diff --git a/claude-plugins/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json b/claude-plugins/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 1ada195c..00000000
--- a/claude-plugins/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "$schema": "https://anthropic.com/claude-code/marketplace.schema.json",
-  "name": "hyperhive",
-  "description": "hyperhive-authored Claude Code plugins, shipped hive-wide via the default hyperhive.claudeMarketplaces/claudePlugins nix options (nix/agent-modules/claude-settings.nix). Built as a nix store path and added with `claude plugin marketplace add <path>` - no forge repo or git remote needed. Add a new plugins/<name>/ subtree + one entry below to ship another.",
-  "owner": {
-    "name": "hyperhive"
-  },
-  "plugins": [
-    {
-      "name": "base",
-      "description": "hyperhive's base plugin - skills every agent needs, regardless of role. Currently: state-hygiene (read-before-write discipline and dated-archive convention for durable agent notes/state files). Add a new skill here (not a new plugin) if it applies to all agents; give it its own specialized plugin if it doesn't.",
-      "source": "./plugins/base",
-      "category": "productivity"
-    }
-  ]
-}
diff --git a/claude-plugins/plugins/base/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/claude-plugins/plugins/base/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
deleted file mode 100644
index bb267b49..00000000
--- a/claude-plugins/plugins/base/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "name": "base",
-  "description": "hyperhive's base plugin - skills every agent needs, regardless of role.",
-  "author": {
-    "name": "hyperhive"
-  }
-}
diff --git a/claude-plugins/plugins/base/skills/state-hygiene/SKILL.md b/claude-plugins/plugins/base/skills/state-hygiene/SKILL.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 276f1f49..00000000
--- a/claude-plugins/plugins/base/skills/state-hygiene/SKILL.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
----
-name: state-hygiene
-description: Enforces safe handling of an agent's own durable state/notes files (e.g. state/notes.md, state/TODO.md, or anything else under state/ meant to survive a container restart) - read the file before archiving, overwriting, or pruning it, split resolved work into small dated archive files instead of growing one giant live file, and never shell-pipe-append (>>) into a notes file. Use this whenever you are about to write to a durable notes/state file, especially right before a context-compaction checkpoint, when told to "flush state" or "write down anything relevant", or when a live notes file has grown large and needs an archive pass.
----
-
-# State Hygiene
-
-Durable notes/state files (your `CLAUDE.md`, `state/notes.md`, `state/TODO.md`,
-and anything else under `state/`) are your memory across container resets and
-context compactions. They only work if you actually read them before you
-change them - writing blind is how history gets silently destroyed or
-duplicated.
-
-## Before writing to any durable notes file
-
-1. **Read it first.** Never overwrite or append to a notes/state file based
-   on memory or assumption of its current contents - the file may have moved
-   on since your last read (another turn, another agent touched shared
-   space, a prior session ended mid-edit). Read (or re-read the relevant
-   section) immediately before editing.
-2. **Never pipe-append.** Don't do `echo "..." >> state/notes.md` (or
-   equivalent) from a shell command. That's a blind write with no chance to
-   see - and reconcile with - what's already there. Use your file-edit tool
-   (read, then edit/write) instead.
-3. **Prefer a targeted edit over a full rewrite** for anything long-lived: an
-   edit is less likely to accidentally clobber unrelated content than
-   regenerating the whole file from your current context.
-
-## Keeping a notes file lean
-
-- Split into a **live file** (only what's currently active/gated/relevant -
-  this is what you re-read every turn, keep it short) and an **archive
-  subdirectory** (e.g. `state/notes-archive/`) for resolved/closed work,
-  moved out of the hot path, never deleted. Don't drop archived files
-  loose at the top level of `state/` alongside the live files - a
-  dedicated subdir keeps `ls state/` showing only what's live.
-- Archive in **dated, per-topic chunks** - `YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>.md` - not one
-  ever-growing archive blob. `ls` on the archive subdir should read like a
-  timeline.
-- When you finish a piece of work, collapse its entry in the live file to a
-  one-line "done" summary and move the full detail into a new dated
-  archive file.
-- A live file well past ~500 lines (or into four figures) is overdue for an
-  archive pass - do it at a natural checkpoint (finishing a task, a
-  context-compaction prompt, or whenever you notice it).
