the check can look at either plugins directory, and knows what is not a plugin

there are two now. `platform/plugins/` is what this machine has INSTALLED;
`officer-dev/plugins/` is every repo in the org cloned side by side, which is
where a plugin is worked on from now on. they hold different sets, so the check
has to be pointable rather than assuming the one it sits next to.

and it skips a repo with no manifest.ts instead of reporting it broken.
`av-club` is the case — a standalone media service in the plugins org, meant to
become a plugin in time. checking it against a plugin's conventions would flag
its branch name as a defect for ever, and a check that cries wolf is one people
stop reading. presence is the declaration here exactly as in discover.ts: the
manifest is what makes something a plugin, so its absence is what makes
something not one yet.

scripts/plugins-check.ts

@@ -28,7 +28,14 @@
 import { readdirSync, existsSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 
-const PLUGINS_DIR = join(import.meta.dir, '..', 'plugins');
+/*
+  Which plugins directory to check.
+
+  There are two as of 2026-08-27: `platform/plugins/` — what this machine has INSTALLED — and
+  `officer-dev/plugins/`, every repo in the org cloned side by side for working on. They hold different
+  sets, so the check has to be pointable at either rather than assuming the one it happens to sit next to.
+*/
+const PLUGINS_DIR = process.env.PLUGINS_DIR ?? join(import.meta.dir, '..', 'plugins');
 const HOST = 'git@gitea.officer.dev';
 const BRANCH = 'master';
 const REFSPEC = '+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*';
@@ -50,7 +57,20 @@ const dirs = readdirSync(PLUGINS_DIR, { withFileTypes: true })
   .filter((name) => existsSync(join(PLUGINS_DIR, name, '.git')))
   .sort();
 
-for (const name of dirs) {
+/*
+  A repo with no `manifest.ts` is not a plugin, and that is not drift.
+
+  `av-club` is the case: a standalone media service living in the plugins org, intended to become a
+  plugin in time. Checking it against a plugin's conventions would report its branch name as a defect
+  forever, and a check that cries wolf is one people stop reading.
+
+  Presence is the declaration here exactly as it is in `plugins/discover.ts` — the manifest is what makes
+  something a plugin, so its absence is what makes something not one yet.
+*/
+const notYet = dirs.filter((name) => !existsSync(join(PLUGINS_DIR, name, 'manifest.ts')));
+const checkable = dirs.filter((name) => !notYet.includes(name));
+
+for (const name of checkable) {
   const dir = join(PLUGINS_DIR, name);
   const expected = `${HOST}:plugins/${name}.git`;
 
@@ -107,8 +127,10 @@ for (const name of dirs) {
   }
 }
 
+const skipped = notYet.length ? `  (${notYet.length} not a plugin yet: ${notYet.join(', ')})` : '';
+
 if (!problems.length) {
-  console.log(`plugins:check — ${dirs.length} plugin repositories, all well-formed`);
+  console.log(`plugins:check — ${checkable.length} plugin repositories, all well-formed${skipped}`);
   process.exit(0);
 }