diff --git a/server/__tests__/cc-watcher.test.js b/server/__tests__/cc-watcher.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..df4257e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/__tests__/cc-watcher.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/**
+ * @file Unit tests for cc-watcher's inotify budget. Node's recursive fs.watch is
+ * a userland tree walk on Linux that costs one inotify watch per directory, so
+ * recursively watching ~/.claude/plugins (plugin cache: git checkouts with
+ * node_modules) exhausted fs.inotify.max_user_watches and starved the desktop.
+ * These tests pin which watched subdirs may be recursive.
+ * @author Nguyễn Ngọc Trí Vĩ <vinnt@smartgift.vn>
+ */
+
+const { describe, it, beforeEach, afterEach } = require("node:test");
+const assert = require("node:assert/strict");
+const fs = require("fs");
+const path = require("path");
+const os = require("os");
+
+let tmpHome;
+let realWatch;
+let calls;
+
+describe("cc-watcher inotify budget", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    tmpHome = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "cc-watcher-"));
+    process.env.CLAUDE_HOME = tmpHome;
+    for (const d of ["agents", "commands", "skills", "output-styles", "hooks", "plugins"]) {
+      fs.mkdirSync(path.join(tmpHome, d), { recursive: true });
+    }
+    // The real shape that caused the leak: a deep tree under plugins/.
+    fs.mkdirSync(path.join(tmpHome, "plugins", "cache", "x", "y", "node_modules", "z"), {
+      recursive: true,
+    });
+
+    calls = [];
+    realWatch = fs.watch;
+    fs.watch = (target, opts, cb) => {
+      calls.push({ target, recursive: !!(opts && opts.recursive) });
+      return realWatch(
+        target,
+        typeof opts === "function" ? {} : opts,
+        typeof opts === "function" ? opts : cb
+      );
+    };
+    delete require.cache[require.resolve("../lib/cc-watcher")];
+    delete require.cache[require.resolve("../lib/claude-home")];
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    require("../lib/cc-watcher").stopCcWatcher();
+    fs.watch = realWatch;
+    delete process.env.CLAUDE_HOME;
+    fs.rmSync(tmpHome, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  it("never watches plugins/ recursively", () => {
+    require("../lib/cc-watcher").startCcWatcher({ broadcast: () => {} });
+    const pluginsWatches = calls.filter((c) => c.target === path.join(tmpHome, "plugins"));
+    assert.equal(pluginsWatches.length, 1, "plugins/ should get exactly one watch");
+    assert.equal(pluginsWatches[0].recursive, false, "plugins/ must not be watched recursively");
+  });
+
+  it("still watches plugins/ so its top-level config files fire", () => {
+    require("../lib/cc-watcher").startCcWatcher({ broadcast: () => {} });
+    assert.ok(calls.some((c) => c.target === path.join(tmpHome, "plugins")));
+  });
+
+  it("keeps recursion for the small config subdirs", () => {
+    require("../lib/cc-watcher").startCcWatcher({ broadcast: () => {} });
+    for (const sub of ["agents", "commands", "skills", "output-styles", "hooks"]) {
+      const w = calls.find((c) => c.target === path.join(tmpHome, sub));
+      assert.ok(w, `${sub} should be watched`);
+      assert.equal(w.recursive, true, `${sub} should stay recursive`);
+    }
+  });
+});
diff --git a/server/lib/cc-watcher.js b/server/lib/cc-watcher.js
index 7563251b..99afd270 100644
--- a/server/lib/cc-watcher.js
+++ b/server/lib/cc-watcher.js
@@ -65,7 +65,18 @@ const IGNORED_PREFIXES = [
 // never the whole of ~/.claude/, so the recursive watcher never registers
 // interest in high-churn dirs (backups/, projects/, logs/) whose transient
 // files crash Node's Linux userland recursive watcher mid-stat.
-const WATCH_SUBDIRS = ["agents", "commands", "skills", "output-styles", "hooks", "plugins"];
+const WATCH_SUBDIRS = ["agents", "commands", "skills", "output-styles", "hooks"];
+
+// Config surfaces that are directories but are watched NON-recursively, because
+// their tree is enormous and none of it is config. `plugins/` holds the plugin
+// cache — full git checkouts with `node_modules/` (44k+ directories here). On
+// Linux, Node's recursive fs.watch is a userland walk that registers ONE inotify
+// watch per directory, so watching it recursively burned ~65k of the default
+// 65536 `fs.inotify.max_user_watches` and starved the rest of the desktop
+// (systemd, IBus/Unikey) of watches. Config Explorer only reads two top-level
+// files from it (`installed_plugins.json`, `known_marketplaces.json`, see
+// cc-discovery.js), both caught by a flat watch costing exactly one watch.
+const WATCH_SUBDIRS_FLAT = ["plugins"];
 
 let started = false;
 let timer = null;
@@ -120,11 +131,13 @@ function safeWatchHome({ home, broadcast }) {
 
   // Recursively watch ONLY the relevant config subdirs (never backups/, projects/,
   // logs/, …) so nested changes still fire without watching the high-churn trees.
-  for (const sub of WATCH_SUBDIRS) {
+  // WATCH_SUBDIRS_FLAT get the same treatment minus recursion — see above.
+  for (const sub of [...WATCH_SUBDIRS, ...WATCH_SUBDIRS_FLAT]) {
     const dir = path.join(home, sub);
+    const recursive = WATCH_SUBDIRS.includes(sub);
     try {
       if (!fs.existsSync(dir)) continue;
-      const w = fs.watch(dir, { recursive: true }, (_event, filename) => {
+      const w = fs.watch(dir, { recursive }, (_event, filename) => {
         const full = filename ? path.join(dir, filename) : dir;
         if (!isRelevantUnderHome(home, full)) return;
         scheduleEmit(broadcast, full);