Hmbown/CodeWhale · error

plugin '{name}' was installed from a local path ({}) and can

Error message

plugin '{name}' was installed from a local path ({}) and cannot be updated from the network; reinstall it with /plugin install <path>

What it means

Plugin update found the .installed-from marker recording a LocalPath install. Local bundles have no upstream to pull from, so network update is refused by design; the marker round-trip means the only path to new content is reinstalling from the (updated) local path.

Source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/plugins/install/mod.rs:406

    user_plugins_dir: &Path,
    max_size: u64,
    network: &NetworkPolicy,
) -> Result<PluginUpdateResult> {
    let target = plugin_target_path(name, user_plugins_dir)?;
    if target.exists() {
        ensure_target_within_plugins_dir(&target, user_plugins_dir)?;
    }
    let marker_path = target.join(INSTALLED_FROM_MARKER);
    if !marker_path.exists() {
        return Err(PluginInstallError::NotInstalledHere(name.to_string()).into());
    }
    let marker_body = fs::read_to_string(&marker_path)
        .with_context(|| format!("failed to read {}", marker_path.display()))?;
    let marker: InstalledFromMarker = serde_json::from_str(&marker_body)
        .with_context(|| format!("malformed {INSTALLED_FROM_MARKER} for {name}"))?;
    let source = PluginInstallSource::parse(&marker.spec)?;
    let PluginInstallSource::Remote(remote) = source else {
        bail!(
            "plugin '{name}' was installed from a local path ({}) and cannot be updated from the network; \
             reinstall it with /plugin install <path>",
            marker.spec
        );
    };

    let (bytes, url) = match fetch_tarball(&remote, network, max_size).await? {
        FetchOutcome::Bytes { bytes, url } => (bytes, url),
        FetchOutcome::NeedsApproval(host) => {
            return Ok(PluginUpdateResult::NeedsApproval(host));
        }
        FetchOutcome::Denied(host) => return Ok(PluginUpdateResult::NetworkDenied(host)),
    };
    if sha256_hex(&bytes) == marker.source_checksum() {
        return Ok(PluginUpdateResult::NoChange);
    }

    let outcome = install_remote_bytes(

View on GitHub (pinned to 0c42157ee5)

Solutions

1. Reinstall from the updated local path: /plugin install <path>
2. Network update is not available for local installs

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/tui/src/plugins/install/mod.rs:406 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@0c42157ee5 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/80cac6a5ed65cfdd. Report an issue: GitHub.