diff --git a/.babelrc b/.babelrc
index bdd506769f3..9a606b0b15c 100644
--- a/.babelrc
+++ b/.babelrc
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@
     [
       "module-alias",
       [
+        {
+          "expose": "root",
+          "src": "."
+        },
         {
           "expose": "components",
           "src": "src/core/components"
diff --git a/docs/customization/plugin-api.md b/docs/customization/plugin-api.md
index 245b5a14433..ee08ba07026 100644
--- a/docs/customization/plugin-api.md
+++ b/docs/customization/plugin-api.md
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ A plugin return value may contain any of these keys, where `myStateKey` is a nam
   },
   components: {},
   wrapComponents: {},
-  fn: {}
+  afterLoad: (system) => {}
+  fn: {},
 }
 ```
 
@@ -363,7 +364,35 @@ const MyWrapComponentPlugin = function(system) {
 }
 ```
 
+##### `afterLoad`
 
+The `afterLoad` plugin method allows you to get a reference to the system after your plugin has been registered with the system.
+
+This interface is used in the core code to attach methods that are driven by bound selectors or actions directly to the system.
+
+```javascript
+const MyMethodProvidingPlugin = function() {
+  return {
+    afterLoad(system) {
+      // at this point in time, your actions have been bound into the system
+      // so you can do things with them
+      system.myMethod = system.exampleActions.updateFavoriteColor
+    },
+    statePlugins: {
+      example: {
+        actions: {
+          updateFavoriteColor: (str) => {
+            return {
+              type: "EXAMPLE_SET_FAV_COLOR",
+              payload: str
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
 
 ##### fn
 
diff --git a/src/core/index.js b/src/core/index.js
index 52e0f931241..15f0e798e56 100644
--- a/src/core/index.js
+++ b/src/core/index.js
@@ -92,6 +92,20 @@ module.exports = function SwaggerUI(opts) {
     }, constructorConfig.initialState)
   }
 
+  if(constructorConfig.initialState) {
+    // if the user sets a key as `undefined`, that signals to us that we
+    // should delete the key entirely.
+    // known usage: Swagger-Editor validate plugin tests
+    for (var key in constructorConfig.initialState) {
+      if(
+        constructorConfig.initialState.hasOwnProperty(key)
+        && constructorConfig.initialState[key] === undefined
+      ) {
+        delete storeConfigs.state[key]
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   let inlinePlugin = ()=> {
     return {
       fn: constructorConfig.fn,
@@ -105,8 +119,6 @@ module.exports = function SwaggerUI(opts) {
 
   var system = store.getSystem()
 
-  system.initOAuth = system.authActions.configureAuth
-
   const downloadSpec = (fetchedConfig) => {
     if(typeof constructorConfig !== "object") {
       return system
@@ -138,6 +150,9 @@ module.exports = function SwaggerUI(opts) {
     } else if(mergedConfig.dom_id) {
       let domNode = document.querySelector(mergedConfig.dom_id)
       system.render(domNode, "App")
+    } else if(mergedConfig.dom_id === null || mergedConfig.domNode === null) {
+      // do nothing
+      // this is useful for testing that does not need to do any rendering
     } else {
       console.error("Skipped rendering: no `dom_id` or `domNode` was specified")
     }
diff --git a/src/core/plugins/auth/index.js b/src/core/plugins/auth/index.js
index 0937f805cb1..7e9413f4a53 100644
--- a/src/core/plugins/auth/index.js
+++ b/src/core/plugins/auth/index.js
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ import * as specWrapActionReplacements from "./spec-wrap-actions"
 
 export default function() {
   return {
+    afterLoad(system) {
+      system.initOAuth = system.authActions.configureAuth
+    },
     statePlugins: {
       auth: {
         reducers,
diff --git a/src/plugins/configs/actions.js b/src/core/plugins/configs/actions.js
similarity index 100%
rename from src/plugins/configs/actions.js
rename to src/core/plugins/configs/actions.js
diff --git a/src/plugins/configs/index.js b/src/core/plugins/configs/index.js
similarity index 96%
rename from src/plugins/configs/index.js
rename to src/core/plugins/configs/index.js
index 58edbfa1a01..0ab33c96808 100644
--- a/src/plugins/configs/index.js
+++ b/src/core/plugins/configs/index.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import YAML from "js-yaml"
-import yamlConfig from "../../../swagger-config.yaml"
+import yamlConfig from "root/swagger-config.yaml"
 import * as actions from "./actions"
 import * as selectors from "./selectors"
 import reducers from "./reducers"
diff --git a/src/plugins/configs/reducers.js b/src/core/plugins/configs/reducers.js
similarity index 100%
rename from src/plugins/configs/reducers.js
rename to src/core/plugins/configs/reducers.js
diff --git a/src/plugins/configs/selectors.js b/src/core/plugins/configs/selectors.js
similarity index 100%
rename from src/plugins/configs/selectors.js
rename to src/core/plugins/configs/selectors.js
diff --git a/src/core/plugins/err/error-transformers/hook.js b/src/core/plugins/err/error-transformers/hook.js
index badec81db58..e33dbb6f614 100644
--- a/src/core/plugins/err/error-transformers/hook.js
+++ b/src/core/plugins/err/error-transformers/hook.js
@@ -1,26 +1,13 @@
 import reduce from "lodash/reduce"
-let request = require.context("./transformers/", true, /\.js$/)
-let errorTransformers = []
+import * as NotOfType from "./transformers/not-of-type"
+import * as ParameterOneOf from "./transformers/parameter-oneof"
+import * as StripInstance from "./transformers/strip-instance"
 
