[Bug] Skill plugin scripts fail on first execution with relative path resolution

[corey-kdm]

Bug Description
Code keeps struggling to run the scripts included with my Skill installed as a plugin. My SKILL.md refers to the script as scripts/jenkins.sh because that's how I've seen it done in the samples yet when it attempts to execute the script it gets a "No such file or directory" error always. Shouldn't the Claude Code machinery take care of adding the Skill base directory to the path so that these work correctly first try? Am I doing something wrong here or is this a bug caused by the fact that the Skill is installed as a plugin so the paths are different? On second try Claude Code uses the absolute path to the script and successfully executess but this really slows things down having it fail all the time on first attempt!

Environment Info

• Platform: linux
• Terminal: code
• Version: 2.0.32
• Feedback ID: 61746a2e-7980-4493-9b30-d21440d97d55

Errors

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[github-actions]

Found 2 possible duplicate issues:

1. [BUG] Skills from git-installed marketplace plugins resolve to wrong path #10113
2. [BUG] Claude Code assistant not aware of available skills in .claude/skills/ directory #9716

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[corey-kdm]

There might be a connection / overlap with #10113 but that ticket is talking about using the Skill programmatically so not sure it's the same situation.

[corey-kdm]

I should note that I'm not defining the Skill in the plugin manifest.

[hoangleitvn]

+1 experiencing the same issue.

We have a skill that bundles a Node.js script, and relative paths fail when the skill is invoked from a different working directory than where the plugin is installed.

Additional question about installation paths:

We're also seeing inconsistent behavior with plugin installation locations. Initially, our plugins were installed to ~/.claude/plugins/ as expected, but after deleting and reinstalling, they no longer appear there.

Is there a documented/consistent installation path for plugins? It would help to know:

1. Where exactly do plugins get installed (local path vs Git install)?
2. Is CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT or similar environment variable available during skill execution?
3. Is the installation path supposed to be ~/.claude/plugins/{plugin-name}/ consistently?

Without a reliable way to know where the plugin is installed, it's difficult for skills to reference bundled scripts/assets.

[github-actions]

This issue has been inactive for 30 days. If the issue is still occurring, please comment to let us know. Otherwise, this issue will be automatically closed in 30 days for housekeeping purposes.

[zenHeart]

In skill.md I use export PROJECT_ROOT=$(pwd) to tell claude code set project path before running, and in scripts use const baseDir = process.env.PROJECT_ROOT || process.cwd(); to make it work