diff --git a/DESIGN.md b/DESIGN.md
index e08e9a9be..cee28133a 100644
--- a/DESIGN.md
+++ b/DESIGN.md
@@ -23,14 +23,12 @@ Top to bottom:
    Nothing page-scoped ever renders in this body; it lists
    conversations, not product sections.
 3. **Footer rail** — Mission Control is pinned above the rail as its own
-   row. The first-run rail below it is Routines, Files, Skills, Agents, in
-   that order (CL-6765). Insights and Evals join that rail only when
-   existing reads prove real usage (turns > 0 / at least one eval run);
-   Plugins stays off the rail entirely and is reached by deep link or the
-   command palette. These are utility destinations, not workbenches, and
-   each is its own top-level route (`/mission-control`, `/routines`,
-   `/files`, `/skills`, `/agents`; plus `/insights`, `/evals`, `/plugins`
-   when reached).
+   row. The first-run rail below it is Routines, Files, Skills, Agents,
+   Plugins, in that order. Insights and Evals join that rail only when
+   existing reads prove real usage (turns > 0 / at least one eval run).
+   These are utility destinations, not workbenches, and each is its own
+   top-level route (`/mission-control`, `/routines`, `/files`, `/skills`,
+   `/agents`, `/plugins`; plus `/insights`, `/evals` when reached).
 4. **Account row** — avatar and name, anchoring the rail, plus a separate
    settings icon beside it. The avatar+name half is a menu trigger
    (weekly usage, feedback, log out) that pops upward; the gear is a
diff --git a/PRODUCT.md b/PRODUCT.md
index 9ff2ec3e0..7b9ad1ffb 100644
--- a/PRODUCT.md
+++ b/PRODUCT.md
@@ -79,13 +79,12 @@ A bench that already has one or more workbenches skips first-run and
 lands on `workbenches[0]` (see `apps/web/src/pages/home-page.tsx`). Myra
 is the first-run guide in her DM, not a home slot.
 
-The shell's first-run destinations stay small on purpose (CL-6765):
+The shell's first-run destinations stay small on purpose:
 Mission Control is pinned above the footer rail; the rail itself is
-Routines, Files, Skills, and Agents. Insights and Evals appear on that
-rail only after honest usage exists; Plugins stays reachable by deep
-link and the command palette, not as a first-run rail item. New benches
-should not meet an empty Plugins / Insights / Evals gallery before they
-have anything to put there.
+Routines, Files, Skills, Agents, and Plugins. Insights and Evals appear
+on that rail only after honest usage exists. New benches should not
+meet an empty Insights / Evals gallery before they have anything to
+put there.
 
