A PluginCatalog node pointed at a local node-repo checkout showed "No installable packages found." even though the repository was full of them.

The catalog node could not say which format its repository used, so the browse page always read it as a package.json manifest repo — while the update watcher, reading the very same node, treated it as a node repo. One record, two readers, opposite answers.

The node now carries a Format field — the same values and the same node-repo default as the PluginCatalog:Sources:N:Format configuration knob — and both readers resolve it through one shared rule. A catalog over a local checkout lists its plugins; a package.json repo opts in with Format: package-json.