Address review comments

- Update error and warning messages
- Add contextName as part of the `tanzu plugin list` for json/yaml output when
  plugin is recommended
- Add comment to the IsPluginActive function
- Hide `--wide` flag for `tanzu plugin list`
- Update status to `update needed` and `not installed` instead of
  `update recommended` and `install recommeneded` respectively
- Update column names for the to be installed plugins table when running
  `tanzu plugin sync` and `tanzu context use/create` to show `CURRENT`
  and `INSTALLING`.

pkg/command/context.go

@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ func createCtx(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 
 	// Sync all required plugins
 	if err := syncContextPlugins(cmd, ctx.ContextType, ctxName); err != nil {
-		log.Warningf("unable to automatically sync the plugins recommended by the active context. Please run 'tanzu plugin sync' command to sync plugins manually, error: '%v'", err.Error())
+		log.Warningf("unable to automatically sync the plugins recommended by the new context. Please run 'tanzu plugin sync' to sync plugins manually, error: '%v'", err.Error())
 	}
 	return nil
 }
@@ -306,12 +306,12 @@ func syncContextPlugins(cmd *cobra.Command, contextType configtypes.ContextType,
 	}
 
 	if len(pluginsNeedToBeInstalled) == 0 {
-		log.Success("All recommended plugins are already installed.")
+		log.Success("All recommended plugins are already installed and up-to-date.")
 		return nil
 	}
 
 	errList := make([]error, 0)
-	log.Infof("Installing following plugins recommended by the context '%s':", ctxName)
+	log.Infof("Installing the following plugins recommended by context '%s':", ctxName)
 	displayToBeInstalledPluginsAsTable(plugins, cmd.ErrOrStderr())
 	for i := range pluginsNeedToBeInstalled {
 		err = pluginmanager.InstallStandalonePlugin(pluginsNeedToBeInstalled[i].Name, pluginsNeedToBeInstalled[i].RecommendedVersion, pluginsNeedToBeInstalled[i].Target)
@@ -329,8 +329,8 @@ func syncContextPlugins(cmd *cobra.Command, contextType configtypes.ContextType,
 
 // displayToBeInstalledPluginsAsTable takes a list of plugins and displays the plugin info as a table
 func displayToBeInstalledPluginsAsTable(plugins []discovery.Discovered, writer io.Writer) {
-	outputPlugins := component.NewOutputWriterWithOptions(writer, outputFormat, []component.OutputWriterOption{}, "Name", "Target", "Installed", "Recommended")
-	outputPlugins.MarkDynamicKeys("Installed")
+	outputPlugins := component.NewOutputWriterWithOptions(writer, outputFormat, []component.OutputWriterOption{}, "Name", "Target", "Current", "Installing")
+	outputPlugins.MarkDynamicKeys("Current")
 	for i := range plugins {
 		if plugins[i].Status == common.PluginStatusNotInstalled || plugins[i].Status == common.PluginStatusUpdateAvailable {
 			outputPlugins.AddRow(plugins[i].Name, plugins[i].Target, plugins[i].InstalledVersion, plugins[i].RecommendedVersion)
@@ -1250,7 +1250,7 @@ func useCtx(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error { //nolint:gocyclo
 
 	// Sync all required plugins
 	if err := syncContextPlugins(cmd, ctx.ContextType, ctxName); err != nil {
-		log.Warningf("unable to automatically sync the plugins recommended by the active context. Please run 'tanzu plugin sync' command to sync plugins manually, error: '%v'", err.Error())
+		log.Warningf("unable to automatically sync the plugins recommended by the active context. Please run 'tanzu plugin sync' to sync plugins manually, error: '%v'", err.Error())
 	}
 	return nil
 }

pkg/command/plugin.go

@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ func newPluginCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	listPluginCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&outputFormat, "output", "o", "", "Output format (yaml|json|table)")
 	utils.PanicOnErr(listPluginCmd.RegisterFlagCompletionFunc("output", completionGetOutputFormats))
 	listPluginCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&showAllColumns, "wide", false, "display additional columns for plugins")
+	utils.PanicOnErr(listPluginCmd.Flags().MarkHidden("wide"))
 
