diff --git a/include/ProxySQL_Plugin.h b/include/ProxySQL_Plugin.h
index d7933c80b..22fe253bc 100644
--- a/include/ProxySQL_Plugin.h
+++ b/include/ProxySQL_Plugin.h
@@ -3,78 +3,77 @@
 
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <string>
-#include <vector>
 
-enum ProxySQL_PluginDBKind {
-	admin_db,
-	config_db,
-	stats_db,
+class SQLite3DB;
+class SQLite3_result;
+
+enum class ProxySQL_PluginDBKind : uint8_t {
+	admin_db = 0,
+	config_db = 1,
+	stats_db = 2
 };
 
 struct ProxySQL_PluginTableDef {
-	ProxySQL_PluginDBKind db_kind{admin_db};
-	const char *schema_name{nullptr};
-	const char *table_name{nullptr};
-	const char *create_statement{nullptr};
+	ProxySQL_PluginDBKind db_kind;
+	const char *table_name;
+	const char *table_def;
 };
 
 struct ProxySQL_PluginCommandContext {
-	const char *command_name{nullptr};
-	std::vector<std::string> arguments;
+	SQLite3DB *admindb;
+	SQLite3DB *configdb;
+	SQLite3DB *statsdb;
 };
 
 struct ProxySQL_PluginCommandResult {
-	bool success{true};
+	int error_code;
+	uint64_t rows_affected;
 	std::string message;
-	std::vector<std::vector<std::string>> rows;
 };
 
-class ProxySQL_PluginServices;
-
 using proxysql_plugin_admin_command_cb =
-	bool (*)(const ProxySQL_PluginCommandContext &, ProxySQL_PluginCommandResult &, void *);
+	ProxySQL_PluginCommandResult (*)(const ProxySQL_PluginCommandContext &, const char *);
 
 using proxysql_plugin_register_table_cb =
-	bool (*)(void *, const ProxySQL_PluginTableDef &);
+	void (*)(const ProxySQL_PluginTableDef &);
 
 using proxysql_plugin_register_command_cb =
-	bool (*)(void *, const char *, proxysql_plugin_admin_command_cb, void *);
+	void (*)(const char *, proxysql_plugin_admin_command_cb);
 
 using proxysql_plugin_snapshot_cb =
-	bool (*)(void *, std::vector<std::vector<std::string>> &);
+	SQLite3_result *(*)();
 
 using proxysql_plugin_log_message_cb =
-	void (*)(void *, int, const char *);
+	void (*)(int, const char *);
 
 struct ProxySQL_PluginServices {
-	proxysql_plugin_register_table_cb register_table{nullptr};
-	proxysql_plugin_register_command_cb register_command{nullptr};
-	proxysql_plugin_snapshot_cb get_mysql_users_snapshot{nullptr};
-	proxysql_plugin_snapshot_cb get_mysql_servers_snapshot{nullptr};
-	proxysql_plugin_snapshot_cb get_mysql_group_replication_hostgroups_snapshot{nullptr};
-	proxysql_plugin_log_message_cb log_message{nullptr};
-	void *context{nullptr};
+	proxysql_plugin_register_table_cb register_table;
+	proxysql_plugin_register_command_cb register_command;
+	proxysql_plugin_snapshot_cb get_mysql_users_snapshot;
+	proxysql_plugin_snapshot_cb get_mysql_servers_snapshot;
+	proxysql_plugin_snapshot_cb get_mysql_group_replication_hostgroups_snapshot;
+	proxysql_plugin_log_message_cb log_message;
 };
 
 using proxysql_plugin_init_cb =
-	bool (*)(ProxySQL_PluginServices *, std::string &);
+	bool (*)(ProxySQL_PluginServices *);
 
 using proxysql_plugin_start_cb =
-	bool (*)(std::string &);
+	bool (*)();
 
 using proxysql_plugin_stop_cb =
 	bool (*)();
 
-using proxysql_plugin_status_cb =
-	bool (*)(std::string &);
+using proxysql_plugin_status_json_cb =
+	const char *(*)();
 
 struct ProxySQL_PluginDescriptor {
-	uint32_t abi_version{0};
-	const char *name{nullptr};
-	proxysql_plugin_init_cb init{nullptr};
-	proxysql_plugin_start_cb start{nullptr};
-	proxysql_plugin_stop_cb stop{nullptr};
-	proxysql_plugin_status_cb status{nullptr};
+	const char *name;
+	uint32_t abi_version;
+	proxysql_plugin_init_cb init;
+	proxysql_plugin_start_cb start;
+	proxysql_plugin_stop_cb stop;
+	proxysql_plugin_status_json_cb status_json;
 };
 
 using proxysql_plugin_descriptor_v1_t = const ProxySQL_PluginDescriptor *(*)();
diff --git a/lib/ProxySQL_PluginManager.cpp b/lib/ProxySQL_PluginManager.cpp
index 943349443..61ea61012 100644
--- a/lib/ProxySQL_PluginManager.cpp
+++ b/lib/ProxySQL_PluginManager.cpp
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 #include "ProxySQL_PluginManager.h"
 
