From c7224958efa2995642b1b867b2025268f1a3e63a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: camc314 <18101008+camc314@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2026 20:06:41 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] docs(linter): update JS Plugins + LS references (#20843)

---
 crates/oxc_linter/src/config/config_builder.rs | 7 ++++---
 crates/oxc_linter/src/config/rules.rs          | 9 ++-------
 crates/oxc_linter/src/external_plugin_store.rs | 1 -
 3 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/crates/oxc_linter/src/config/config_builder.rs b/crates/oxc_linter/src/config/config_builder.rs
index 3173aa4441cdb..51aa730deacdd 100644
--- a/crates/oxc_linter/src/config/config_builder.rs
+++ b/crates/oxc_linter/src/config/config_builder.rs
@@ -216,9 +216,10 @@ impl ConfigStoreBuilder {
             }
         }
 
-        // If external plugins are not enabled (language server), then skip loading JS plugins.
-        // This is so that a project can use JS plugins via `oxlint` CLI, and language server
-        // will just silently ignore them - rather than crashing.
+        // Only attempt to load external JS plugins when external plugins are enabled,
+        // i.e., when the external JS linter is available/initialized. If the store is
+        // disabled, configs that reference external plugins are accepted but the plugins
+        // themselves are not loaded, to avoid failing config parsing.
         if !external_plugins.is_empty() && external_plugin_store.is_enabled() {
             let Some(external_linter) = external_linter else {
                 #[expect(clippy::missing_panics_doc, reason = "infallible")]
diff --git a/crates/oxc_linter/src/config/rules.rs b/crates/oxc_linter/src/config/rules.rs
index 9e776767ecf73..3cb3dfe4373e7 100644
--- a/crates/oxc_linter/src/config/rules.rs
+++ b/crates/oxc_linter/src/config/rules.rs
@@ -189,13 +189,8 @@ impl OxlintRules {
                         });
                     }
                 } else {
-                    // If JS plugins are disabled (language server), assume plugin name refers to a JS plugin,
-                    // and that rule name is valid for that plugin.
-                    // But language server doesn't support JS plugins, so ignore the rule.
-                    //
-                    // This unfortunately means we can't catch genuinely invalid plugin names in language server
-                    // (e.g. typos like `unicon/filename-case`). But we can't avoid this as the name of a JS plugin
-                    // can only be known by loading it, which language server can't do at present.
+                    // Plugin name is not a built-in plugin. If external plugins are enabled,
+                    // try to resolve it as an external JS plugin; otherwise ignore it.
                     if external_plugin_store.is_enabled() {
                         match external_plugin_store.lookup_rule_id(plugin_name, rule_name) {
                             Ok(external_rule_id) => {
diff --git a/crates/oxc_linter/src/external_plugin_store.rs b/crates/oxc_linter/src/external_plugin_store.rs
index bc8be4fca2a34..ea3b2d2d5dd34 100644
--- a/crates/oxc_linter/src/external_plugin_store.rs
+++ b/crates/oxc_linter/src/external_plugin_store.rs
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ pub struct ExternalPluginStore {
     /// The rule ID is also stored, so that can merge options with the rule's default options on JS side.
     options: IndexVec<ExternalOptionsId, (ExternalRuleId, SmallVec<[serde_json::Value; 1]>)>,
 
-    /// `true` for `oxlint`, `false` for language server
     is_enabled: bool,
 }