 	describePluginCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&outputFormat, "output", "o", "", "Output format (yaml|json|table)")
 	utils.PanicOnErr(describePluginCmd.RegisterFlagCompletionFunc("output", completionGetOutputFormats))
@@ -172,6 +173,7 @@ func newDescribePluginCmd() *cobra.Command {
 				defer fmt.Fprintln(cmd.OutOrStdout())
 			}
 			output := component.NewOutputWriterWithOptions(cmd.OutOrStdout(), outputFormat, []component.OutputWriterOption{}, "name", "version", "status", "target", "description", "installationPath")
+
 			if len(args) != 1 {
 				return fmt.Errorf("must provide one plugin name as a positional argument")
 			}
@@ -451,9 +453,11 @@ func syncPlugins(cmd *cobra.Command) error {
 	}
 
 	for contextType, context := range contextMap {
-		err = syncContextPlugins(cmd, contextType, context.Name)
-		if err != nil {
-			errList = append(errList, err)
+		if strings.TrimSpace(context.Name) != "" {
+			err = syncContextPlugins(cmd, contextType, context.Name)
+			if err != nil {
+				errList = append(errList, err)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	return kerrors.NewAggregate(errList)
@@ -466,6 +470,7 @@ type pluginListInfo struct {
 	installed   string
 	recommended string
 	status      string
+	contextName string // used only to specify which context recommends the plugin
 	active      bool
 }
 
@@ -507,7 +512,7 @@ func displayInstalledPlugins(installedPlugins []cli.PluginInfo, recommendedConte
 			active:      pluginsupplier.IsPluginActive(&installedPlugins[index]),
 		}
 		if p.recommended != "" && p.installed != p.recommended {
-			p.status = common.PluginStatusRecommendUpdate
+			p.status = "update needed"
 			pluginSyncRequired = true
 		}
 		plugins = append(plugins, p)
@@ -520,7 +525,8 @@ func displayInstalledPlugins(installedPlugins []cli.PluginInfo, recommendedConte
 				target:      string(recommendedContextPlugins[index].Target),
 				installed:   "",
 				recommended: recommendedContextPlugins[index].RecommendedVersion,
-				status:      common.PluginStatusRecommendInstall,
+				status:      common.PluginStatusNotInstalled,
+				contextName: recommendedContextPlugins[index].ContextName,
 				active:      false,
 			}
 			plugins = append(plugins, p)
@@ -539,12 +545,15 @@ func displayInstalledPlugins(installedPlugins []cli.PluginInfo, recommendedConte
 		outputPluginWriter.SetKeys(columnsNames...)
 		outputPluginWriter.MarkDynamicKeys("Recommended") // Marking this column as dynamic so that it will only be shown if at least one row is non-empty
 		for index := range plugins {
+			// Output writer will ignore and not show additional row data if the row has more data compared to defined keys(column headers).
+			// So in this case if showAllColumns=false than last value for row (plugins[index].active) will not be shown. So it is safe to provide
+			// all values to the Row.
 			outputPluginWriter.AddRow(plugins[index].name, plugins[index].description, plugins[index].target, plugins[index].installed, plugins[index].recommended, plugins[index].status, plugins[index].active)
 		}
 	} else {
 		outputPluginWriter.SetKeys("Name", "Description", "Target", "Installed", "Recommended", "Status", "Active", "Context", "Version") // Add 'Context' and 'Version' fields for backwards compatibility
 		for index := range plugins {
-			outputPluginWriter.AddRow(plugins[index].name, plugins[index].description, plugins[index].target, plugins[index].installed, plugins[index].recommended, plugins[index].status, plugins[index].active, "", plugins[index].installed)
+			outputPluginWriter.AddRow(plugins[index].name, plugins[index].description, plugins[index].target, plugins[index].installed, plugins[index].recommended, plugins[index].status, plugins[index].active, plugins[index].contextName, plugins[index].installed)
 		}
 	}
 

pkg/common/constants.go

@@ -6,13 +6,11 @@ package common
 
 // Plugin status and scope constants
 const (
-	PluginStatusInstalled        = "installed"
-	PluginStatusNotInstalled     = "not installed"
-	PluginStatusRecommendInstall = "install recommended"
-	PluginStatusRecommendUpdate  = "update recommended"
-	PluginStatusUpdateAvailable  = "update available"
-	PluginScopeStandalone        = "Standalone"
-	PluginScopeContext           = "Context"
+	PluginStatusInstalled       = "installed"
+	PluginStatusNotInstalled    = "not installed"
+	PluginStatusUpdateAvailable = "update available"
+	PluginScopeStandalone       = "Standalone"
+	PluginScopeContext          = "Context"
 )
 
