Plugin Not Found? Add the Marketplace in the Same Install Command.

At a glance

• One install command can add a plugin marketplace you haven’t registered yet and install the plugin from it.
• The in-session form, /plugin install with --marketplace, needs v2.1.275 or later, which every npm channel had at 8:42 AM ET, stable included.
• The shell form, claude plugin install with --marketplace, needs v2.1.292 or later, which at 8:42 AM ET meant npm latest or next, not stable.

A teammate tells you to install deploy-helper from your company’s plugin repo. You run claude plugin install deploy-helper@your-org, and Claude Code stops with Plugin "deploy-helper" not found in marketplace "your-org". Nothing is wrong with the plugin. Claude Code installs only from marketplaces it knows, and unless a settings file declares another, the only one it adds for you is Anthropic’s official one. You can fix that in the install command itself.

Why it matters

The classic route is two commands: add the marketplace, then install deploy-helper@your-marketplace. But onboarding docs and chat messages often carry only the second line, so the install fails for anyone who hasn’t added the catalog. Since v2.1.275 a session accepts the marketplace source on /plugin install, and since v2.1.292 the shell command does too. One line now works on a fresh machine.

How to add the marketplace and install in one step

At 8:42 AM ET on 9 October 2026, npm stable was v2.1.286, and latest and next were both v2.1.295.

1. Run claude --version. On v2.1.275 or later you can use the in-session form. On v2.1.292 or later you can also use the shell form.
2. In a session, run /plugin install deploy-helper --marketplace your-org/plugins. Give the plugin name with no @marketplace suffix. The source takes the same forms as /plugin marketplace add: a GitHub owner/repo, a git URL, or a local path (start a relative one with ./ or ../), with no spaces.
3. For a marketplace you haven’t added, Claude Code shows the resolved source and asks before adding it. Then the plugin’s details open and you pick a scope. If you already added that source, it skips the question.
4. From a setup script on v2.1.292 or later, use the shell form, claude plugin install deploy-helper --marketplace your-org/plugins. It doesn’t ask. It reuses a marketplace already added from that source, or adds a new one under the same organization policy checks as claude plugin marketplace add, so a restrictive policy can still refuse it. It installs at user scope unless you pass --scope.
5. Confirm with claude plugin list, or the Installed tab in /plugin.

# In-session form needs v2.1.275 or later; shell form needs v2.1.292 or later
claude --version
# Shell form on v2.1.292 or later (npm latest and next at 8:42 AM ET, not stable):
# claude plugin install deploy-helper --marketplace your-org/plugins
# Any version, including npm stable at 8:42 AM ET: add the marketplace, then install
# claude plugin marketplace add your-org/plugins
# claude plugin install deploy-helper@your-org
# Confirm version, scope and status
claude plugin list

# In-session form needs v2.1.275 or later; shell form needs v2.1.292 or later
claude --version
# Shell form on v2.1.292 or later (npm latest and next at 8:42 AM ET, not stable):
# claude plugin install deploy-helper --marketplace your-org/plugins
# Any version, including npm stable at 8:42 AM ET: add the marketplace, then install
# claude plugin marketplace add your-org/plugins
# claude plugin install deploy-helper@your-org
# Confirm version, scope and status
claude plugin list

deploy-helper and your-org/plugins are the docs’ example names, and your-org stands for the marketplace name that claude plugin marketplace add prints; swap in yours before you uncomment a line. This tip comes from the docs and changelog, and we did not run these commands live, so test the line on one fresh machine first.

Gotchas

• Project scope doesn’t move the catalog: the shell form declares a new marketplace in your user settings even when you pass --scope project, so committing the plugin doesn’t give teammates the marketplace. Either send them the same one-line command, or declare the marketplace under extraKnownMarketplaces in the repository’s .claude/settings.json, which Claude Code registers for each teammate once they trust the folder.
• Stable can’t script it: npm stable was v2.1.286 at 8:42 AM ET, below the v2.1.292 gate, so its shell command doesn’t take --marketplace. Use the in-session form there, or keep the two-step claude plugin marketplace add then claude plugin install in scripts until stable moves.
• A separate v2.1.295 warning: claude plugin install, enable, disable and marketplace add now warn when the settings file they write to doesn’t load. At 8:42 AM ET only latest and next had it. Fix the named file before you trust the install.
• Claude Desktop: the Code tab installs through its plugin browser (+, then Plugins, then Add plugin), and the docs don’t describe --marketplace there. A user-scope install from the terminal still shows up in Desktop local sessions, which read the same settings files.

Recommended AI prompt

Paste this into any AI you use, such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Grok.

I use Claude Code and want to install a plugin from my team’s marketplace in one step. I’ll give you the output of claude --version, the plugin name, and the marketplace source (a GitHub owner and repo, a git URL, or a local path). Tell me whether my version supports the in-session one-step install, /plugin install with --marketplace (v2.1.275 or later), and the shell one-step install, claude plugin install with --marketplace (v2.1.292 or later). Write the exact command for each form I can use, or the two-step claude plugin marketplace add fallback if my version is too old, plus a short onboarding note for teammates on a fresh machine. Remind me that the shell form records a new marketplace in user settings even for an install with --scope project, and that a repository can declare the marketplace for teammates under extraKnownMarketplaces, and don’t invent any flags or settings.