Bug: Removing marketplace does not clean up associated plugin entries in installed_plugins.json

[AsiaOstrich]

Description

When removing a marketplace via /plugin marketplace remove, the associated plugin entries in ~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json are not cleaned up. This leaves orphaned records that cause persistent "Plugin not found in marketplace" errors.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install a plugin from a marketplace (e.g., universal-dev-standards from universal-dev-standards marketplace)
2. Later, rename or change the marketplace (e.g., from universal-dev-standards to asia-ostrich)
3. Remove the old marketplace via /plugin marketplace remove universal-dev-standards
4. Claude Code reports "✔ Removed 1 marketplace"
5. However, the plugin entry remains in ~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json:

{
  "plugins": {
    "universal-dev-standards@universal-dev-standards": [
      {
        "scope": "user",
        "installPath": "...",
        "version": "3.3.0-beta.2"
      }
    ]
  }
}

6. Open the plugin management page - see error:

1 error:
  Plugin 'universal-dev-standards' not found in marketplace 'universal-dev-standards'
  → Plugin may not exist in marketplace 'universal-dev-standards'

Expected Behavior

When removing a marketplace, Claude Code should either:

1. Automatically clean up all plugin entries associated with that marketplace from installed_plugins.json
2. Or prompt the user: "This marketplace has X installed plugins. Remove them as well?"

Actual Behavior

• Only the marketplace reference is removed
• Plugin entries in installed_plugins.json become orphaned
• Claude Code continues to validate these orphaned plugins against the non-existent marketplace
• Users see confusing error messages

Workaround

Manually edit ~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json to remove the orphaned plugin entries.

Environment

• OS: macOS (Darwin 24.6.0)
• Claude Code version: Latest (as of 2026-01-09)

[AsiaOstrich]

Additional Finding

After further investigation, I found that two files need to be cleaned up when removing a marketplace:

1. ~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json - plugin installation records
2. ~/.claude/settings.json - the enabledPlugins section

In my case, after removing the old marketplace, both files still contained orphaned entries:

installed_plugins.json:

{
  "plugins": {
    "universal-dev-standards@universal-dev-standards": [...]  // orphaned
  }
}

settings.json:

{
  "enabledPlugins": {
    "universal-dev-standards@universal-dev-standards": false,  // orphaned
    ...
  }
}

Both needed to be manually cleaned up to resolve the error.

Updated Expected Behavior

When removing a marketplace, Claude Code should clean up ALL related entries in:

• ~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json
• ~/.claude/settings.json (enabledPlugins section)
• Any other files that reference the marketplace/plugin

[ivan-magda]

I encountered this exact issue with the superpowers plugin ecosystem, which helped reveal an interesting edge case.

What Happened

1. Added obra/superpowers as a marketplace (registered as superpowers-dev)
2. Installed superpowers@superpowers-dev (v4.0.2)
3. Later added obra/superpowers-marketplace (the production registry)
4. Installed superpowers@superpowers-marketplace (v4.0.3)
5. Removed the superpowers-dev marketplace
6. Got persistent error on every session start:

1 error:
Plugin 'superpowers' not found in marketplace 'superpowers-dev'
→ Plugin may not exist in marketplace 'superpowers-dev'

Orphaned Entries Found

~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "enabledPlugins": {
    "superpowers@superpowers-dev": true,        // ← orphaned
    "superpowers@superpowers-marketplace": true  // ← valid
  }
}

~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json:

{
  "superpowers@superpowers-dev": [...],        // ← orphaned
  "superpowers@superpowers-marketplace": [...]  // ← valid
}

Orphaned cache directory: ~/.claude/plugins/cache/superpowers-dev/

Manual Fix Required

Had to manually:

1. Edit settings.json to remove superpowers@superpowers-dev entry
2. Edit installed_plugins.json to remove the stale plugin record
3. Delete ~/.claude/plugins/cache/superpowers-dev/ directory

Suggested Enhancement

Beyond cleaning up on marketplace removal, consider:

• Warning when installing a plugin that's already installed from a different marketplace
• Option to migrate plugin entries when removing a marketplace (e.g., "Plugin X is also available in marketplace Y. Transfer installation?")

[github-actions]

This issue has been inactive for 30 days. If the issue is still occurring, please comment to let us know. Otherwise, this issue will be automatically closed in 30 days for housekeeping purposes.

[ivan-magda]

The issue persists.