-
-If your environment ships its own hive-wide/repo-wide notes convention doc,
-treat that as the canonical source and this skill as a reminder to follow
-it - don't duplicate its rationale into your own notes either.
diff --git a/docs/gotchas.md b/docs/gotchas.md
index 6cbc7f9c..119bc38e 100644
--- a/docs/gotchas.md
+++ b/docs/gotchas.md
@@ -84,47 +84,6 @@ scoped, only this one package. This is needed because each per-agent
 operator's host-level `allowUnfree` does **not** propagate in.
 Operators don't need to set anything on their side.
 
-That same isolation is why an agent can't pick a claude out of a
-*different* nixpkgs by itself: a container only ever sees the one
-nixpkgs the meta flake injects, so an `agent.nix` naming the host's
-`nixpkgs-unstable` has nothing to name. A release channel can trail
-unstable by weeks on this package, which is what
-`services.hyperhive.c0re.claudeCodePackage` is for — set it host-side
-and every agent runs that build.
-
-What crosses is the **store path**, not the derivation. Containers
-share the host's `/nix/store`, so the binary is already reachable
-inside them with its whole closure; hive-c0re writes the path into each
-agent's flake as a string literal and the agent module symlinks
-`bin/claude` onto PATH. Two things rule out the obvious alternatives: a
-`path:/nix/store/<pkg>` flake input is re-copied into the store as a
-reference-less `-source` (so the runtime closure never arrives), and
-`lib.types.package` fed a bare path runs `builtins.storePath`, which
-pure evaluation rejects. `hyperhive.docs.source` gets away with being
-an input only because a docs tree has no runtime dependencies.
-
-The `storePath` trap is worth spelling out, because it is not confined
-to options the operator writes: **any** option of type `package` fed a
-store-path *string* coerces through `lib.toDerivation`, i.e.
-`builtins.storePath`. `environment.systemPackages` and
-`systemd.services.<name>.path` both do it (the latter takes plain
-strings like `/run/wrappers` happily, but anything under
-`builtins.storeDir` is treated as a package). So a path handed to the
-container as text has to be wrapped in a real derivation — a symlink
-farm built from the interpolated string — before it can go anywhere a
-package is expected.
-
-The catch is that a path written into a generated flake is text, not a
-reference — the container's closure does not keep the binary alive.
-The **host** does: the package is interpolated into
-`/etc/hyperhive/serve.json`, so it lands in the host's system closure
-and is gc-rooted by the running generation. `builtins.toJSON` preserves
-string context, which is the load-bearing detail; discard the context
-anywhere on that path and `nix-collect-garbage` will eventually take
-the hive's `claude` out from under it. The price of the root is that an
-old `claude-code` can't be reclaimed until every agent has rebuilt past
-it and the old generations are gone.
-
 ## Claude credentials are per-agent
 
 `/var/lib/hyperhive/agents/<name>/claude/` bind-mounts to
diff --git a/docs/turn-loop/claude-invocation.md b/docs/turn-loop/claude-invocation.md
index b9d2f26c..9d93619e 100644
--- a/docs/turn-loop/claude-invocation.md
+++ b/docs/turn-loop/claude-invocation.md
@@ -21,17 +21,6 @@ auto-reset / retry decisions in `drive_turn`. The lib returns everything it
 parsed from a turn (usage, cost, context window, resolved model) as
 `Telemetry`, which the policy layer applies to the bus.
 
-**Which `claude` binary.** The bare name `claude`, resolved off the
-harness unit's PATH. By default that's the `claude-code` in the agent's
-own nixpkgs (the meta flake's `nixpkgs` input) via
-`environment.systemPackages`. Since that's usually a release channel and
-this package moves fast, the operator can pin one hive-wide with
-`services.hyperhive.c0re.claudeCodePackage`: its store path is written
-into each agent's flake, and `claude` on PATH becomes a symlink to it
-instead of the container's own `claude-code` — so there's only ever one
-`claude` in the container. Agents pick up a new build on their
-next rebuild, not live. See docs/gotchas.md::`claude-code` is unfree.
