Summary

claude plugin update reports a plugin is at "the latest version" when it isn't, because it doesn't git pull the local marketplace clone before comparing versions.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install a marketplace plugin:

   claude plugin marketplace add EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin
   

2. Wait for the plugin repo to release newer versions
3. Run:

   claude plugin update compound-engineering@compound-engineering-plugin
   

4. Output:

   Checking for updates for plugin "compound-engineering@compound-engineering-plugin" at user scope…
   ✔ compound-engineering is already at the latest version (2.38.1).
   

Expected Behavior

Should detect v2.45.0 (the current version on main) and offer to update.

Root Cause

The marketplace clone at ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/compound-engineering-plugin/ is stale — its git HEAD is at an old commit (v2.34.4) and plugin.json shows 2.38.1. The upstream repo's main branch has plugin.json with version 2.45.0.

# Local marketplace clone HEAD:
$ cd ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/compound-engineering-plugin && git log --oneline -1
ca57c67 chore(release): 2.34.4 [skip ci]

# Remote main has moved far ahead:
$ git fetch origin main --dry-run
ca57c67..0407c13  main -> origin/main

claude plugin update appears to compare the installed version against the stale local clone rather than fetching the latest from origin first.

Workaround

Manually pull the marketplace clone:

cd ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/compound-engineering-plugin
git pull origin main

Then claude plugin update should detect the newer version.

Environment

• Claude Code CLI (latest)
• macOS
• Plugin: compound-engineering@compound-engineering-plugin (EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin)