fix(cc-config): stop pinning CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR when CLAUDE_HOME is unset

runClaude() unconditionally set CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR to getClaudeHome()
(~/.claude), so the CLI wrote ~/.claude/.claude.json — a file
cc-discovery.getClaudeJsonPath() never reads (it reads ~/.claude.json,
beside ~/.claude/, by design). Every default-install MCP add/remove and
plugin/marketplace mutation was inert: add toasted success and vanished on
refetch, remove 422'd for every server the panel lists.

With CLAUDE_HOME unset (the default), leave CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR unset too —
the CLI's own default config dir already lines up with what cc-discovery
reads, so alignment comes from doing nothing. Only pin it when the operator
explicitly set CLAUDE_HOME, which is the one case the pin is meant for.
Left a residual, documented at both sites: with CLAUDE_HOME set, reads still
come from $HOME/.claude.json while the CLI writes
<CLAUDE_HOME>/.claude.json — a split predating this task, affecting a
configuration nobody here runs.

New tests pin the env contract directly (no real CLI needed): runClaude
must not set CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR when CLAUDE_HOME is absent, and must set it
to CLAUDE_HOME's value when present.

server/__tests__/cc-plugin-cli.test.js

@@ -190,6 +190,42 @@ describe("cc-plugin-cli argv construction", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("cc-plugin-cli CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR pinning", () => {
+  // N1: pinning CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR unconditionally to getClaudeHome() made the
+  // CLI write ~/.claude/.claude.json while cc-discovery reads ~/.claude.json
+  // — a different file, so every default-install add/remove was inert. The
+  // fix is to leave CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR unset unless the operator explicitly
+  // set CLAUDE_HOME; this is the env contract that would have caught it.
+  const PRINT_ENV = "printf '%s\\n' \"CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=${CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR-<unset>}\"";
+
+  it("leaves CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR unset when CLAUDE_HOME is not set", async () => {
+    const originalHome = process.env.CLAUDE_HOME;
+    delete process.env.CLAUDE_HOME;
+    const restore = stubClaude(PRINT_ENV);
+    try {
+      const result = await cli.marketplaceUpdate({ name: "m" });
+      assert.equal(result.stdout.trim(), "CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=<unset>");
+    } finally {
+      restore();
+      if (originalHome !== undefined) process.env.CLAUDE_HOME = originalHome;
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("pins CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR to CLAUDE_HOME when the operator set it", async () => {
+    const originalHome = process.env.CLAUDE_HOME;
+    process.env.CLAUDE_HOME = "/tmp/some-other-claude-home";
+    const restore = stubClaude(PRINT_ENV);
+    try {
+      const result = await cli.marketplaceUpdate({ name: "m" });
+      assert.equal(result.stdout.trim(), "CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=/tmp/some-other-claude-home");
+    } finally {
+      restore();
+      if (originalHome === undefined) delete process.env.CLAUDE_HOME;
+      else process.env.CLAUDE_HOME = originalHome;
+    }
+  });
+});
+
 describe("cc-plugin-cli run outcomes", () => {
   it("reports a non-zero exit as ok:false instead of throwing", async () => {
     const restore = stubClaude('echo "✘ Failed to install plugin \\"nope\\"" >&2\nexit 1');

server/lib/cc-discovery.js

@@ -31,6 +31,13 @@ function getProjectClaudeDir(cwd) {
 function getClaudeJsonPath() {
   // ~/.claude.json sits beside ~/.claude/, NOT inside it. Resolve from $HOME
   // so a CLAUDE_HOME override doesn't accidentally relocate it.
+  //
+  // Paired with cc-plugin-cli.js's runClaude(): with CLAUDE_HOME unset (the
+  // default), it deliberately leaves CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR unset too, so the CLI
+  // writes here (its own default). With CLAUDE_HOME set, this read stays
+  // pinned to $HOME/.claude.json while the CLI writes
+  // <CLAUDE_HOME>/.claude.json — a known, unfixed split for that case; see
+  // runClaude's comment.
   return path.join(os.homedir(), ".claude.json");
 }
 

server/lib/cc-plugin-cli.js

@@ -131,15 +131,27 @@ function serialize(fn) {
 function runClaude(args, opts = {}) {
   const timeout = opts.timeoutMs || DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS;
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    // Only pin CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR when the operator explicitly set CLAUDE_HOME
+    // (a non-default install). Left unset, the CLI's own default config dir
+    // is `~/.claude` and it writes `.claude.json` NEXT TO it (`~/.claude.json`)
+    // — the exact file cc-discovery.getClaudeJsonPath() reads (see that
+    // function's own comment). Pinning CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR unconditionally to
+    // getClaudeHome() made the CLI write `~/.claude/.claude.json` instead —
+    // a file nothing reads — so every default-install add/remove was inert.
+    // When CLAUDE_HOME IS set, this still pins it, but note the residual:
+    // cc-discovery's read stays pinned to $HOME/.claude.json regardless (see
+    // getClaudeJsonPath's comment) while the CLI then writes
+    // <CLAUDE_HOME>/.claude.json — a pre-existing split this task does not
+    // attempt to fix, since no install in this repo runs with CLAUDE_HOME set.
+    const env = { ...process.env };
+    if (process.env.CLAUDE_HOME) env.CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR = getClaudeHome();
     const child = execFile(
       "claude",
       args,
       {
         timeout,
         maxBuffer: MAX_OUTPUT_BYTES,
-        // Pin the CLI to the same config dir cc-discovery reads, so a write
-        // made here is a write the dashboard can see.
-        env: { ...process.env, CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR: getClaudeHome() },
+        env,
       },
       (err, stdout, stderr) => {
         const out = String(stdout || "");