-
 Hive-enforced settings ship at `/etc/claude-code/managed-settings.json`
 (claude-code's canonical managed-settings path — precedence #1,
 read-only, un-overridable), wired in `nix/agent-modules/claude-settings.nix`
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 5c127078..4146a87a 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@
                   assets
                   frontend
                   reference-docs
-                  claude-plugins
                   ;
               };
             };
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/coordinator.rs b/hive-c0re/src/coordinator.rs
index 7029cbf3..c08927df 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/coordinator.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/coordinator.rs
@@ -62,17 +62,6 @@ pub struct Coordinator {
     /// "nixpkgs"` is set in the host flake). Empty string = legacy
     /// `follows = "hyperhive/nixpkgs"` behaviour.
     pub nixpkgs_flake: String,
-    /// Store path of the `claude-code` build every agent runs, written
-    /// into each per-agent flake as `hyperhive.claudeCodePath`. Set by
-    /// the NixOS module option `services.hyperhive.c0re.claudeCodePackage`
-    /// (which resolves the package and hands us its path). `None` = every
-    /// agent keeps the `claude-code` from its own nixpkgs.
-    ///
-    /// A path rather than a flake input because containers share the
-    /// host's `/nix/store`: the binary is already reachable inside them,
-    /// closure and all. The host module is what keeps it from being
-    /// garbage-collected — see that option.
-    pub claude_code_path: Option<String>,
     /// TCP port the host's hive-c0re dashboard listens on. Inlined into
     /// each per-agent flake so the agent's web UI can build the right
     /// rebuild-button URL pointing back at the dashboard.
@@ -224,11 +213,6 @@ pub struct HiveEnv {
     /// so a doc edit only re-locks this input, not the whole source.
     pub hyperhive_docs_flake: String,
     pub nixpkgs_flake: String,
-    /// Store path of the `claude-code` agents run, or `None` for "each
-    /// agent keeps the one out of its own nixpkgs". Travels into the
-    /// container as `hyperhive.claudeCodePath` — a plain string, kept
-    /// alive host-side by the module that resolved it.
-    pub claude_code_path: Option<String>,
     pub dashboard_port: u16,
     pub operator_pronouns: String,
     pub context_window_tokens: std::collections::HashMap<String, u64>,
@@ -251,7 +235,6 @@ impl Default for HiveEnv {
             hyperhive_flake: "/etc/hyperhive".to_string(),
             hyperhive_docs_flake: String::new(),
             nixpkgs_flake: String::new(),
-            claude_code_path: None,
             dashboard_port: 7000,
             operator_pronouns: "she/her".to_string(),
             context_window_tokens: std::collections::HashMap::from([
@@ -491,7 +474,6 @@ impl Coordinator {
             hyperhive_flake,
             hyperhive_docs_flake,
             nixpkgs_flake,
-            claude_code_path,
             dashboard_port,
             operator_pronouns,
             context_window_tokens,
@@ -538,7 +520,6 @@ impl Coordinator {
             hyperhive_flake,
             hyperhive_docs_flake,
             nixpkgs_flake,
-            claude_code_path,
             dashboard_port,
             operator_pronouns,
             context_window_tokens,
@@ -572,7 +553,6 @@ impl Coordinator {
             hyperhive_flake: self.hyperhive_flake.clone(),
             hyperhive_docs_flake: self.hyperhive_docs_flake.clone(),
             nixpkgs_flake: self.nixpkgs_flake.clone(),
-            claude_code_path: self.claude_code_path.clone(),
             dashboard_port: self.dashboard_port,
             operator_pronouns: self.operator_pronouns.clone(),
             context_window_tokens: self.context_window_tokens.clone(),
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/meta.rs b/hive-c0re/src/meta.rs
index 167d0908..bc1fb6f4 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/meta.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/meta.rs
@@ -92,7 +92,6 @@ pub async fn sync_agents(hive: &HiveEnv, agents: &[AgentSpec]) -> Result<()> {
         &hive.hyperhive_flake,
         &hive.hyperhive_docs_flake,
         &hive.nixpkgs_flake,
-        hive.claude_code_path.as_deref(),
         hive.dashboard_port,
         &hive.operator_pronouns,
         &hive.context_window_tokens,
@@ -651,7 +650,6 @@ fn render_flake(
     hyperhive_flake: &str,
     docs_flake: &str,
     nixpkgs_flake: &str,
-    claude_code_path: Option<&str>,
     dashboard_port: u16,
     operator_pronouns: &str,
     context_window_tokens: &std::collections::HashMap<String, u64>,
@@ -662,7 +660,6 @@ fn render_flake(
         hyperhive_flake,
         docs_flake,
         nixpkgs_flake,
-        claude_code_path,
         dashboard_port,
         operator_pronouns,
         context_window_tokens,
@@ -940,7 +937,6 @@ fn render_flake_with_lookup<F>(
     hyperhive_flake: &str,
     docs_flake: &str,
     nixpkgs_flake: &str,
-    claude_code_path: Option<&str>,
     dashboard_port: u16,
     operator_pronouns: &str,
     context_window_tokens: &std::collections::HashMap<String, u64>,
@@ -1055,18 +1051,6 @@ where
     if !docs_flake.is_empty() {
         out.push_str("              hyperhive.docs.source = inputs.\"hyperhive-docs\".outPath;\n");
     }
-    // The `claude-code` agents run, as a bare store path rather than a
-    // flake input: containers share the host's `/nix/store`, so the
-    // binary is already there with its closure and has nothing to
-    // travel. A string literal is also the only shape that evaluates —
-    // `lib.types.package` on a bare path runs `builtins.storePath`,
-    // which pure eval rejects. The agent module puts its `bin/` on the
-    // harness PATH; the host module holds the gc root, since a path
-    // spelled out here is text and references nothing.
-    // `None` = no override; agents keep their own nixpkgs' `claude-code`.
-    if let Some(path) = claude_code_path {
-        let _ = writeln!(out, "              hyperhive.claudeCodePath = \"{path}\";");
-    }
     // CA trust: embed every hive-trusted CA so each agent validates them at
     // build time. The list is the hive's own self-signed CA (when active)
     // plus every peer-hive root CA (`swarm.peers.<d>.caCert`) — a peer CA is
@@ -1577,7 +1561,6 @@ mod tests {
             "github:example/hyperhive",
             "path:/nix/store/bbbb-hyperhive-docs-source",
             "path:/nix/store/aaaa-nixpkgs-source",
-            None,
             8000,
             "she/her",
             &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
@@ -1622,7 +1605,6 @@ mod tests {
             "github:example/hyperhive",
             "",
             "path:/nix/store/aaaa-nixpkgs-source",
-            None,
             8000,
             "she/her",
             &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
@@ -1635,57 +1617,6 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
-    #[test]
-    fn render_flake_pins_claude_path_without_adding_an_input() {
-        // The host-pinned claude travels as a bare store path assigned to
-        // an option — deliberately NOT as a flake input. Containers share
-        // the host store, so the build is already reachable; making it an
-        // input would re-copy it as a reference-less `-source` and strip
-        // the closure the binary actually needs.
-        let out = render_flake(
-            "github:example/hyperhive",
-            "path:/nix/store/bbbb-hyperhive-docs-source",
-            "path:/nix/store/aaaa-nixpkgs-source",
-            Some("/nix/store/cccc-claude-code-2.1.220"),
-            8000,
-            "she/her",
-            &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
-            "4G",
-            &[sample_spec("alice", false, 9001)],
-        );
-        assert!(
-            out.contains("hyperhive.claudeCodePath = \"/nix/store/cccc-claude-code-2.1.220\";"),
-            "claude path assigned as a plain string literal:\n{out}"
-        );
-        assert!(
-            !out.contains("claude-code-2.1.220\".url"),
-            "the pinned claude must not become a flake input:\n{out}"
-        );
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn render_flake_omits_claude_path_when_unset() {
-        // `None` = no host-level pin: the option is left undefined so the
-        // agent module keeps its own nixpkgs' `claude-code` (and keeps it
-        // in `environment.systemPackages`, which is what makes the
-        // unpinned case self-contained).
