feat: auto-cleanup stale plugin cache versions after update

[github-actions[bot]]

Originally posted as issue #2358 by @Vanson
#2358

Feature Request: Auto-cleanup of old plugin cache versions

Summary

Old plugin versions are never removed from the cache directory, causing stale version accumulation over time.

Current behavior

Each plugin update downloads a new versioned directory but leaves previous versions untouched:

~/.claude/plugins/cache/thedotmack/claude-mem/
├── 12.4.7   ← never used, never removed
├── 12.6.5   ← never used, never removed
└── 12.7.5   ← current

Users must manually identify and delete old versions to reclaim disk space.

Expected behavior

When a new version is installed, versions older than the current (and optionally one prior for rollback) should be pruned automatically. Alternatively, a CLI command should be provided to perform the cleanup on demand.

Suggested solutions

Option A — Automatic GC on install
After a successful install of version N, delete all cached versions older than N-1.

Option B — CLI prune command
Add a command such as:

claude plugins prune              # remove all but the latest version per plugin
claude plugins prune --keep 2     # keep the last 2 versions for rollback

Option C — Configurable retention policy
Allow users to set a max number of retained versions in Claude Code settings.

Environment

• macOS 25.4.0 (darwin)
• Claude Code (latest as of 2026-05-07)
• claude-mem@thedotmack v12.7.5

Related

Discovered while investigating #2356.