 ### Code review's first minute
 
diff --git a/apps/web/src/routes.tsx b/apps/web/src/routes.tsx
index eecf74abd..f15d43514 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/routes.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/src/routes.tsx
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 // The route table: one entry per screen, consumed by the command palette
 // (label) and the route switch (render), so navigation and pages cannot
 // drift apart. The sidebar itself lists workbenches (conversations), not
-// routes — the first-run footer reaches Routines, Files, Skills, and
-// Agents; Insights and Evals join that rail only given honest usage.
-// Plugins, Insights, Evals, and Settings stay reachable by deep link and
-// the palette even when they are off the rail. Conversation deep links
+// routes — the first-run footer reaches Routines, Files, Skills, Agents,
+// and Plugins; Insights and Evals join that rail only given honest usage.
+// Insights, Evals, and Settings stay reachable by deep link and the
+// palette even when they are off the rail. Conversation deep links
 // (`/w/:workbenchId`) stay routable; `/` is the Myra land hop (ensure +
 // open her conversation) for a bench with a workbench already, or the
 // guided first-workbench describe screen for a bench with none (CL-6104)
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import {
   FolderOpen,
   Lightning,
   ListBullets,
+  PuzzlePiece,
   Robot,
   SlidersHorizontal,
   SquaresFour,
@@ -395,12 +396,11 @@ export const APP_ROUTES: readonly AppRoute[] = [
     render: (path: string) => <EvalsRoute path={path} />,
   },
   {
-    // Reached by deep link and the command palette's Pages group — never
-    // from the first-run footer rail. No `/plugins/:slug` until CL-6417
-    // (CL-6817 unlinked the stub).
+    // First-run footer rail destination. No `/plugins/:slug` until
+    // CL-6417 (CL-6817 unlinked the stub).
     path: "/plugins",
     label: "Plugins",
-    icon: <SquaresFour />,
+    icon: <PuzzlePiece />,
     render: (path: string, navigate: (to: string) => void) => (
       <PluginsRoute path={path} navigate={navigate} />
     ),
@@ -426,8 +426,8 @@ function routesInOrder(paths: readonly string[]): readonly AppRoute[] {
 /**
  * Everything the command palette treats as a product destination (its
  * "Pages" group). The first-run sidebar footer reaches Routines / Files /
- * Skills / Agents (and Insights / Evals only given honest usage);
- * Plugins, Insights, Evals, and Settings stay palette- and
+ * Skills / Agents / Plugins (and Insights / Evals only given honest
+ * usage); Insights, Evals, and Settings stay palette- and
  * deep-link-reachable even when they are off the rail.
  */
 export const NAV_ROUTES: readonly AppRoute[] = routesInOrder([
diff --git a/apps/web/src/shell/sidebar.tsx b/apps/web/src/shell/sidebar.tsx
index 4bb80b751..fc6d9170b 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/shell/sidebar.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/src/shell/sidebar.tsx
@@ -1,14 +1,12 @@
 // The one sidebar. Header: the brand mark, then create + search. Body:
 // Agents and Channels — nothing page-scoped ever renders here. Footer: the
-// first-run rail is Routines, Files, Skills, Agents; Insights and Evals
-// join only when the existing usage / eval-run reads return real items
-// (never a fabricated row, never a new analytics store). Plugins is
-// reachable by URL and the command palette, not as a first-run tour
-// destination. Below the rail: the account row — avatar + name, the whole
-// row is the trigger for a menu that pops upward with weekly usage,
-// settings, feedback, and log out. Always present; there is no collapse
-// affordance and no second nav column. Approvals belong in the
-// conversation, not as a standing band here.
+// first-run rail is Routines, Files, Skills, Agents, Plugins; Insights and
+// Evals join only when the existing usage / eval-run reads return real items
+// (never a fabricated row, never a new analytics store). Below the rail:
+// the account row — avatar + name, the whole row is the trigger for a menu
+// that pops upward with weekly usage, settings, feedback, and log out.
+// Always present; there is no collapse affordance and no second nav column.
+// Approvals belong in the conversation, not as a standing band here.
 //
 // Inbox is gone (CL-6151, owner decision: tasks + approvals don't flow
 // into workbenches).
@@ -41,6 +39,7 @@ import {
   Lightning,
   ListBullets,
   Plus,
+  PuzzlePiece,
   Robot,
   SignOut,
   Repeat,
@@ -170,7 +169,7 @@ export function Sidebar({
 
       {/* Mission Control is pinned above the footer rail as its own row
           (DESIGN.md's Shell & Navigation) — not a button inside the
-          first-run rail, which stays Routines/Files/Skills/Agents. */}
+          first-run rail, which stays Routines/Files/Skills/Agents/Plugins. */}
       <div className="shell-sidebar-mission-control">
         <button
           type="button"
@@ -189,12 +188,12 @@ export function Sidebar({
       </div>
 
       <SidebarPanelFooter>
-        {/* Footer order: Routines, Files, Skills, Agents, then Insights and
-            Evals only when those existing reads prove real items, then the
-            account row anchors everything else (weekly usage, Settings,
-            Log out) in its pop-up menu — a single footer, never two stacked
-            rows. Routines (CL-6362) is global-only here — no per-workbench
-            routines chrome remains. */}
+        {/* Footer order: Routines, Files, Skills, Agents, Plugins, then
+            Insights and Evals only when those existing reads prove real
+            items, then the account row anchors everything else (weekly
+            usage, Settings, Log out) in its pop-up menu — a single footer,
+            never two stacked rows. Routines (CL-6362) is global-only here
+            — no per-workbench routines chrome remains. */}
         <button
           type="button"
           className="shell-sidebar-footer-row"
@@ -235,6 +234,16 @@ export function Sidebar({
           <Robot />
           <span>Agents</span>
         </button>
+        <button
+          type="button"
+          className="shell-sidebar-footer-row"
+          data-active={matchesRoute("/plugins", path) ? "true" : undefined}
+          aria-current={matchesRoute("/plugins", path) ? "page" : undefined}
+          onClick={() => onNavigate("/plugins")}
+        >
+          <PuzzlePiece />
+          <span>Plugins</span>
+        </button>
         {showInsights ? (
           <button
             type="button"
diff --git a/apps/web/test/routes.test.tsx b/apps/web/test/routes.test.tsx
index 19ae3092c..1139a3a3a 100644
--- a/apps/web/test/routes.test.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/test/routes.test.tsx
@@ -116,13 +116,12 @@ function stagePageTitle(markup: string): string | undefined {
 }
 