-        let out = render_flake(
-            "github:example/hyperhive",
-            "path:/nix/store/bbbb-hyperhive-docs-source",
-            "path:/nix/store/aaaa-nixpkgs-source",
-            None,
-            8000,
-            "she/her",
-            &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
-            "4G",
-            &[sample_spec("alice", false, 9001)],
-        );
-        assert!(
-            !out.contains("claudeCodePath"),
-            "no claude assignment when unpinned:\n{out}"
-        );
-    }
-
     #[test]
     fn render_flake_falls_back_to_follows_when_nixpkgs_flake_empty() {
         // Empty nixpkgs_flake → legacy follows behaviour (backward compat
@@ -1694,7 +1625,6 @@ mod tests {
             "github:example/hyperhive",
             "path:/nix/store/bbbb-hyperhive-docs-source",
             "",
-            None,
             8000,
             "she/her",
             &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
@@ -1725,7 +1655,6 @@ mod tests {
             "github:example/hyperhive",
             "path:/nix/store/bbbb-hyperhive-docs-source",
             "path:/nix/store/aaaa-nixpkgs-source",
-            None,
             8000,
             "she/her",
             &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
@@ -1759,7 +1688,6 @@ mod tests {
             "github:example/hyperhive",
             "path:/nix/store/bbbb-hyperhive-docs-source",
             "path:/nix/store/aaaa-nixpkgs-source",
-            None,
             8000,
             "she/her",
             &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
@@ -1795,7 +1723,6 @@ mod tests {
             "github:example/hyperhive",
             "path:/nix/store/bbbb-hyperhive-docs-source",
             "path:/nix/store/aaaa-nixpkgs-source",
-            None,
             8000,
             "she/her",
             &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
@@ -1834,7 +1761,6 @@ mod tests {
             "github:example/hyperhive",
             "path:/nix/store/bbbb-hyperhive-docs-source",
             "path:/nix/store/aaaa-nixpkgs-source",
-            None,
             8000,
             "she/her",
             &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
@@ -1877,7 +1803,6 @@ mod tests {
                 "github:example/hyperhive",
                 "path:/nix/store/bbbb-hyperhive-docs-source",
                 "path:/nix/store/aaaa-nixpkgs-source",
-                None,
                 8000,
                 "she/her",
                 &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
@@ -1961,7 +1886,6 @@ mod tests {
                 "github:example/hyperhive",
                 "path:/nix/store/bbbb-hyperhive-docs-source",
                 "path:/nix/store/aaaa-nixpkgs-source",
-                None,
                 8000,
                 "she/her",
                 &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
@@ -2047,7 +1971,6 @@ mod tests {
                 "github:example/hyperhive",
                 "path:/nix/store/bbbb-hyperhive-docs-source",
                 "path:/nix/store/aaaa-nixpkgs-source",
-                None,
                 8000,
                 "she/her",
                 &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
@@ -2090,7 +2013,6 @@ mod tests {
             "github:example/hyperhive",
             "path:/nix/store/bbbb-hyperhive-docs-source",
             "path:/nix/store/aaaa-nixpkgs-source",
-            None,
             8000,
             "she/her",
             &std::collections::HashMap::new(),
diff --git a/nix/agent-modules/claude-settings.nix b/nix/agent-modules/claude-settings.nix
index f946839d..fe5c1943 100644
--- a/nix/agent-modules/claude-settings.nix
+++ b/nix/agent-modules/claude-settings.nix
@@ -228,14 +228,7 @@ in
 
   options.hyperhive.claudeMarketplaces = lib.mkOption {
     type = lib.types.listOf lib.types.str;
-    default = [
-      "anthropics/claude-plugins-official"
-      "${config.hyperhive.packages.claude-plugins}"
-    ];
-    defaultText = lib.literalMD ''
-      `[ "anthropics/claude-plugins-official" "''${hyperhive.packages.claude-plugins}" ]`
-      (the flake's own local-path plugin marketplace)
-    '';
+    default = [ "anthropics/claude-plugins-official" ];
     example = [
       "anthropics/claude-plugins-official"
       "anthropics/claude-plugins-community"
@@ -249,24 +242,14 @@ in
       reference a marketplace (e.g. `foo@claude-plugins-official`).
       Rendered to `/etc/hyperhive/claude-marketplaces.json`.
 
-      Defaults to Anthropic's official marketplace plus hyperhive's
-      own `claude-plugins` nix package (see
-      `nix/packages/claude-plugins.nix`) — a local-path marketplace
-      built as a plain nix store path, registered under the name
-      `hyperhive` (from its `marketplace.json`, not the store path
-      itself, so plugin specs stay stable across rebuilds). No forge
-      repo or git remote needed to ship a hive-authored skill; agents
-      get both marketplaces out of the box without any per-agent.nix
-      wiring.
+      Defaults to Anthropic's official marketplace; agents get it
+      out of the box without any per-agent.nix wiring.
