diff --git a/crates/shrs/src/plugin.rs b/crates/shrs/src/plugin.rs
index 8468b02c..e352962e 100644
--- a/crates/shrs/src/plugin.rs
+++ b/crates/shrs/src/plugin.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use crate::ShellConfig;
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct PluginMeta {
-    pub name: String,
+    pub name: String,   // should be unique
     pub description: String,
 }
 
@@ -19,15 +19,6 @@ pub enum FailMode {
     Abort,
 }
 
-impl Default for PluginMeta {
-    fn default() -> Self {
-        Self {
-            name: String::from("unnamed plugin"),
-            description: String::from("a plugin for shrs"),
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 /// Implement this trait to build your own plugins
 pub trait Plugin {
     /// Plugin entry point
@@ -37,12 +28,7 @@ pub trait Plugin {
     fn init(&self, shell: &mut ShellConfig) -> anyhow::Result<()>;
 
     /// Return metadata related to the plugin
-    fn meta(&self) -> PluginMeta {
-        // TODO this is currently an optional method to make migrating all the existing plugins a
-        // bit easier. Could remove the default implementation in the future
-        warn!("Using default plugin metadata. Please specify this information for your plugin by implementing Plugin::meta()");
-        PluginMeta::default()
-    }
+    fn meta(&self) -> PluginMeta;
 
     /// Get the fail mode for this plugin
     ///
diff --git a/crates/shrs/src/shell.rs b/crates/shrs/src/shell.rs
index 94d5fd37..a933f61b 100644
--- a/crates/shrs/src/shell.rs
+++ b/crates/shrs/src/shell.rs
@@ -75,7 +75,11 @@ pub struct ShellConfig {
 impl ShellBuilder {
     pub fn with_plugin(mut self, plugin: impl Plugin + 'static) -> Self {
         let mut cur_plugin = self.plugins.unwrap_or(vec![]);
-        cur_plugin.push(Box::new(plugin));
+        if cur_plugin.iter().any(|p| p.meta().name == plugin.meta().name) {
+            panic!("Duplicate plugin name: {}",plugin.meta().name);
+        } else {
+            cur_plugin.push(Box::new(plugin));
+        }
         self.plugins = Some(cur_plugin);
         self
     }
diff --git a/plugins/shrs_analytics/src/lib.rs b/plugins/shrs_analytics/src/lib.rs
index 8e7d15e0..43e1f5aa 100644
--- a/plugins/shrs_analytics/src/lib.rs
+++ b/plugins/shrs_analytics/src/lib.rs
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ impl AnalyticsPlugin {
 }
 
 impl Plugin for AnalyticsPlugin {
+    fn meta(&self) -> PluginMeta {
+        PluginMeta {
+            name: "AnalyticsPlugin".into(),
+            description: String::new(),
+        }
+    }
     fn init(&self, shell: &mut ShellConfig) -> Result<()> {
         shell.builtins.insert("analytics", AnalyticsBuiltin);
         shell.hooks.register(record_dir_change);
diff --git a/plugins/shrs_autocd/src/lib.rs b/plugins/shrs_autocd/src/lib.rs
index 4678cce8..3b792253 100644
--- a/plugins/shrs_autocd/src/lib.rs
+++ b/plugins/shrs_autocd/src/lib.rs
@@ -35,6 +35,13 @@ pub fn after_command_hook(
 }
 
 impl Plugin for AutocdPlugin {
+    fn meta(&self) -> PluginMeta {
+        PluginMeta {
+            name: "AutocdPlugin".into(),
+            description: String::new(),
+        }
+    }
+    
     fn init(&self, shell: &mut ShellConfig) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         shell.hooks.register(after_command_hook);
 
diff --git a/plugins/shrs_cd_stack/src/lib.rs b/plugins/shrs_cd_stack/src/lib.rs
index bfd6bf05..f249c28a 100644
--- a/plugins/shrs_cd_stack/src/lib.rs
+++ b/plugins/shrs_cd_stack/src/lib.rs
@@ -61,6 +61,12 @@ fn change_dir_hook(
 pub struct CdStackPlugin;
 
 impl Plugin for CdStackPlugin {
+    fn meta(&self) -> PluginMeta {
+        PluginMeta {
+            name: "CdStackPlugin".into(),
+            description: String::new(),
+        }
+    }
     fn init(&self, shell: &mut ShellConfig) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         let mut cd_stack_state = CdStackState::new();
         // TODO hopefully would be better to get current dir from shell, but shell isn't
diff --git a/plugins/shrs_cd_tools/src/lib.rs b/plugins/shrs_cd_tools/src/lib.rs
index a48058e7..7c964c71 100644
--- a/plugins/shrs_cd_tools/src/lib.rs
+++ b/plugins/shrs_cd_tools/src/lib.rs
@@ -95,6 +95,12 @@ fn update_modules(sh_ctx: &mut Context, sh_rt: &mut Runtime) -> anyhow::Result<(
 }
 
 impl Plugin for DirParsePlugin {
+    fn meta(&self) -> PluginMeta {
+        PluginMeta {
+            name: "DirParsePlugin".into(),
+            description: String::new(),
+        }
+    }
     fn init(&self, shell: &mut ShellConfig) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         // TODO let user pass in their own modules list
         let modules = HashMap::from_iter([
diff --git a/plugins/shrs_command_timer/src/lib.rs b/plugins/shrs_command_timer/src/lib.rs
index fac7532a..b63dec40 100644
--- a/plugins/shrs_command_timer/src/lib.rs
+++ b/plugins/shrs_command_timer/src/lib.rs
@@ -45,6 +45,12 @@ impl CommandTimerState {
 pub struct CommandTimerPlugin;
 
 impl Plugin for CommandTimerPlugin {
+    fn meta(&self) -> PluginMeta {
+        PluginMeta {
+            name: "CommandTimerPlugin".into(),
+            description: String::new(),
+        }
+    }
     fn init(&self, shell: &mut shrs::ShellConfig) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         shell.hooks.register(before_command_hook);
         shell.hooks.register(after_command_hook);
diff --git a/plugins/shrs_mux/src/lib.rs b/plugins/shrs_mux/src/lib.rs
index 55848ac2..823a81ec 100644
--- a/plugins/shrs_mux/src/lib.rs
+++ b/plugins/shrs_mux/src/lib.rs
@@ -76,6 +76,13 @@ impl MuxPlugin {
 }
 
 impl Plugin for MuxPlugin {
+    fn meta(&self) -> PluginMeta {
+        PluginMeta {
+            name: "MuxPlugin".into(),
+            description: String::new(),
+        }
+    }
+
     fn init(&self, shell: &mut ShellConfig) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         // This might be able to be indexed by typeid?
         let langs: Vec<(String, Box<dyn Lang>)> = vec![
diff --git a/plugins/shrs_output_capture/src/lib.rs b/plugins/shrs_output_capture/src/lib.rs
index f4fab95b..23114a63 100644
--- a/plugins/shrs_output_capture/src/lib.rs
+++ b/plugins/shrs_output_capture/src/lib.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ impl OutputCaptureState {
 pub struct OutputCapturePlugin;
 
 impl Plugin for OutputCapturePlugin {
+    fn meta(&self) -> PluginMeta {
+        PluginMeta {
+            name: "OutputCapturePlugin".into(),
+            description: String::new(),
+        }
+    }
     fn init(&self, shell: &mut shrs::ShellConfig) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         shell.hooks.register(after_command_hook);
         shell.builtins.insert("again", AgainBuiltin::new());