 // DiscoveryType constants

pkg/pluginmanager/manager.go

@@ -1099,35 +1099,6 @@ func doDeletePluginsFromCatalog(plugins []cli.PluginInfo) error {
 	return kerrors.NewAggregate(errList)
 }
 
-// SyncPlugins will install the plugins required by the current contexts.
-// If the central-repo is disabled, all discovered plugins will be installed.
-func SyncPlugins() error {
-	log.Info("Checking for required plugins...")
-	errList := make([]error, 0)
-	// We no longer sync standalone plugins.
-	// With a centralized approach to discovering plugins, synchronizing
-	// standalone plugins would install ALL plugins available for ALL
-	// products.
-	// Instead, we only synchronize any plugins that are specifically specified
-	// by the contexts.
-	//
-	// Note: to install all plugins for a specific product, plugin groups will
-	// need to be used.
-	plugins, err := DiscoverServerPlugins()
-	if err != nil {
-		errList = append(errList, err)
-	}
-
-	for i := range plugins {
-		err = InstallStandalonePlugin(plugins[i].Name, plugins[i].RecommendedVersion, plugins[i].Target)
-		if err != nil {
-			errList = append(errList, err)
-		}
-	}
-
-	return kerrors.NewAggregate(errList)
-}
-
 func DiscoverPluginsForContextType(contextType configtypes.ContextType) ([]discovery.Discovered, error) {
 	ctx, err := configlib.GetActiveContext(contextType)
 	if err != nil {

pkg/pluginmanager/manager_test.go

@@ -756,13 +756,6 @@ func Test_SyncPlugins(t *testing.T) {
 		assertions.NotNil(p)
 		assertions.Equal(common.PluginStatusNotInstalled, p.Status)
 	}
-
-	// Sync all available plugins
-	err = SyncPlugins()
-	assertions.NotNil(err)
-	// There is an error for the kubernetes discovery since we don't have a cluster
-	// but other server plugins will be found, so we use those
-	assertions.Contains(err.Error(), `Failed to load Kubeconfig file from "config"`)
 }
 
 func Test_setAvailablePluginsStatus(t *testing.T) {

pkg/pluginsupplier/plugin_supplier.go

@@ -54,6 +54,17 @@ func FilterPluginsByActiveContextType(plugins []cli.PluginInfo) (result []cli.Pl
 }
 
 // IsPluginActive returns true if specified plugin is active
+//
+// Plugin being activated means it is available as Tanzu CLI commands.
+// Some plugins are activated conditionally based on a the plugin descriptor.
+// If plugin is not active, even if the plugin is installed, it is not
+// available as the Tanzu CLI commands for users to use.
+//
+// For example: If PluginDescription.SupportedContextType is
+// specified for the plugin, the plugin is only active
+// if the SupportedContextType mentioned with PluginDescription is
+// active in Tanzu CLI contexts.
+// Reference: https://github.com/vmware-tanzu/tanzu-plugin-runtime/blob/main/plugin/types.go#L117
 func IsPluginActive(pi *cli.PluginInfo) bool {
 	if len(pi.SupportedContextType) == 0 {
 		return true

test/e2e/framework/framework_constants.go

@@ -80,13 +80,12 @@ const (
 	CLIE2ETestEnvironment = "TANZU_CLI_E2E_TEST_ENVIRONMENT"
 
 	// General constants
-	True             = "true"
-	Installed        = "installed"
-	UpdateAvailable  = "update available"
-	NotInstalled     = "not installed"
-	RecommendInstall = "install recommended"
-	RecommendUpdate  = "update recommended"
-	JSONOtuput       = "-o json"
+	True            = "true"
+	Installed       = "installed"
+	UpdateAvailable = "update available"
+	NotInstalled    = "not installed"
+	UpdateNeeded    = "update needed"
+	JSONOtuput      = "-o json"
 