     '';
   };
 
   options.hyperhive.claudePlugins = lib.mkOption {
     type = lib.types.listOf lib.types.str;
-    default = [
-      "skill-creator@claude-plugins-official"
-      "base@hyperhive"
-    ];
+    default = [ "skill-creator@claude-plugins-official" ];
     example = [
       "formatter@my-marketplace"
       "thinking-tools@anthropics"
@@ -281,22 +264,15 @@ in
       `/etc/hyperhive/claude-plugins.json`; the harness reads it via
       `plugins::install_configured`.
 
-      Defaults to Anthropic's `skill-creator` (teaches an agent to
-      write, refine, and evaluate its own skills) plus hyperhive's own
-      `base` plugin — one plugin bundling every skill that applies to
-      *all* agents regardless of role (currently just `state-hygiene`,
-      read-before-write + dated-archive discipline for durable
-      notes/state files; more all-agent skills land as additional
-      skills inside this same plugin, not new plugins — a skill that
-      only some agents need gets its own specialized plugin instead).
-      Agents get both out of the box, matching the default
-      marketplaces above.
+      Defaults to Anthropic's `skill-creator`, which teaches an agent
+      to write, refine, and evaluate its own skills — agents get it
+      out of the box, matching the default marketplace above.
 
       Note that a per-agent definition REPLACES this default rather
       than extending it (ordinary NixOS list-option semantics, same as
       `claudeMarketplaces`). An agent that wants extra plugins AND the
-      defaults should list both `skill-creator@claude-plugins-official`
-      and `base@hyperhive` alongside them.
+      default should list `skill-creator@claude-plugins-official`
+      alongside them.
     '';
   };
 
diff --git a/nix/agent-modules/default.nix b/nix/agent-modules/default.nix
index 5b282fb0..810ab3b5 100644
--- a/nix/agent-modules/default.nix
+++ b/nix/agent-modules/default.nix
@@ -61,33 +61,6 @@
     '';
   };
 
-  options.hyperhive.claudeCodePath = lib.mkOption {
-    type = lib.types.nullOr lib.types.str;
-    default = null;
-    example = "/nix/store/…-claude-code-2.1.220";
-    description = ''
-      Store path of the `claude-code` this agent runs, or `null` (the
-      default) to use the `claude-code` from the container's own
-      nixpkgs.
-
-      Set by the generated meta flake when the operator sets
-      `services.hyperhive.c0re.claudeCodePackage` host-side, so a hive
-      can run a claude built from a *different* nixpkgs than the one
-      its agents evaluate against — a release channel can trail
-      unstable by weeks on this one package. It arrives as a path and
-      not a package because agents share the host's `/nix/store`, so
-      the build is already reachable here with its whole closure and
-      has nothing to travel.
-
-      When set, `claude` on PATH is a symlink to this path's
-      `bin/claude` and the container's own `claude-code` is dropped, so
-      there is only ever one claude in the container. Note that neither
-      the symlink nor anything else in the container's closure *refers*
-      to the target — keeping it alive is the host's job, see
-      `services.hyperhive.c0re.claudeCodePackage`.
-    '';
-  };
-
   config = {
     assertions = [
       # Guard the inputs-routed-as-output pattern: the agent flake.nix is
@@ -210,31 +183,8 @@
     environment.systemPackages = [
       config.hyperhive.packages.hive-metric
     ]
-    ++ [
-      (
-        if config.hyperhive.claudeCodePath == null then
-          pkgs.claude-code
-        else
-          # Host-pinned claude: a symlink farm around a path the
-          # container was handed as text. It has to be a derivation —
-          # `environment.systemPackages` coerces a store-path *string*
-          # with `toDerivation`, i.e. `builtins.storePath`, which pure
-          # evaluation rejects (`systemd.services.*.path` does the same,
-          # which is why the harness gets this via PATH like everything
-          # else rather than a unit-level entry). Interpolating the path
-          # into the builder is just text, so it evaluates anywhere.
-          #
-          # The symlink registers no store reference — the target isn't
-          # among this derivation's inputs, so nothing here keeps the
-          # binary alive. That is deliberate and it is the host's job:
-          # see `services.hyperhive.c0re.claudeCodePackage`.
