[BUG] [Windows] Plugin marketplace install fails with EPERM on rename — path resolution collapses username + .claude into single token

[bluerush-nuno]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Title: [Windows] Plugin marketplace install fails with EPERM on rename — path resolution collapses username + .claude into single token

Labels: bug, windows, plugin-marketplace

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Environment

Field	Value
Claude Code version	v2.1.117 → reproduced on v2.1.118
OS	Windows 11, Build 26200
Install method	native installer

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Description

On Windows, when a username contains no dots, Claude Code incorrectly resolves the config path by collapsing C:\Users\username and \.claude into C:\Users\username.claude\ — treating .claude as a suffix to the username rather than a subdirectory.

This manifests as an EPERM: operation not permitted, rename error when the marketplace installer attempts to atomically rename a temp directory to the final destination, because the resolved path is invalid/unexpected.

This happens even when CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR is set to the right folder C:\Users\username.claude AND a symlink from C:\Users\username.claude -> C:\Users\username.claude exists.

Similar issue reported in #45432 but that is related to the username having accented characters.

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Steps to Reproduce

1. Fresh Windows install of Claude Code (native, non-WSL)
2. Run /plugin marketplace add https://github.com/affaan-m/everything-claude-code
3. Observe failure

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Error Output

Error: Failed to finalize marketplace cache. Please manually delete the directory at
C:\Users\username.claude\plugins\marketplaces\everything-claude-code if it exists and try again.

Technical details: EPERM: operation not permitted, rename
'C:\Users\username.claude\plugins\marketplaces\temp_1776882015473' ->
'C:\Users\username.claude\plugins\marketplaces\everything-claude-code'

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Root Cause Analysis

Two distinct bugs appear to be present:

Bug 1 — Path resolution: ~\.claude is being resolved by stripping the separator, producing username.claude as a directory name rather than username\.claude as a subdirectory. The splash screen displays ~\.claude correctly, but the runtime path is wrong.

Bug 2 — Atomic rename: fs.rename() on Windows fails with EPERM when the destination directory already exists (from a prior failed attempt). Unlike POSIX, Windows does not support atomic directory rename-over-existing. The installer has no fallback for this case.

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Attempted Workarounds — All Unsuccessful

Workaround	Result
Set CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=C:\Users\username\.claude (User env var)	Fixes config dir but plugins path resolved independently — no effect on marketplace
NTFS junction: username.claude → username\.claude	Junction already existed; EPERM on rename still occurs
Manual deletion of temp_* and everything-claude-code dirs before retry	Temp dir recreated on next attempt, rename fails again
Manual git clone into target path	Workaround only — does not fix the underlying issue

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Expected Behavior

• ~\.claude resolves to C:\Users\username\.claude (subdirectory)
• Marketplace installer handles pre-existing destination directory gracefully (delete-then-rename or copy-then-delete fallback)
• CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR controls all path resolution including plugins, not just config

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Additional Notes

The EPERM on rename is a known Windows limitation with Node.js fs.rename() across certain directory states. The fix is either fs.rm() on the destination before rename, or using a copy+delete strategy instead of atomic rename on Windows.

What Should Happen?

Expected Behavior

• ~\.claude resolves to C:\Users\username\.claude (subdirectory)
• Marketplace installer handles pre-existing destination directory gracefully (delete-then-rename or copy-then-delete fallback)
• CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR controls all path resolution including plugins, not just config

Error Messages/Logs

### Error Output


Error: Failed to finalize marketplace cache. Please manually delete the directory at
C:\Users\username.claude\plugins\marketplaces\everything-claude-code if it exists and try again.

Technical details: EPERM: operation not permitted, rename
'C:\Users\username.claude\plugins\marketplaces\temp_1776882015473' ->
'C:\Users\username.claude\plugins\marketplaces\everything-claude-code'

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to Reproduce

1. Fresh Windows install of Claude Code (native, non-WSL)
2. Run /plugin marketplace add https://github.com/affaan-m/everything-claude-code
3. Observe failure

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

2.1.118

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

No response

[github-actions]

Found 2 possible duplicate issues:

1. [BUG] can not add marketplace on windows #12174
2. [Bug] Web page scraping fails to retrieve data from app pages #50990

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

• If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
• To prevent auto-closure, add a comment or 👎 this comment

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[0xbrainkid]

This is a strong Windows path-integrity bug because the failure is not just an unlucky rename error, it is a malformed path model. Once C:\\Users\\username and \\.claude are collapsed into C:\\Users\\username.claude, the installer is operating against a location that does not represent the user config directory at all.

That kind of bug has outsized impact because path resolution sits underneath everything else. The visible EPERM on rename is just the symptom users see after the path has already been corrupted conceptually.

It is also exactly the sort of platform-specific edge that makes plugin install/update feel unreliable on Windows. If the base config path is assembled incorrectly, higher-level marketplace flows cannot be trusted to behave consistently.

[github-actions]

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