diff --git a/packages/plugin-sdk/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/plugin-sdk/CHANGELOG.md
index 01bcd3746..6ca580fc2 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-sdk/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/plugin-sdk/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Plugin API 1.4.0.
 
 - `contributes.layouts` and `app.registerLayout()` for a whole-app layout, with the `ui:layout` capability. Needs `engine.api` 1.4
 - `contributes.themes` for CSS-only themes, with the `ui:theme` capability. `termix-plugin validate` checks theme CSS and `pack` ships it
-- `useShell()` gives a layout the live shell: tabs, splits, hosts, docks, the command palette and the registries
+- `useShell()` gives a layout the live shell: tabs, splits, hosts, docks, the command palette and the registries. The shell's home tab is left out until some plugin registers a `dashboard` tab type
 - `TabStage` and `ShellConfirmCapture` in `@termix-ssh/plugin-sdk/ui`, for a layout to place tabs
 - `validateThemeCss()` in `@termix-ssh/plugin-sdk/manifest`
 - `@termix-ssh/plugin-sdk/ui` also exports what a whole layout is built from: the API client, shared types, hooks, `useShellController()` and `APP_VERSION`. These reach into core, so they can change with a core release
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ Plugin API 1.4.0.
 ### Fixed
 
 - The manifest JSON schema lists the `notify:hub` and `plugins:read` capabilities
+- Plugin tests and type checks work with the SDK linked from a local Termix checkout
 
 ## 1.0.11
 
diff --git a/packages/plugin-sdk/PLUGIN-GUIDE.md b/packages/plugin-sdk/PLUGIN-GUIDE.md
index c1120546d..e085c0aa1 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-sdk/PLUGIN-GUIDE.md
+++ b/packages/plugin-sdk/PLUGIN-GUIDE.md
@@ -543,7 +543,15 @@ export function activate(app: TermixApp) {
   command palette, the registries as hooks and the user. Core keeps all the state, so switching layouts keeps
   every session.
 - `TabStage` is where tabs show. Place it anywhere; tabs are never remounted when it moves, so a terminal
-  keeps its connection. The command palette, overlays and onboarding stay in core.
+  keeps its connection. Wrap it in `SurfaceScope kind="tab"` with a `ShellConfirmCapture` inside, so
+  close questions and inline views show over the tab area. Overlays and onboarding stay in core.
+- The layout draws the command palette. Core keeps whether it is open (`palette.isOpen`, Ctrl+K calls
+  `palette.open()`) and what is in it (`usePaletteEntries`, `usePaletteGroups`, rail items, hosts).
+- The shell always keeps a home tab with the id and type `dashboard`. `useShell()` leaves it out until some
+  plugin registers a `dashboard` tab type, so a layout without a home screen has no empty tab to draw.
+- Settings, Manage and the host editor belong to Classic Layout. A layout without them should still render
+  `LookSettings` somewhere so people can switch back. `tabs.openSingleton("plugins")` opens core's own
+  Plugins tab in any layout. Switching layouts closes the tabs the old layout's plugin declared.
 - `mobileComponent` is used on phones and narrow windows. The desktop app always gets `component`.
 - Only the chosen layout's plugin is loaded. If it fails to load or crashes twice, Termix shows a repair
   screen where people can switch, reset, update, turn it off or (for a bundled plugin) restore the copy that
@@ -555,6 +563,8 @@ export function activate(app: TermixApp) {
   `classic-layout.hostTree` and `classic-layout.dashboard` for other plugins to place with `PluginComponent`.
   It reads the shell with `useShellController()` from `@termix-ssh/plugin-sdk/ui`, which exposes more than
   `useShell()` and may change with Termix. A third party layout should start from `useShell()`.
+- Example Top Bar Layout (https://github.com/Termix-SSH/Plugin-Example-Topbar-Layout) is a small third party
+  style layout built only on `useShell()`, `TabStage` and `@termix-ssh/plugin-sdk/ui`, with a phone version.
 
 A theme is CSS only. Declare it in `contributes.themes` (`id`, `label`, `mode` light or dark, `css` path,
 optional `swatch` colors for the picker) with the `ui:theme` capability. The id becomes a class on `<html>`,
@@ -572,7 +582,9 @@ A plugin that only holds themes needs no code. Leave out `src/`: `termix-plugin
 - Themes show in the picker in the order core lists its own, then the plugin's order.
 - A theme someone saved that no longer exists shows as System. It comes back when the plugin does.
 - Accent color, UI font, font size and density are not part of a theme. Core applies them on top.
-- Bundled Classic Themes (https://github.com/Termix-SSH/Plugin-Classic-Themes) is a full example.
+- Bundled Classic Themes (https://github.com/Termix-SSH/Plugin-Classic-Themes) is a full example, and
+  Example Theme (https://github.com/Termix-SSH/Plugin-Example-Theme) a small one with one light and one dark
+  theme.
 
 ## Looking native
 
diff --git a/packages/plugin-sdk/src/vitest-preset.ts b/packages/plugin-sdk/src/vitest-preset.ts
index 6bfd03b43..95f281fe9 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-sdk/src/vitest-preset.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-sdk/src/vitest-preset.ts
@@ -117,9 +117,19 @@ export function pluginVitestConfig(
 
   const plugins = [wasmBinaryPlugin()];
 
+  // A local SDK linked into node_modules sits outside the plugin folder, so
+  // Vite must be allowed to read it, and React must come from the plugin.
+  const sdkDir = fs.realpathSync(fileURLToPath(new URL("..", import.meta.url)));
+  const server = { fs: { allow: [pluginDir, sdkDir] } };
+  const resolve = {
+    alias,
+    dedupe: ["react", "react-dom", "react-i18next", "i18next"],
+  };
+
   return {
     plugins,
-    resolve: { alias },
+    server,
+    resolve,
     test: {
       globals: true,
       setupFiles: [setupFile],
@@ -127,7 +137,8 @@ export function pluginVitestConfig(
       projects: [
         {
           plugins,
-          resolve: { alias },
+          server,
+          resolve,
           test: {
             name: `${pluginId}:backend`,
             root: pluginDir,
@@ -140,7 +151,8 @@ export function pluginVitestConfig(
         },
         {
           plugins,
-          resolve: { alias },
+          server,
+          resolve,
           test: {
             name: `${pluginId}:frontend`,
             root: pluginDir,
diff --git a/packages/plugin-sdk/tsconfig.plugin.json b/packages/plugin-sdk/tsconfig.plugin.json
index 911890125..2ca748f5a 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-sdk/tsconfig.plugin.json
+++ b/packages/plugin-sdk/tsconfig.plugin.json
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
     "moduleDetection": "force",
     "esModuleInterop": true,
     "resolveJsonModule": true,
+    "preserveSymlinks": true,
     "noEmit": true,
     "strict": false,
     "noUnusedLocals": false,