diff --git a/components/runners/ambient-runner/ambient_runner/bridges/claude/bridge.py b/components/runners/ambient-runner/ambient_runner/bridges/claude/bridge.py
index f9e727591..db9d9453f 100644
--- a/components/runners/ambient-runner/ambient_runner/bridges/claude/bridge.py
+++ b/components/runners/ambient-runner/ambient_runner/bridges/claude/bridge.py
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ def __init__(self) -> None:
         self._mcp_servers: dict = {}
         self._allowed_tools: list[str] = []
         self._system_prompt: dict = {}
+        self._plugins: list[dict[str, str]] = []
         self._stderr_lines: list[str] = []
         # Preserved session IDs across adapter rebuilds (e.g. repo additions)
         self._saved_session_ids: dict[str, str] = {}
@@ -364,6 +365,28 @@ async def _setup_platform(self) -> None:
 
         system_prompt = build_sdk_system_prompt(self._context.workspace_path, cwd_path)
 
+        # Discover plugins cloned by init container
+        plugins_json = os.getenv("PLUGINS_JSON", "").strip()
+        plugins: list[dict[str, str]] = []
+        if plugins_json:
+            import json as _json
+
+            try:
+                for entry in _json.loads(plugins_json):
+                    name = entry.get("url", "").rstrip("/").split("/")[-1]
+                    if name.endswith(".git"):
+                        name = name[:-4]
+                    plugin_path = os.path.join(
+                        self._context.workspace_path, "plugins", name
+                    )
+                    if os.path.isdir(plugin_path):
+                        plugins.append({"type": "local", "path": plugin_path})
+                        logger.info(f"Plugin discovered: {name} at {plugin_path}")
+                    else:
+                        logger.warning(f"Plugin dir not found: {plugin_path}")
+            except Exception as exc:
+                logger.warning(f"Failed to parse PLUGINS_JSON: {exc}")
+
         # Store results
         self._configured_model = configured_model
         self._cwd_path = cwd_path
@@ -371,6 +394,7 @@ async def _setup_platform(self) -> None:
         self._mcp_servers = mcp_servers
         self._allowed_tools = allowed_tools
         self._system_prompt = system_prompt
+        self._plugins = plugins
 
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Private: adapter lifecycle
@@ -405,6 +429,8 @@ def _stderr_handler(line: str) -> None:
             options["add_dirs"] = self._add_dirs
         if self._configured_model:
             options["model"] = self._configured_model
+        if self._plugins:
+            options["plugins"] = self._plugins
 
         adapter = ClaudeAgentAdapter(
             name="claude_code_runner",
diff --git a/components/runners/state-sync/hydrate.sh b/components/runners/state-sync/hydrate.sh
index 82b8d1b6c..0b700659e 100644
--- a/components/runners/state-sync/hydrate.sh
+++ b/components/runners/state-sync/hydrate.sh
@@ -234,6 +234,46 @@ else
     echo "No repositories configured in spec"
 fi
 
+# Clone plugins from PLUGINS_JSON
+if [ -n "$PLUGINS_JSON" ] && [ "$PLUGINS_JSON" != "null" ] && [ "$PLUGINS_JSON" != "" ]; then
+    echo "Cloning plugins from spec..."
+    PLUGIN_COUNT=$(echo "$PLUGINS_JSON" | jq -e 'if type == "array" then length else 0 end' 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+    echo "Found $PLUGIN_COUNT plugins to clone"
+    if [ "$PLUGIN_COUNT" -gt 0 ]; then
+        mkdir -p /workspace/plugins
+        i=0
+        while [ $i -lt $PLUGIN_COUNT ]; do
+            PLUGIN_URL=$(echo "$PLUGINS_JSON" | jq -r ".[$i].url // empty" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+            PLUGIN_BRANCH=$(echo "$PLUGINS_JSON" | jq -r ".[$i].branch // empty" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+            PLUGIN_NAME=$(basename "$PLUGIN_URL" .git 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+
+            if [ -n "$PLUGIN_NAME" ] && [ -n "$PLUGIN_URL" ] && [ "$PLUGIN_URL" != "null" ]; then
+                PLUGIN_DIR="/workspace/plugins/$PLUGIN_NAME"
+                git config --global --add safe.directory "$PLUGIN_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+                if [ -n "$PLUGIN_BRANCH" ]; then
+                    echo "  Cloning plugin $PLUGIN_NAME (branch: $PLUGIN_BRANCH)..."
+                    if git clone --branch "$PLUGIN_BRANCH" --single-branch --depth 1 "$PLUGIN_URL" "$PLUGIN_DIR" 2>&1; then
+                        echo "  ✓ Cloned plugin $PLUGIN_NAME"
+                    else
+                        echo "  ⚠ Failed to clone plugin $PLUGIN_NAME"
+                    fi
+                else
+                    echo "  Cloning plugin $PLUGIN_NAME (default branch)..."
+                    if git clone --single-branch --depth 1 "$PLUGIN_URL" "$PLUGIN_DIR" 2>&1; then
+                        echo "  ✓ Cloned plugin $PLUGIN_NAME"
+                    else
+                        echo "  ⚠ Failed to clone plugin $PLUGIN_NAME"
+                    fi
+                fi
+            fi
+            i=$((i + 1))
+        done
+    fi
+else
+    echo "No plugins configured in spec"
+fi
+
 # Clone workflow repository
 if [ -n "$ACTIVE_WORKFLOW_GIT_URL" ] && [ "$ACTIVE_WORKFLOW_GIT_URL" != "null" ]; then
     WORKFLOW_BRANCH="${ACTIVE_WORKFLOW_BRANCH:-main}"