# Exec bundle jekyll serve is not loading from \_plugins, but

**URL:** <https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/exec-bundle-jekyll-serve-is-not-loading-from-plugins-but/10310>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [March 5, 2026, 7:29am UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/exec-bundle-jekyll-serve-is-not-loading-from-plugins-but/10310 "2026-03-05T07:29:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dolfs](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.jekyllrb.com/dolfs/32/6519_2.png) [@dolfs](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/u/dolfs)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 7:29am UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/exec-bundle-jekyll-serve-is-not-loading-from-plugins-but/10310/1 "2026-03-05T07:29:20Z")

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`bundle exec jekyll serve`, the plugins are not loaded, and an error occurs. When I run `bundle exec jekyll serve –plugins _plugins`, the plugins are loaded and everything works.

I am doing all this in a docker container, where the site source is in /site. I have verified that the CWD at the time of the bundle command is `/site` and that the `_plugins` directory is present there. It just appears that jekyll is not looking at it, unless I specify it as a CLI argument.

If, instead of `jekyll serve,` I run `jekyll build,` everything works fine too.

I do not have “safe: true” in the config. I also am not loading any github gems.

What am I missing? The full command being run is:

```auto
bundle exec jekyll serve --force_polling --host 0.0.0.0 -p 4000 --watch --config=_config.yml,_config_development.yml

```

The file `_config_development.yml` is currently empty. For building:

`bundle exec jekyll build --config=_config.yml,_config_production.yml`

The file ``_config_production.yml` `contains:

```auto
url: “https://domain.com”
baseurl: “/blog”

sass:
  sass_dir: _sass
  style: compressed
  quiet_deps: true
  #sourcemap: true
  cache: false

```

This overrides (from \_config.yml): `baseurl: “”`

So, for all intents and purposes, only `_config.yml` plays a role and is constant between the two.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mattr](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.jekyllrb.com/mattr/32/3885_2.png) [@mattr](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/u/mattr)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 7:35pm UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/exec-bundle-jekyll-serve-is-not-loading-from-plugins-but/10310/2 "2026-04-01T19:35:31Z")

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This sounds like a bug. Would you be able to open an issue in the `jekyll/jekyll` repo? Please include the docker container you’re using (if you’re using something prebuilt) in your report.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dolfs](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.jekyllrb.com/dolfs/32/6519_2.png) [@dolfs](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/u/dolfs)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 8:21pm UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/exec-bundle-jekyll-serve-is-not-loading-from-plugins-but/10310/3 "2026-04-01T20:21:48Z")

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I have created an issue, as requested.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mattr](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.jekyllrb.com/mattr/32/3885_2.png) [@mattr](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/u/mattr)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2026, 3:25pm UTC](https://talk.jekyllrb.com/t/exec-bundle-jekyll-serve-is-not-loading-from-plugins-but/10310/4 "2026-05-13T15:25:52Z")

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Thanks! I’m totally swamped but I’ll try to look at it soon.