[BUG] Account-level plugins never sync to Claude Code on the web (plugins_sync count: 0) while account skills sync fine

Running into the same issue, Claude wrote this as additional info to contribute, hopefully this gets fixed soon, because this bug is seriously obnoxious, and the observed behavior does not match what the docs say:

Root cause: SKIP_PLUGIN_MARKETPLACE=true in the container environment

I hit this same issue and traced it to the source. The cloud_default remote environment injects SKIP_PLUGIN_MARKETPLACE=true into the parent process environment (the claude launcher, PID 1's child). This kills the entire plugin marketplace sync pipeline before it evaluates any plugin config.

Diagnostic evidence

Process environment chain:

$ tr '\0' '\n' < /proc/$PPID/environ | grep -i "SKIP\|PLUGIN\|MARKET\|SYNC_SKILL"
SKIP_PLUGIN_MARKETPLACE=true
ENVRUNNER_SKIP_ACK=true

$ env | grep SYNC_SKILLS
CLAUDE_CODE_SYNC_SKILLS=1

Note: CLAUDE_CODE_SYNC_SKILLS=1 exists and works. There is no CLAUDE_CODE_SYNC_PLUGINS equivalent.

Skills vs plugins - same bucket UUID, different outcomes:

# Skills bucket - populated, 13 skills loaded:
~/.claude/skills/synced/.../ → manifest.json, 13 skill directories

# Plugins bucket - empty skeleton:
~/.claude/plugins/synced/.../ → just . and ..

The bucket marker file (.bucket-...) is created in both directories, indicating the sync infrastructure knows about the plugin bucket; it just never populates it.

ListPlugins returns []; ListSkills returns all 13 skills correctly.

Additional finding: undocumented reach field

Every plugin in the SearchPlugins API has a reach field ("remote" or "contained"), but this field is absent from the plugin.json schema documentation. It's unclear whether this is author-set or computed server-side, and whether it plays a role in the sync decision alongside or independently of SKIP_PLUGIN_MARKETPLACE. These may be layered blockers.

Environment details

• CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE=cloud_default
• CLAUDE_CODE_ENTRYPOINT=remote
• CLAUDE_CODE_VERSION=2.1.42
• Plugin configured via claude.ai marketplace settings, shows "synced" at correct commit
• Repo is public, plugin.json structure validates correctly
• User env var override (SKIP_PLUGIN_MARKETPLACE=) has no effect; the parent process already consumed the flag before shell-level overrides apply

What the docs say

plugins-reference.md:

"In Cowork and cloud sessions, Claude Code downloads the plugins enabled for your claude.ai account into ~/.claude/plugins/synced/ in the session's own environment and loads each one as <name>@synced."

cloud-environments.md:

"Plugins declared in .claude/settings.json: Yes - Installed at session start from the marketplace you declared."

The documented behavior and the actual behavior directly contradict.

+1

Reproduced today with a different marketplace and a Team plan account.

Setup

• Claude Code 2.1.270 in Anthropic-hosted cloud sessions (claude.ai/code), two different cloud environments.
• Private personal marketplace: https://github.com/mnmkng/Claude (.claude-plugin/marketplace.json, one plugin personal-productivity with one skill todoist).
• claude plugin validate passes on both manifests. Inside the same cloud container image, claude plugin marketplace add mnmkng/Claude + claude plugin install personal-productivity@mnmkng-personal succeed and claude plugin details lists the skill. So the marketplace itself is fine.
• Enabled the plugin at account level via Claude Desktop → Chat and Cowork → Customize → Plugins → Add → Add from a repository. It shows under "Your plugins" there.

I tested the /todoist skill's availability in Chat and on mobile and both work, but never in Claude Code cloud.

Result in a fresh cloud session started after enabling

{"event":"plugins_sync_starting","data":{}}
{"event":"plugins_sync_no_changes","data":{"count":0,"duration_ms":908,"list_ms":380,"had_manifest":false}}
{"event":"plugins_sync_wait","data":{"timed_out":false}}

~/.claude/plugins/synced/<bucket>/ contains only the bucket marker. claude plugin list reports no plugins and no "Synced from claude.ai" heading. The skill is absent from the system prompt.
In the same session, account skills sync works: skills_sync_complete {"downloaded":13} on first start, and it re-runs every ~10 minutes. Plugin sync runs only once at session start.

Side note on UX that cost me an hour: the Desktop app's Code tab has its own Customize → Plugins page, but it manages the local ~/.claude store only ("Marketplaces added with Claude Code on this computer"). Plugins enabled there are invisible to cloud sessions by design. The account-level page is under the Chat and Cowork tab. That is not obvious when you are configuring Claude Code and running it in the cloud.

+1, reproduced 2026-09-22 on a Max plan, Claude Code 2.1.278.

Probe: a minimal plugin (one skill, one subagent, a SessionStart hook that prints a
marker, a PreToolUse hook that denies one sentinel command). claude plugin validate
passes, and it works end to end locally with --plugin-dir.

Uploaded via claude.ai (Chat tab) > Customize > Plugins; it lands in "My Uploads"
with account scope. A terminal session on the same account syncs it
(claude plugin list shows it under "Synced from claude.ai"), along with two
Anthropic plugins.

A fresh cloud session started ~11 min after upload:

• ~/.claude/plugins/synced/<bucket>/ exists but is empty
• installed_plugins.json = {"version": 2, "plugins": {}}
• the sentinel command ran; the PreToolUse hook did not fire
• no marker from SessionStart; the skill and subagent are absent
• ~/.claude/skills/synced/<bucket>/ has all account skills, same bucket id

So the local terminal gets all three account plugins, and the cloud session on the
same version gets none. This also blocks plugins in Claude Code Projects, since
every thread is a cloud session.