diff --git i/Cat.qml w/Cat.qml
index 58ed7f6..f1bbe9b 100644
--- i/Cat.qml
+++ w/Cat.qml
@@ -30,13 +30,18 @@ Item {
   property string omarchyPath: ""
 
   readonly property string pluginId: manifest && manifest.id ? String(manifest.id) : "io.github.tallsam.navbar-cat"
+  // The shell strips `__sourceDir` from third-party manifests, so fall back to
+  // this file's own directory.
+  readonly property string pluginDir: manifest && manifest.__sourceDir
+    ? String(manifest.__sourceDir)
+    : String(Qt.resolvedUrl(".")).replace(/^file:\/\//, "").replace(/\/$/, "")
   readonly property string assetDir: {
-    var dir = manifest && manifest.__sourceDir ? String(manifest.__sourceDir) : ""
+    var dir = pluginDir
     if (dir === "") return ""
     return (dir.indexOf("file://") === 0 ? dir : "file://" + dir) + "/assets"
   }
   readonly property string helper: {
-    var dir = manifest && manifest.__sourceDir ? String(manifest.__sourceDir) : ""
+    var dir = pluginDir
     if (dir === "") return ""
     return dir.replace(/^file:\/\//, "") + "/bin/navbar-cat-cursor"
   }
@@ -52,8 +57,21 @@ Item {
 
   // Settings live inline on this plugin's entry in shell.json's `plugins[]`,
   // per the shell's storage rules.
+  // Third-party plugins get a scoped `shell` without `shellConfig`, so read
+  // shell.json directly when the shell does not hand it over.
+  FileView {
+    id: shellJson
+    path: Quickshell.env("HOME") + "/.config/omarchy/shell.json"
+    watchChanges: true
+    onFileChanged: reload()
+  }
+  readonly property var fileConfig: {
+    try { return JSON.parse(shellJson.text()) } catch (e) { return null }
+  }
+
   readonly property var config: {
-    var settings = shell && shell.shellConfig ? shell.shellConfig.plugins : null
+    var source = shell && shell.shellConfig ? shell.shellConfig : root.fileConfig
+    var settings = source ? source.plugins : null
     if (Array.isArray(settings)) {
       for (var i = 0; i < settings.length; i++) {
         if (settings[i] && String(settings[i].id || "") === root.pluginId) return settings[i]