diff --git a/codex-rs/app-server/src/message_processor.rs b/codex-rs/app-server/src/message_processor.rs
index 27a02257c..7b6501a21 100644
--- a/codex-rs/app-server/src/message_processor.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/app-server/src/message_processor.rs
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ impl MessageProcessor {
                     .enabled(codex_core::features::Feature::DefaultModeRequestUserInput),
             },
         ));
+        // TODO(xl): Move into PluginManager once this no longer depends on config feature gating.
         thread_manager
             .plugins_manager()
             .maybe_start_curated_repo_sync_for_config(&config);
diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs
index 57b553743..34d8d85a9 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/app.rs
@@ -1703,6 +1703,10 @@ impl App {
                     .enabled(codex_core::features::Feature::DefaultModeRequestUserInput),
             },
         ));
+        // TODO(xl): Move into PluginManager once this no longer depends on config feature gating.
+        thread_manager
+            .plugins_manager()
+            .maybe_start_curated_repo_sync_for_config(&config);
         let mut model = thread_manager
             .get_models_manager()
             .get_default_model(&config.model, RefreshStrategy::Offline)