cc-pluginroot-directory-source-ignored

name	cc-pluginroot-directory-source-ignored
description	Fix for Claude Code startup error `Plugin directory not found at path: <marketplace_root>/<plugin_name>. Check that the marketplace entry has the correct path.` when the marketplace is a `source: "directory"` marketplace that uses `metadata.pluginRoot` to factor out a common prefix from plugin sources. Use when: (1) you author a local directory-source Claude Code marketplace (registered with `claude plugin marketplace add <local-path>`); (2) the marketplace.json declares plugins like `{"name":"foo","source":"./foo"}` with a top-level `metadata.pluginRoot: "./plugins"`; (3) plugin subdirectories physically exist at `<root>/plugins/foo` but Claude Code reports them missing at `<root>/foo` — i.e. the `/plugins/` segment is silently dropped from the resolved path; (4) you're managing the marketplace via APM (`apm.yml` with `marketplace.metadata.pluginRoot: ./plugins`), APM's packaging step happily emits the `pluginRoot`-factored marketplace.json, but Claude Code rejects it at load time; (5) the same plugin loads fine when you change its source from `./foo` to `./plugins/foo` and remove `pluginRoot`. Root cause: as of Claude Code 2.1.158 the runtime resolver does NOT apply `metadata.pluginRoot` for `source: "directory"` marketplaces — the field is accepted by the schema (no validation error) and is honored for `git-subdir` sources, but for directory-source marketplaces the plugin source is resolved literally against the marketplace's installLocation. Fix: revert to explicit `./plugins/<name>` source paths and remove the now-unused `pluginRoot` at BOTH layers when APM-managed (apm.yml AND marketplace.json — apm.yml is the source of truth, marketplace.json is regenerated by APM's packaging step).
author	Claude Code
version	1.0.0
date	2026-05-30T00:00:00.000Z

Claude Code directory-source marketplace: pluginRoot ignored

Problem

Claude Code refuses to load plugins from a local directory-source marketplace and prints, for each affected plugin:

Plugin directory not found at path: <marketplace_root>/<plugin_name>.
Check that the marketplace entry has the correct path.

The directory IS present on disk — just at <marketplace_root>/plugins/<plugin_name>, not at the resolved path Claude Code is reporting. The marketplace.json's metadata.pluginRoot: "./plugins" is being silently ignored.

The error message blames "the marketplace entry" but the entry is correct per the documented schema; the bug is in the resolver.

Context / Trigger Conditions

ALL of these together strongly point at this failure mode:

1. The marketplace was registered as source: "directory" (you can see this in ~/.claude/plugins/known_marketplaces.json — look for "source": "directory" under the marketplace name).
2. Its marketplace.json includes "metadata": { ..., "pluginRoot": "./plugins" }.
3. Plugin entries use the factored short form, e.g. {"name": "claudeception", "source": "./claudeception"} — relying on pluginRoot to add ./plugins/ to that path.
4. Plugin subdirectories physically exist at <root>/plugins/<name>, NOT at <root>/<name>.
5. The error message shows the resolved path WITHOUT the ./plugins/ segment.
6. Only some plugins from the marketplace are reported — usually the ones currently enabled in settings or with cached install records — but ALL plugins in the marketplace are broken at runtime. The errors will spread to other plugins as soon as they're consulted.

Root Cause

The Claude Code 2.1.158 binary's marketplace schema accepts metadata.pluginRoot (validated as h.object({pluginRoot: h.string().optional()...})). The field IS read at multiple call sites (H.pluginRoot, v.pluginRoot, z.pluginRoot are visible in the binary), but NONE of those call sites are the source-resolution path for source: "directory" marketplaces. For directory sources, the plugin source string is joined directly against the marketplace's installLocation with no pluginRoot prepending.

Result: a marketplace.json that validates fine at install time and even passes APM's packaging step in mode (since APM uses the same schema) fails at plugin-load time.