Marketplace from a local git directory installs the checked-out branch, and autoUpdate does not keep the cache current

I add a marketplace from a local directory, and that directory is a git working tree I actively develop in.

Two things happen that I don't think are intended.

1. Plugins get installed from whatever branch is checked out

I was on a feature branch with an open pull request. The plugin version there was ahead of my default branch, because I'd bumped it on the branch.

~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json recorded this:

{
  "scope": "user",
  "version": "0.68.10",
  "gitCommitSha": "<a commit that only exists on my feature branch>"
}

My default branch had 0.68.8. So my session was running plugin code that was still under review and had not been merged.

I don't think a marketplace should follow the checked-out branch. If it reads a git directory, I'd expect it to read the default branch, or to say which ref it used.

2. autoUpdate: true is set, and the cache still went stale

My entry has "autoUpdate": true. Over several hours in one session, the cache stayed four minor versions behind the directory it points at. The session kept loading the old skills the whole time and nothing indicated it.

Running /plugin marketplace update <name> and then /reload-plugins by hand fixed it immediately.

I can't tell when autoUpdate is supposed to fire, so I don't know whether it ran and failed or never ran. There's nothing in the UI that shows the installed version against the source version, so the only way I found this was by comparing the cache directory to the file on disk.

What I'd expect

• A marketplace backed by a git directory installs from a known ref, not from whatever is checked out.
• If autoUpdate is on, either it keeps up, or something says it hasn't.
• Some way to see the installed version next to the source version.

Workaround

Run /plugin marketplace update <name> and /reload-plugins manually after every change. Neither can be automated as far as I can tell — they're built-in commands, so a hook or a scheduled prompt can't invoke them.

Environment

• Windows 11, Claude Code CLI
• Marketplace source: {"source": "directory", "path": "<a local git working tree>"}, autoUpdate: true