[Bug] Marketplace update fails to find git on Windows: "Command 'git' not found or is in an unsafe location"

[IanVand]

Description

claude plugin marketplace update fails on Windows 11 with the error:

Command 'git' not found or is in an unsafe location (current directory)

This happens despite git being available on the system PATH and working correctly from both bash and Node.js (child_process.execSync).

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Claude Code on Windows 11 (via npm)
2. Register one or more plugin marketplaces (GitHub or Git-hosted)
3. Run claude plugin marketplace update <name>
4. Observe: CLI detects cache as "stale," attempts to re-clone, and fails

Expected Behavior

Marketplace cache is refreshed successfully using the system git installation.

Actual Behavior

Updating marketplace: cce-claude-code...
Refreshing marketplace cache (timeout: 120s)…
Found stale directory, cleaning up and re-cloning…
Cloning repository (timeout: 120s): https://bitbucket.micron.com/scm/ssedscg/cce_claude_code.git
✘ Failed to update marketplace(s): Failed to refresh marketplace 'cce-claude-code': Failed to clone marketplace repository: Command 'git' not found or is in an unsafe location (current directory)

All 4 registered marketplaces fail with the identical error, which cascades to all plugin updates (plugins can't be found in the stale cache).

Diagnostics

Check	Result
which git (Git Bash)	/mingw64/bin/git ✅
where git (CMD)	C:\Users\...\Git\cmd\git.exe ✅
git clone <url> (bash)	Works ✅
node -e "execSync('git --version')"	git version 2.45.0.windows.1 ✅
claude plugin marketplace update	❌ Fails

The cache directories (~/.claude/plugins/cache/<name>/) exist but contain only plugin subdirectories — no .git directory. This causes the CLI to treat them as stale and attempt a re-clone, which is where the git resolution fails.

Hypothesis

The Claude CLI's git spawning logic may not be using shell: true (or equivalent) when invoking git on Windows, or may be resolving the executable path in a way that doesn't work with Windows PATH conventions. The error message pattern ("not found or is in an unsafe location") suggests the process can't locate the git binary, even though it's accessible from every other context (CMD, bash, Node.js).

Environment

• OS: Windows 11 Enterprise 10.0.26100
• Claude Code: 2.1.89
• Node.js: v24.13.0
• Git: 2.45.0.windows.1
• Git install path: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Programs\Git\
• Shell: Git Bash (via Claude Code's built-in bash)

[IanVand]

Additional findings

After further investigation, this bug is more severe than initially reported.

Destructive behavior

claude plugin marketplace update <name> deletes the existing marketplace directory before attempting the git clone. When the clone fails (due to the git resolution bug), the marketplace is permanently gone — all plugins from that marketplace become "failed to load" with "Plugin not found in marketplace."

This means running the update command makes things worse, not just failing gracefully.

The cache vs marketplace directory distinction

Claude Code maintains two sets of directories:

• Marketplace install dirs (~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/<name>/) — the actual git clones
• Cache dirs (~/.claude/plugins/cache/<name>/) — used for version-pinned plugin content

The marketplace install dirs were valid git repos. The update command's "stale directory" detection incorrectly flags them, deletes them, then fails to re-clone.

What works vs what doesn't

Operation	Uses git?	Works?
git clone from bash	✅	✅
git clone from Node.js execSync	✅	✅
git clone from CMD (cmd.exe /c)	✅	✅
claude plugin marketplace update	✅ (internal)	❌
claude plugin list	❌	✅
claude plugin update <name> (GitHub marketplace)	✅ (internal)	✅
claude plugin update <name> (Git marketplace)	✅ (internal)	❌

Note that GitHub-sourced marketplaces (claude-plugins-official) update fine — suggesting the CLI uses a different code path (GitHub API?) for those vs generic git-sourced marketplaces.

Workaround

Manually clone the marketplace repos into ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/<name>/ using bash:

git clone <marketplace-url> ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/<name>

Do NOT run claude plugin marketplace update — it will delete the working directory.

[github-actions]

Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.