version are unavailable. The session resolves agent files from ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/... instead of the path passed via --plugin-dir.

Environment

Claude Code version: 2.1.195
OS: macOS (Darwin 25.5.0)
Shell: zsh

Impact

Plugin authors cannot test local changes without uninstalling the marketplace version first
Users cannot pin an older plugin version via --plugin-dir if the marketplace has a newer one
Makes iterative plugin development painful — the only workaround is rm -rf ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/<org>/<name>

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4 Comments

github-actions[bot] · 2 months ago

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

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poorakk · 2 months ago

Confirmed duplicate of #32619 — closing in favor of the canonical issue.

For anyone landing here: #32619 was closed as NOT_PLANNED, so until that changes the working guidance is to temporarily move the marketplace-installed copy out of the plugins dir before launching with --plugin-dir, then move it back when done:

mv ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/<org>/<plugin-name> /tmp/plugin-backup
# launch: claude --plugin-dir=/path/to/local/plugin ...
mv /tmp/plugin-backup ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/<org>/<plugin-name>

bcherny collaborator · 14 days ago

Thanks for the detailed report. I tried to reproduce this on 2.1.233 (Linux): installed a marketplace plugin demo v2.0.0, kept a local dev copy (v1.0.0 with an extra skill and agent) at another path, and ran claude --plugin-dir <path>. The local copy correctly took precedence — its extra skill/agent were available and the marketplace copy was not loaded. This is the documented behavior (see Plugins docs), and per the changelog it has worked this way since 2.1.74.

However, I could reproduce your exact symptom one way: --plugin-dir=~/dev/my-plugin with an unexpanded tilde. zsh (the macOS default) doesn't expand ~ after = in an option argument, so the CLI receives a literal ~/… path, the local plugin silently fails to load, and the marketplace copy wins — which matches what you saw. The failure only shows up in claude --plugin-dir <path> plugin list as "Path not found".

Could you check:

claude --version
The output of claude --plugin-dir <your-path> plugin list (does your local copy show as loaded?)
Whether using a space instead of = (claude --plugin-dir ~/dev/my-plugin) or an absolute path fixes it?

If the plugin shows as loaded and the wrong version still wins, please share the debug log (--debug) and we'll dig further.

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github-actions[bot] · 14 days ago

We weren't able to reproduce this. Could you provide steps to trigger the issue — what you ran, what happened, and what you expected? This issue will be closed automatically if there's no activity within 7 days.

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