fix(mcp): reload Claude Code plugins in place instead of restarting - #917
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The setup skill ended every Claude Code install by telling the user to quit with Cmd+Q and reopen. That is not needed: Claude Code applies a newly installed plugin, its MCP server and its lifecycle hooks with /reload-plugins, in the session the user is already in. Restarting is still correct for Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex and Antigravity, and for a plain `claude mcp add` on Claude Code, so the restart guidance stays for those. Setup rule 8 also told the agent to stop at the first failing command. A sandboxed agent hits EPERM on ~/.claude/settings.json and the .cc-writes temp directory, which is an environment restriction rather than a MemWal fault, and the rule made agents hand the whole install back to the user. Rule 8 now asks for a workaround before a blocker is reported, and a new troubleshooting row documents the manual install: the enabledPlugins entry, the extraKnownMarketplaces entry and the installed_plugins.json v2 record. The final-report template gains a Claude Code variant that leads with /reload-plugins, and a line requiring the agent to disclose any workaround it applied.
ducnmm
approved these changes
Sep 15, 2026
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Problem
Two things in the setup skill made a first-time install worse than it needed to be. Both were hit in a real session.
1. Claude Code does not need a restart. The skill ended every install with "fully quit and reopen the AI client, on macOS use Cmd+Q". Claude Code applies a newly installed plugin, its MCP server and its lifecycle hooks with
/reload-plugins, in the session the user is already in. Sending a user through a full relaunch is a worse hand-off than one slash command, and it is the last thing they read.2. Rule 8 made agents give up on a restriction they could clear. An agent running in a sandbox gets
EPERMwhenclaude plugin installwrites~/.claude/settings.json, because the CLI stages an atomic write through~/.claude/.cc-writes/. Rule 8 said "stop at the first real blocker and report the exact failure", so the agent stopped and handed the user a list of commands to paste. That is an environment restriction, not a MemWal fault, and the agent's file-editing tools can usually still write the same files.Changes
apps/app/public/skills/setup/reload-pluginsand says explicitly not to tell a Claude Code user to quit with Cmd+Q.EPERMcase, with the manual install: theenabledPluginsentry, theextraKnownMarketplacesentry, and theinstalled_plugins.jsonv2 record shape./reload-plugins, plus a rule requiring the agent to disclose any workaround it applied.docs/mcp/claude-code.md/reload-plugins./reload-pluginsdoes not cover a plainclaude mcp add./mcpfailures and non-firing hooks both point at/reload-plugins, and a new entry covers the sandboxedEPERMinstall.docs/mcp/quickstart.mdanddocs/mcp/reference.mdVerification
The
/reload-pluginsbehaviour was confirmed against Claude Code 2.1.272, which carries the strings "Run /reload-plugins to activate successfully installed plugins" and "Plugin changes apply when the current response finishes (/reload-plugins is queued)". Its refresh path reconnects plugin MCP servers rather than requiring a new process.The manual install in the new troubleshooting row was carried out end to end on a sandboxed session. Afterwards
claude plugin listreportedmemwal@memwal-plugins0.0.13 enabled at user scope, andclaude mcp listreportedplugin:memwal:memwalconnected.Docs only. No package or runtime code is touched.