 	// Context commands
 	CreateContextWithEndPoint              = "%s context create --endpoint %s %s"

test/e2e/framework/plugin_lifecycle_operations.go

@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ func (po *pluginCmdOps) ListRecommendedPluginsFromActiveContext(installedOnly bo
 	for i := range plugins {
 		if plugins[i].Recommended != "" {
 			if installedOnly {
-				if plugins[i].Status == Installed || plugins[i].Status == UpdateAvailable || plugins[i].Status == RecommendUpdate {
+				if plugins[i].Status == Installed || plugins[i].Status == UpdateAvailable || plugins[i].Status == UpdateNeeded {
 					recommendedPlugins = append(recommendedPlugins, plugins[i])
 				}
 			} else {

test/e2e/plugin_sync/k8s/plugin_sync_k8s_lifecycle_test.go

@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ var _ = f.CLICoreDescribe("[Tests:E2E][Feature:Plugin-sync-lifecycle]", func() {
 			recommendedInstalledPlugins, err = tf.PluginCmd.ListRecommendedPluginsFromActiveContext(true)
 			Expect(err).To(BeNil(), "should not get any error for plugin list")
 			for i := range recommendedInstalledPlugins {
-				Expect(recommendedInstalledPlugins[i].Status).To(Equal(f.RecommendUpdate), "all installed context-scoped plugin status should show 'update recommended'")
+				Expect(recommendedInstalledPlugins[i].Status).To(Equal(f.UpdateNeeded), "all installed context-scoped plugin status should show 'update needed'")
 			}
 
 			_, _, err = tf.PluginCmd.Sync()
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ var _ = f.CLICoreDescribe("[Tests:E2E][Feature:Plugin-sync-lifecycle]", func() {
 			Expect(err).To(BeNil(), "should not get any error for plugin list")
 
 			uninstalledPluginInfo := f.GetGivenPluginFromTheGivenPluginList(recommendedPluginsList, pluginToUninstall)
-			Expect(uninstalledPluginInfo.Status).To(Equal(f.RecommendInstall), "uninstalled plugin should be listed as 'install recommended'")
+			Expect(uninstalledPluginInfo.Status).To(Equal(f.NotInstalled), "uninstalled plugin should be listed as 'not installed'")
 			Expect(uninstalledPluginInfo.Recommended).To(Equal(pluginToUninstall.Version), "uninstalled plugin should also specify correct recommended column")
 
 			_, _, err = tf.PluginCmd.Sync()
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ var _ = f.CLICoreDescribe("[Tests:E2E][Feature:Plugin-sync-lifecycle]", func() {
 		const (
 			ContextActivated         = "Successfully activated context '%s'"
 			PluginWillBeInstalled    = "Installing following plugins recommended by the context '%s':"
-			PluginsTableHeaderRegExp = "NAME\\s+TARGET\\s+RECOMMENDED"
+			PluginsTableHeaderRegExp = "NAME\\s+TARGET\\s+INSTALLING"
 			PluginsRow               = "%s\\s+%s\\s+%s"
 			PluginInstalledRegExp    = "Installed plugin '%s:.+' with target '%s'|Reinitialized plugin '%s:.+' with target '%s'"
 		)

test/e2e/plugin_sync/tmc/plugin_sync_tmc_lifecycle_test.go

@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ var _ = f.CLICoreDescribe("[Tests:E2E][Feature:Plugin-Sync-TMC-lifecycle]", func
 				Expect(err).To(BeNil(), "should not get any error for plugin list")
 
 				uninstalledPluginInfo := f.GetGivenPluginFromTheGivenPluginList(recommendedPluginsList, pluginToUninstall)
-				Expect(uninstalledPluginInfo.Status).To(Equal(f.RecommendInstall), "uninstalled plugin should be listed as 'install recommended'")
+				Expect(uninstalledPluginInfo.Status).To(Equal(f.NotInstalled), "uninstalled plugin should be listed as 'not installed'")
 				Expect(uninstalledPluginInfo.Recommended).To(Equal(pluginToUninstall.Version), "uninstalled plugin should also specify correct recommended column")
 			} else {
 				// fail the test case if at least two plugins are not available in the mock response