Bug: Duplicate hooks file error due to explicit hooks declaration in plugin.json

[chaonextdoor]

Bug Description

The plugin fails to load cleanly on startup because the manifest (plugin.json) explicitly declares "hooks": "./hooks/hooks.json", but Claude Code automatically loads hooks/hooks.json from the standard location in any plugin. This causes a duplicate detection error.

Error Message

Loaded hooks from standard location for plugin everything-claude-code
Skipping duplicate hooks file for plugin everything-claude-code
Error: Duplicate hooks file detected: ./hooks/hooks.json resolves to already-loaded file
  .../hooks/hooks.json. The standard hooks/hooks.json is loaded automatically,
  so manifest.hooks should only reference additional hook files.
Plugin not available for MCP: everything-claude-code@everything-claude-code - error type: hook-load-failed

Impact

• Error logged on every session startup
• Plugin shows hook-load-failed error type
• Plugin is marked as "not available for MCP"
• Hooks, agents, skills, and commands still function — the error is non-fatal but noisy

Root Cause

The "hooks" field in .claude-plugin/plugin.json points to ./hooks/hooks.json, which is the standard hooks location that Claude Code loads automatically. Declaring it explicitly triggers duplicate detection.

Introduced in: commit 779085e (Jan 26, 2026)

Suggested Fix

Remove the "hooks" line from .claude-plugin/plugin.json:

 {
   "commands": ["./commands/"],
   "skills": ["./skills/"],
   "agents": [...],
-  "hooks": "./hooks/hooks.json"
 }

The standard hooks/hooks.json file will continue to be loaded automatically — no explicit declaration is needed.

Environment

• Claude Code CLI (latest)
• macOS
• Plugin version: 1.0.0

[apiooo]

Claude Code CLI (latest)
Windows 11 Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100
Plugin version: 1.0.0

The same issue occurs. Thank you, it's back to normal after I deleted it.

[fursea1]

Claude Code v2.1.21
windows 11 26200.7628
No error reported after deleting : "hooks": "./hooks/hooks.json"
Tks

[affaan-m]

Fixed! Removed the explicit hooks field from .claude-plugin/plugin.json since Claude Code automatically loads hooks/hooks.json by convention. The duplicate detection error should no longer occur.\n\nAdded a test to prevent regression: plugin.json does NOT have explicit hooks declaration