-          pkgs.runCommandLocal "claude-code-pinned" { } ''
-            mkdir -p "$out/bin"
-            ln -s ${config.hyperhive.claudeCodePath}/bin/claude "$out/bin/claude"
-          ''
-      )
-    ]
     ++ (with pkgs; [
+      claude-code
       bashInteractive
       coreutils-full
       # procps for pkill — used by the web UI's /api/cancel to SIGINT the
diff --git a/nix/agent-modules/packages.nix b/nix/agent-modules/packages.nix
index ca465fee..af3052b8 100644
--- a/nix/agent-modules/packages.nix
+++ b/nix/agent-modules/packages.nix
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@
       per-binary daemon/CLI packages (`hive-agent`, `hive-agent-mcp`,
       `hive-bash-daemon`,
       `hive-forge`, `hive-forge-notify`, `hive-matrix-daemon`,
-      `hive-metric`, `hive-screen-mcp`) plus the `assets`, `frontend`,
-      `reference-docs` and `claude-plugins` trees. Wired by the flake's agent-base/ruth
+      `hive-metric`, `hive-screen-mcp`) plus the `assets`, `frontend` and
+      `reference-docs` trees. Wired by the flake's agent-base/ruth
       nixosModules to `hyperhive.packages.<system>.*`; override an
       individual key per-agent to swap in a patched binary.
     '';
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix
index 28937561..5372ed7a 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix
@@ -76,20 +76,6 @@ let
     hyperhive_flake = cfg.hyperhiveFlake;
     hyperhive_docs_flake = cfg.hyperhiveDocs;
     nixpkgs_flake = cfg.nixpkgsFlake;
-    # The `claude-code` every agent runs, or null for "each agent keeps
-    # the one out of its own nixpkgs". `builtins.toJSON` serialises a
-    # derivation as its out path (and null as null), so the package goes
-    # in whole rather than interpolated — that is also the ONLY thing
-    # gc-rooting it: the resulting string carries store context, so this
-    # /etc entry genuinely references the package and the host's system
-    # closure holds it alive. Nothing container-side can — meta.rs writes
-    # the path into each agent's generated flake as a plain string
-    # literal, and text is not a reference. Hence the assertion below: do
-    # NOT discard this context, and do not route the path through
-    # anything that drops it. The failure mode is a garbage-collected
-    # `claude` and a hive that can't take a turn, weeks after the commit
-    # that caused it.
-    claude_code_path = cfg.claudeCodePackage;
     dashboard_port = cfg.dashboardPort;
     operator_pronouns = cfg.operatorPronouns;
     context_window_tokens = cfg.contextWindowTokens;
@@ -108,28 +94,6 @@ in
   ];
 
   config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
-    assertions = [
-      {
-        # The pinned claude reaches agents as a bare path, so this
-        # string's store context is the whole reason the binary survives
-        # a `nix-collect-garbage`. Losing it is invisible at eval and at
-        # deploy — it only shows up as every agent failing to spawn
-        # `claude`, at whatever unrelated moment the gc runs. Cheap
-        # enough to just check.
-        assertion =
-          cfg.claudeCodePackage == null || builtins.hasContext (builtins.toJSON cfg.claudeCodePackage);
-        message = ''
-          services.hyperhive.c0re.claudeCodePackage lost its store
-          context on the way into /etc/hyperhive/serve.json, so the
-          package is no longer gc-rooted by the system closure and
-          `nix-collect-garbage` may delete the claude every agent runs.
-          Something on that path discarded the context (e.g.
-          builtins.unsafeDiscardStringContext, toString, or reading the
-          path back out of a plain file) — undo it.
-        '';
-      }
-    ];
-
     environment.systemPackages = [
       cfg.package
       pkgs.git
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/options.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/options.nix
index bd10cecd..eee0237c 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/options.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/options.nix
@@ -128,45 +128,6 @@
         of the host's channel.
       '';
     };
-    claudeCodePackage = lib.mkOption {
-      type = lib.types.nullOr lib.types.package;
-      default = null;
-      example = lib.literalExpression "inputs.nixpkgs-unstable.legacyPackages.x86_64-linux.claude-code";
-      description = ''
-        The `claude-code` build every agent runs, or `null` (the
-        default) to leave each agent on the `claude-code` from its own
-        nixpkgs — i.e. whatever `nixpkgsFlake` resolves to.
-
-        This is the one binary the whole hive is built around, and it
-        moves fast enough that a release channel routinely trails
-        unstable by weeks on it. An agent cannot fix that for itself:
-        agents evaluate against the single nixpkgs hive-c0re injects,
-        so an `agent.nix` has no other tree to reach for. Set this from
-        a second nixpkgs in the host flake and every agent follows,
-        without moving the nixpkgs the rest of the container is built
-        from.
