diff --git a/packs/tmux/README.md b/packs/tmux/README.md
index 7081e2e..953d50a 100644
--- a/packs/tmux/README.md
+++ b/packs/tmux/README.md
@@ -7,10 +7,11 @@
 
 What this pack installs:
 
-- `install-010-core.sh`   -- tmux via apt; enforces version floor >= 3.2
-- `install-020-config.sh` -- symlinks the team `tmux.conf` to `~/.tmux.conf`
-- `install-030-tpm.sh`    -- clones TPM (plugin manager); then `prefix + I`
-                             inside tmux installs the team plugin set
+- `install-010-core.sh`    -- tmux via apt; enforces version floor >= 3.2
+- `install-020-config.sh`  -- symlinks the team `tmux.conf` to `~/.tmux.conf`
+- `install-030-tpm.sh`     -- clones TPM (the plugin manager itself)
+- `install-040-plugins.sh` -- installs the team plugin set via TPM's
+                              `bin/install_plugins` (scripted `prefix + I`)
 
 Key decisions (debate welcome, change via PR):
 
@@ -23,6 +24,12 @@
 - Plugins: `tmux-yank` (clipboard copy), `tmux-prefix-highlight` (visual cue
   when the prefix is armed). Additions go through `plugins.list` + the
   matching `@plugin` line in `files/tmux.conf`.
+- Plugins install non-interactively (`install-040-plugins.sh`) rather than
+  leaving `prefix + I` to the user. A fresh clone that stopped at TPM looked
+  installed but was not: `tmux-yank` was silently dead and the
+  `#{prefix_highlight}` in `status-right` rendered empty, which reads as a
+  broken status bar rather than a missing step. `prefix + I` still works and
+  is still the way to pick up plugins added mid-session.
 
 Daily driver commands:
 
diff --git a/packs/tmux/install-040-plugins.sh b/packs/tmux/install-040-plugins.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43220b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packs/tmux/install-040-plugins.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# packs/tmux/install-040-plugins.sh -- install the team TPM plugin set.
+#
+# The scriptable equivalent of pressing prefix + I inside tmux, so a fresh
+# clone converges from bootstrap.sh alone instead of leaving TPM installed
+# but the plugin set absent (yank silently dead, prefix_highlight empty).
+#
+# Mutates: clones every @plugin declared in files/tmux.conf into
+# ~/.tmux/plugins/<name>, via TPM's own bin/install_plugins. Plugins already
+# present are left untouched. Side effect: TPM resolves its plugin path by
+# asking tmux ("tmux start-server \; show-environment"), so this starts a
+# tmux server if none is running; running sessions are not modified.
+#
+# Usage: bash install-040-plugins.sh   [TOOLKIT_DRY_RUN=1 to preview]
+# Exit codes: 0 PROCEED, 1 HOLD (a plugin failed to download),
+#             2 precondition missing (tmux, git, TPM, or config absent).
+# ASCII + LF.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+shopt -s inherit_errexit 2>/dev/null || true
+IFS=$'\n\t'
+PACK_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+. "$PACK_DIR/../../lib/lib-install.sh"
+
+require_cmd git "apt-get install git"
+require_cmd tmux "run install-010-core.sh first"
+
+INSTALLER="$HOME/.tmux/plugins/tpm/bin/install_plugins"
+if [ ! -x "$INSTALLER" ]; then
+    fail "TPM not installed: $INSTALLER missing (run install-030-tpm.sh first)"
+    exit 2
+fi
+
+# The @plugin lines in this pack's tmux.conf are authoritative (plugins.list
+# mirrors them for humans). TPM itself reads the LIVE config at ~/.tmux.conf,
+# so if that is not our symlink the set it installs would differ from ours.
+CONF="$PACK_DIR/files/tmux.conf"
+LIVE_CONF="$HOME/.tmux.conf"
+
+if [ ! -e "$LIVE_CONF" ]; then
+    fail "$LIVE_CONF missing (run install-020-config.sh first)"
+    exit 2
+fi
+if [ "$(readlink -f "$LIVE_CONF" || true)" != "$(readlink -f "$CONF" || true)" ]; then
+    warn "$LIVE_CONF is not this pack's tmux.conf; TPM installs the set declared there, not ours"
+fi
+
+PLUGINS=()
+while IFS= read -r p; do
+    [ -n "$p" ] && PLUGINS+=("$p")
+done < <(sed -n "s/^[[:space:]]*set[^#]*@plugin[[:space:]]*['\"]\([^'\"]*\)['\"].*/\1/p" "$CONF")
+
+if [ "${#PLUGINS[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
+    fail "no @plugin lines found in $CONF"
+    exit 2
+fi
+
+# plugin_dir NAME -- the directory TPM clones a plugin into.
+plugin_dir() {
+    local name=${1##*/}
+    printf '%s/.tmux/plugins/%s' "$HOME" "${name%.git}"
+}
+
+MISSING=0
+for p in "${PLUGINS[@]}"; do
+    if [ -d "$(plugin_dir "$p")" ]; then
+        ok "already installed: $p"
+    else
+        info "not installed: $p"
+        MISSING=$((MISSING + 1))
+    fi
+done
+
+if [ "$MISSING" -eq 0 ]; then
+    ok "plugin set converged (${#PLUGINS[@]} plugins); nothing to do"
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+# TPM prints its own per-plugin progress and exits non-zero if any failed.
+if ! run_mut "$INSTALLER"; then
+    fail "TPM reported at least one plugin download failure"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ "${TOOLKIT_DRY_RUN:-0}" = "1" ]; then
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+STILL_MISSING=()
+for p in "${PLUGINS[@]}"; do
+    [ -d "$(plugin_dir "$p")" ] || STILL_MISSING+=("$p")
+done
+if [ "${#STILL_MISSING[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    fail "plugins still missing after install:$(printf ' %s' "${STILL_MISSING[@]}")"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+ok "plugin set installed (${#PLUGINS[@]} plugins)"
+info "already-running sessions pick them up with: prefix + r"