 /** The first-run footer rail marks its own destination current: Routines,
- * Files, Skills, and Agents are text rows with `aria-current="page"` on
- * the lit one. Insights and Evals join only given honest usage, and
- * Plugins is never a first-run tour destination — those three stay
- * reachable by URL and palette instead. Settings lives beside the
- * account row, so its route lights nothing in the chrome - the stage
- * title carries it. Returns the active row's label so tests confirm the
- * *right* footer affordance lights, and nothing else does. */
+ * Files, Skills, Agents, and Plugins are text rows with `aria-current="page"`
+ * on the lit one. Insights and Evals join only given honest usage, and
+ * stay reachable by URL and palette instead until then. Settings lives
+ * beside the account row, so its route lights nothing in the chrome - the
+ * stage title carries it. Returns the active row's label so tests confirm
+ * the *right* footer affordance lights, and nothing else does. */
 function activeFooterLabel(markup: string): string | undefined {
   const lit =
     /shell-sidebar-footer-row"[^>]*aria-current="page"[^>]*>([\s\S]*?)<\/button>/.exec(
@@ -137,6 +136,7 @@ const FOOTER_LABELS: Record<string, string> = {
   "/files": "Files",
   "/skills": "Skills",
   "/agents": "Agents",
+  "/plugins": "Plugins",
 };
 
 describe("route table", () => {
diff --git a/apps/web/test/sidebar.test.tsx b/apps/web/test/sidebar.test.tsx
index 66eefa578..413dc7af2 100644
--- a/apps/web/test/sidebar.test.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/test/sidebar.test.tsx
@@ -219,13 +219,14 @@ describe("Sidebar", () => {
     expect(markup).not.toContain("shell-rail-item");
   });
 
-  test("first-run footer rail is Routines, Files, Skills, Agents, then the account row — no Plugins, Insights, Evals, or Inbox", () => {
+  test("first-run footer rail is Routines, Files, Skills, Agents, Plugins, then the account row — no Insights, Evals, or Inbox", () => {
     const markup = renderSidebar("/w");
     expect(footerRowLabelsFromMarkup(markup)).toEqual([
       "Routines",
       "Files",
       "Skills",
       "Agents",
+      "Plugins",
     ]);
     expect(markup).toContain("data-ctx-account");
     expect(markup).not.toContain(">Inbox<");
@@ -250,23 +251,26 @@ describe("Sidebar", () => {
       "Files",
       "Skills",
       "Agents",
+      "Plugins",
     ]);
     act(() => root.unmount());
     container.remove();
   });
 
-  test("Plugins is not presented as a first-run tour destination", () => {
+  test("marks the Plugins row current on /plugins", () => {
     const onPlugins = renderSidebar("/plugins");
     expect(footerRowLabelsFromMarkup(onPlugins)).toEqual([
       "Routines",
       "Files",
       "Skills",
       "Agents",
+      "Plugins",
     ]);
-    expect(onPlugins).not.toContain(">Plugins<");
-    expect(onPlugins).not.toMatch(
-      /shell-sidebar-footer-row"[^>]*aria-current="page"/,
+    expect(onPlugins).toMatch(
+      /shell-sidebar-footer-row"[^>]*data-active="true"[^>]*>[\s\S]*?>Plugins</,
     );
+    const elsewhere = renderSidebar("/w");
+    expect(elsewhere).not.toMatch(/>Plugins<[\s\S]{0,80}aria-current="page"/);
   });
 
   test("Evals, Insights, and Plugins remain reachable by URL and command palette", () => {
@@ -297,6 +301,7 @@ describe("Sidebar", () => {
       "Files",
       "Skills",
       "Agents",
+      "Plugins",
       "Insights",
     ]);
     const insights = [
@@ -315,6 +320,7 @@ describe("Sidebar", () => {
       "Files",
       "Skills",
       "Agents",
+      "Plugins",
       "Evals",
     ]);
     const evals = [
@@ -333,6 +339,7 @@ describe("Sidebar", () => {
       "Files",
       "Skills",
       "Agents",
+      "Plugins",
     ]);
     act(() => root.unmount());
     container.remove();