-
-        What travels into the container is the **store path**, not the
-        derivation: agents share the host's `/nix/store`, so the binary
-        and its full closure are already reachable there — nothing
-        needs rebuilding or copying. hive-c0re writes the path into
-        each agent's generated flake as a plain string literal (a bare
-        path fed to `lib.types.package` would run `builtins.storePath`,
-        which is illegal under pure evaluation) and the agent module
-        puts its `bin/` on the harness's PATH.
-
-        The flip side of a plain string is that nothing in the agent's
-        own closure refers to it, so the container cannot keep it
-        alive. The **host** does that instead: this package is
-        interpolated into `/etc/hyperhive/serve.json`, which puts it in
-        the host's system closure — so it is gc-rooted by the running
-        generation for exactly as long as that generation is the one
-        the agents were rendered from. The cost is that
-        `nix-collect-garbage` cannot reclaim an old `claude-code` until
-        every agent has been rebuilt past it and the old generations
-        are gone.
-      '';
-    };
     dashboardPort = lib.mkOption {
       type = lib.types.port;
       default = 7000;
diff --git a/nix/packages/claude-plugins.nix b/nix/packages/claude-plugins.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index b83896a0..00000000
--- a/nix/packages/claude-plugins.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
-{
-  stdenv,
-}:
-
-# hyperhive-authored Claude Code plugin marketplace (source tree at
-# ../../claude-plugins), shipped as a standalone derivation and spliced
-# into the *default* `hyperhive.claudeMarketplaces`/`claudePlugins` lists
-# (nix/agent-modules/claude-settings.nix) as a local marketplace source.
-# `claude plugin marketplace add` accepts a plain filesystem path (verified:
-# `claude plugin marketplace add --help` → "Add a marketplace from a URL,
-# path, or GitHub repo"), and registers it under the marketplace.json's own
-# `name` field ("hyperhive") rather than the path — so
-# `<plugin>@hyperhive` is a stable plugin spec regardless of the store
-# path's hash. The built store path IS the marketplace: no forge repo, no
-# git remote, no PAT/PR ceremony needed to ship a skill hive-wide.
-#
-# Every hive-authored skill lives under its own `plugins/<name>/` subtree
-# in the source tree; add one there plus a matching entry in
-# `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json`'s `plugins` list to ship another.
-#
-# Pure data: nothing to build, `$out` is the tree as-is (mirrors
-# ./reference-docs.nix). `cp -r . "$out"` (not `cp -r ./* $out`) because
-# the marketplace/plugin manifests live under `.claude-plugin/` — a
-# hidden directory a shell glob (`*`) would silently skip.
-stdenv.mkDerivation {
-  pname = "hyperhive-claude-plugins";
-  version = "0.1.0";
-  # Narrow src keeps this derivation's input hash decoupled from the rest
-  # of the tree — a skill edit only re-hashes this.
-  src = ../../claude-plugins;
-
-  dontBuild = true;
-  dontConfigure = true;
-
-  installPhase = ''
-    runHook preInstall
-    mkdir -p $out
-    cp -r . "$out"/
-    runHook postInstall
-  '';
-
-  dontFixup = true;
-
-  meta = {
-    description = "hyperhive-authored Claude Code plugin marketplace (skills shipped hive-wide)";
-    homepage = "https://forge.darkest.space/hyperhive/hyperhive";
-  };
-}
diff --git a/nix/packages/default.nix b/nix/packages/default.nix
index b3759bb9..8a8746fe 100644
--- a/nix/packages/default.nix
+++ b/nix/packages/default.nix
@@ -139,11 +139,6 @@ in
   # so the binary derivation stays cached when a prompt edit ripples
   # through.
   assets = pkgs.callPackage ./assets.nix { };
-  # hyperhive-authored Claude Code plugin marketplace (source tree at
-  # ../../claude-plugins) — a local-path marketplace spliced into the
-  # default `hyperhive.claudeMarketplaces`/`claudePlugins` lists. See
-  # ./claude-plugins.nix for the "why a store path, not a repo" rationale.
-  claude-plugins = pkgs.callPackage ./claude-plugins.nix { };
   # The repo docs/ markdown tree as a standalone derivation —
   # agents read it in-container (added as a claude additional
   # directory) and the website repo reuses it as a flake input,