diff --git a/src/node/plugin.ts b/src/node/plugin.ts
index 061523a0..8d5e552b 100644
--- a/src/node/plugin.ts
+++ b/src/node/plugin.ts
@@ -10,11 +10,11 @@ const fsp = fs.promises
 
 interface Plugin extends pluginapi.Plugin {
   /**
-   * These fields are populated from the plugin's package.json.
+   * These fields are populated from the plugin's package.json
+   * and now guaranteed to exist.
    */
   name: string
   version: string
-  description: string
 
   /**
    * path to the node module on the disk.
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ interface Application extends pluginapi.Application {
  * Please see that file for details.
  */
 export class PluginAPI {
-  private readonly plugins = new Array<Plugin>()
+  private readonly plugins = new Map<string, Plugin>()
   private readonly logger: Logger
 
   public constructor(
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export class PluginAPI {
    */
   public async applications(): Promise<Application[]> {
     const apps = new Array<Application>()
-    for (const p of this.plugins) {
+    for (const [_, p] of this.plugins) {
       const pluginApps = await p.applications()
 
       // Add plugin key to each app.
@@ -65,8 +65,11 @@ export class PluginAPI {
             plugin: {
               name: p.name,
               version: p.version,
-              description: p.description,
               modulePath: p.modulePath,
+
+              displayName: p.displayName,
+              description: p.description,
+              path: p.path,
             },
           }
         }),
@@ -79,7 +82,7 @@ export class PluginAPI {
    * mount mounts all plugin routers onto r.
    */
   public mount(r: express.Router): void {
-    for (const p of this.plugins) {
+    for (const [_, p] of this.plugins) {
       r.use(`/${p.name}`, p.router())
     }
   }
@@ -129,7 +132,7 @@ export class PluginAPI {
         encoding: "utf8",
       })
       const packageJSON: PackageJSON = JSON.parse(str)
-      for (const p of this.plugins) {
+      for (const [_, p] of this.plugins) {
         if (p.name === packageJSON.name) {
           this.logger.warn(
             `ignoring duplicate plugin ${q(p.name)} at ${q(dir)}, using previously loaded ${q(p.modulePath)}`,
@@ -138,7 +141,7 @@ export class PluginAPI {
         }
       }
       const p = this._loadPlugin(dir, packageJSON)
-      this.plugins.push(p)
+      this.plugins.set(p.name, p)
     } catch (err) {
       if (err.code !== "ENOENT") {
         this.logger.warn(`failed to load plugin: ${err.message}`)
@@ -147,6 +150,8 @@ export class PluginAPI {
   }
 
   private _loadPlugin(dir: string, packageJSON: PackageJSON): Plugin {
+    dir = path.resolve(dir)
+
     const logger = this.logger.named(packageJSON.name)
     logger.debug("loading plugin", field("plugin_dir", dir), field("package_json", packageJSON))
 
@@ -165,11 +170,20 @@ export class PluginAPI {
     const p = {
       name: packageJSON.name,
       version: packageJSON.version,
-      description: packageJSON.description,
       modulePath: dir,
       ...require(dir),
     } as Plugin
 
+    if (!p.displayName) {
+      throw new Error("plugin missing displayName")
+    }
+    if (!p.description) {
+      throw new Error("plugin missing description")
+    }
+    if (!p.path) {
+      throw new Error("plugin missing path")
+    }
+
     p.init({
       logger: logger,
     })
@@ -183,7 +197,6 @@ export class PluginAPI {
 interface PackageJSON {
   name: string
   version: string
-  description: string
   engines: {
     "code-server": string
   }
diff --git a/test/plugin.test.ts b/test/plugin.test.ts
index 5836dead..1e63fa8d 100644
--- a/test/plugin.test.ts
+++ b/test/plugin.test.ts
@@ -17,14 +17,20 @@ describe("plugin", () => {
     assert.deepEqual(
       [
         {
-          name: "goland",
+          name: "test app",
           version: "4.0.0",
+
+          description: "my description",
           iconPath: "/icon.svg",
+
           plugin: {
             name: "test-plugin",
             version: "1.0.0",
-            description: "Fake plugin for testing code-server's plugin API",
             modulePath: path.join(__dirname, "test-plugin"),
+
+            description: "Plugin used in code-server tests.",
+            displayName: "Test Plugin",
+            path: "/test-plugin",
           },
         },
       ],
diff --git a/test/test-plugin/package.json b/test/test-plugin/package.json
index ccdeabb5..c1f2e698 100644
--- a/test/test-plugin/package.json
+++ b/test/test-plugin/package.json
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
   "private": true,
   "name": "test-plugin",
   "version": "1.0.0",
-  "description": "Fake plugin for testing code-server's plugin API",
   "engines": {
     "code-server": "^3.6.0"
   },
diff --git a/test/test-plugin/src/index.ts b/test/test-plugin/src/index.ts
index bc37d7c0..6435592b 100644
--- a/test/test-plugin/src/index.ts
+++ b/test/test-plugin/src/index.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 import * as express from "express"
-import * as path from "path"
+import * as fspath from "path"
 import * as pluginapi from "../../../typings/pluginapi"
 
+export const displayName = "Test Plugin"
+export const path = "/test-plugin"
+export const description = "Plugin used in code-server tests."
+
 export function init(config: pluginapi.PluginConfig) {
   config.logger.debug("test-plugin loaded!")
 }
@@ -9,7 +13,7 @@ export function init(config: pluginapi.PluginConfig) {
 export function router(): express.Router {
   const r = express.Router()
   r.get("/goland/icon.svg", (req, res) => {
-    res.sendFile(path.resolve(__dirname, "../public/icon.svg"))
+    res.sendFile(fspath.resolve(__dirname, "../public/icon.svg"))
   })
   return r
 }
@@ -17,9 +21,11 @@ export function router(): express.Router {
 export function applications(): pluginapi.Application[] {
   return [
     {
-      name: "goland",
+      name: "test app",
       version: "4.0.0",
       iconPath: "/icon.svg",
+
+      description: "my description",
     },
   ]
 }
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index ac3a1df5..0db0b190 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@
     "tsBuildInfoFile": "./.cache/tsbuildinfo",
     "incremental": true,
     "rootDir": "./src",
-    "typeRoots": ["./node_modules/@types", "./typings"]
+    "typeRoots": ["./node_modules/@types", "./typings"],
+    "downlevelIteration": true
   },
   "include": ["./src/**/*.ts"]
 }
diff --git a/typings/pluginapi.d.ts b/typings/pluginapi.d.ts
index bc8d2ef5..7b61c4ce 100644
--- a/typings/pluginapi.d.ts
+++ b/typings/pluginapi.d.ts
@@ -70,9 +70,14 @@ export interface Plugin {
   version?: string
 
   /**
-   * These two are used in the overlay.
+   * Name used in the overlay.
    */
   displayName: string
+
+  /**
+   * Used in overlay.
+   * Should be a full sentence describing the plugin.
+   */
   description: string
 
   /**