-request.keys().forEach( function( key ){
-  if( key === "./hook.js" ) {
-    return
-  }
-
-  if( !key.match(/js$/) ) {
-    return
-  }
-
-  if( key.slice(2).indexOf("/") > -1) {
-    // skip files in subdirs
-    return
-  }
-
-  errorTransformers.push({
-    name: toTitleCase(key).replace(".js", "").replace("./", ""),
-    transform: request(key).transform
-  })
-})
+const errorTransformers = [
+  NotOfType,
+  ParameterOneOf,
+  StripInstance
+]
 
 export default function transformErrors (errors, system) {
   let inputs = {
@@ -47,10 +34,3 @@ export default function transformErrors (errors, system) {
     })
 
 }
-
-function toTitleCase(str) {
-  return str
-    .split("-")
-    .map(substr => substr[0].toUpperCase() + substr.slice(1))
-    .join("")
-}
diff --git a/src/core/plugins/spec/actions.js b/src/core/plugins/spec/actions.js
index 6b6324ce7fe..a0cf3588308 100644
--- a/src/core/plugins/spec/actions.js
+++ b/src/core/plugins/spec/actions.js
@@ -105,8 +105,7 @@ export const resolveSpec = (json, url) => ({specActions, specSelectors, errActio
       errActions.clear({
         type: "thrown"
       })
-
-      if(errors.length > 0) {
+      if(Array.isArray(errors) && errors.length > 0) {
         let preparedErrors = errors
           .map(err => {
             console.error(err)
diff --git a/src/core/plugins/split-pane-mode/components/index.js b/src/core/plugins/split-pane-mode/components/index.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 7149382d05b..00000000000
--- a/src/core/plugins/split-pane-mode/components/index.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-import { pascalCaseFilename } from "core/utils"
-
-const request = require.context(".", true, /\.jsx?$/)
-
-request.keys().forEach( function( key ){
-  if( key === "./index.js" ) {
-    return
-  }
-
-  // if( key.slice(2).indexOf("/") > -1) {
-  //   // skip files in subdirs
-  //   return
-  // }
-
-  let mod = request(key)
-  module.exports[pascalCaseFilename(key)] = mod.default ? mod.default : mod
-})
diff --git a/src/core/plugins/split-pane-mode/index.js b/src/core/plugins/split-pane-mode/index.js
index 9b4d285e504..913738c48ca 100644
--- a/src/core/plugins/split-pane-mode/index.js
+++ b/src/core/plugins/split-pane-mode/index.js
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-import * as components from "./components"
-
+import SplitPaneMode from "./components/split-pane-mode"
 export default function SplitPaneModePlugin() {
   return {
     // statePlugins: {
@@ -9,6 +8,8 @@ export default function SplitPaneModePlugin() {
     //   }
     // },
 
-    components,
+    components: {
+      SplitPaneMode
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/core/presets/base.js b/src/core/presets/base.js
index 1521fa285e5..65bf891e8f2 100644
--- a/src/core/presets/base.js
+++ b/src/core/presets/base.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import auth from "core/plugins/auth"
 import util from "core/plugins/util"
 import SplitPaneModePlugin from "core/plugins/split-pane-mode"
 import downloadUrlPlugin from "core/plugins/download-url"
-import configsPlugin from "plugins/configs"
+import configsPlugin from "core/plugins/configs"
 import deepLinkingPlugin from "core/plugins/deep-linking"
 
 import OperationContainer from "core/containers/OperationContainer"
diff --git a/src/core/system.js b/src/core/system.js
index 22707ae4d38..87a258877c1 100644
--- a/src/core/system.js
+++ b/src/core/system.js
@@ -68,6 +68,14 @@ export default class Store {
     if(rebuild) {
       this.buildSystem()
     }
+    
+    if(Array.isArray(plugins)) {
+      plugins.forEach(plugin => {
+        if(plugin.afterLoad) {
+          plugin.afterLoad(this.getSystem())
+        }
+      })
+    }
   }
 
   buildSystem(buildReducer=true) {
diff --git a/src/plugins/index.js b/src/plugins/index.js
index 5cbd4b9c404..f143ff0b3c9 100644
--- a/src/plugins/index.js
+++ b/src/plugins/index.js
@@ -1,17 +1,7 @@
-import { pascalCaseFilename } from "js/utils"
+import Configs from "./configs"
+import Topbar from "./topbar"
 
-const request = require.context(".", true, /\.jsx?$/)
-
-request.keys().forEach( function( key ){
-  if( key === "./index.js" ) {
-    return
-  }
-
-  // if( key.slice(2).indexOf("/") > -1) {
-  //   // skip files in subdirs
-  //   return
-  // }
-
-  let mod = request(key)
-  module.exports[pascalCaseFilename(key)] = mod.default ? mod.default : mod
-})
+export default {
+  Configs,
+  Topbar
+}
diff --git a/test/core/system/system.js b/test/core/system/system.js
index 073390fa132..205fc8a603b 100644
--- a/test/core/system/system.js
+++ b/test/core/system/system.js
@@ -683,4 +683,31 @@ describe("bound system", function(){
     })
   })
 
+  describe("afterLoad", function() {
+    it("should call an plugin's `afterLoad` method after the plugin is loaded", function() {
+      // Given
+      const system = new System({
+        plugins: [
+          {
+            afterLoad(system) {
+              system.wow = system.dogeSelectors.wow
+            },
+            statePlugins: {
+              doge: {
+                selectors: {
+                  wow: () => (system) => {
+                    return "so selective"
+                  }
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        ]
+      })
+
+      // When
+      var res = system.getSystem().wow()
+      expect(res).toEqual("so selective")
+    })
+  })
 })