-#include <dlfcn.h>
-
 #include <cstring>
+#include <dlfcn.h>
 
 namespace {
 
@@ -14,9 +13,18 @@ std::string format_dl_error(const char *prefix) {
 	return std::string(prefix) + dl_err;
 }
 
+std::string plugin_name(const ProxySQL_PluginDescriptor *descriptor) {
+	if (descriptor == nullptr || descriptor->name == nullptr) {
+		return "unknown";
+	}
+	return descriptor->name;
+}
+
 } // namespace
 
-ProxySQL_PluginManager::ProxySQL_PluginManager() : services_{} {}
+ProxySQL_PluginManager::ProxySQL_PluginManager() {
+	std::memset(&services_, 0, sizeof(services_));
+}
 
 ProxySQL_PluginManager::~ProxySQL_PluginManager() {
 	stop_all();
@@ -78,7 +86,8 @@ bool ProxySQL_PluginManager::init_all(std::string &err) {
 			plugin.initialized = true;
 			continue;
 		}
-		if (!plugin.descriptor->init(&services_, err)) {
+		if (!plugin.descriptor->init(&services_)) {
+			err = "plugin init failed: " + plugin_name(plugin.descriptor);
 			return false;
 		}
 		plugin.initialized = true;
@@ -94,11 +103,16 @@ bool ProxySQL_PluginManager::start_all(std::string &err) {
 		if (plugin.started || plugin.stopped) {
 			continue;
 		}
+		if (!plugin.initialized) {
+			err = "plugin not initialized: " + plugin_name(plugin.descriptor);
+			return false;
+		}
 		if (plugin.descriptor == nullptr || plugin.descriptor->start == nullptr) {
 			plugin.started = true;
 			continue;
 		}
-		if (!plugin.descriptor->start(err)) {
+		if (!plugin.descriptor->start()) {
+			err = "plugin start failed: " + plugin_name(plugin.descriptor);
 			return false;
 		}
 		plugin.started = true;
diff --git a/test/tap/test_helpers/fake_plugin.cpp b/test/tap/test_helpers/fake_plugin.cpp
index 78b4a7d76..fc7b725c4 100644
--- a/test/tap/test_helpers/fake_plugin.cpp
+++ b/test/tap/test_helpers/fake_plugin.cpp
@@ -1,14 +1,12 @@
 #include "ProxySQL_Plugin.h"
 
-#include <string>
-
 namespace {
 
-bool fake_init(ProxySQL_PluginServices *, std::string &) {
+bool fake_init(ProxySQL_PluginServices *) {
 	return true;
 }
 
-bool fake_start(std::string &) {
+bool fake_start() {
 	return true;
 }
 
@@ -16,17 +14,17 @@ bool fake_stop() {
 	return true;
 }
 
-bool fake_status(std::string &) {
-	return true;
+const char *fake_status_json() {
+	return "{\"name\":\"fake_plugin\",\"state\":\"running\"}";
 }
 
 const ProxySQL_PluginDescriptor fake_descriptor = {
-	1,
 	"fake_plugin",
+	1,
 	&fake_init,
 	&fake_start,
 	&fake_stop,
-	&fake_status,
+	&fake_status_json,
 };
 
 } // namespace
diff --git a/test/tap/tests/unit/Makefile b/test/tap/tests/unit/Makefile
index f5c881ebd..f2983b7b2 100644
--- a/test/tap/tests/unit/Makefile
+++ b/test/tap/tests/unit/Makefile
@@ -242,12 +242,17 @@ $(ODIR)/test_globals.o: $(TEST_HELPERS_DIR)/test_globals.cpp | $(ODIR)
 $(ODIR)/test_init.o: $(TEST_HELPERS_DIR)/test_init.cpp | $(ODIR)
 	$(CXX) -c -o $@ $< $(OPT) $(IDIRS) -Wall
 
-$(FAKE_PLUGIN_SO): $(TEST_HELPERS_DIR)/fake_plugin.cpp | $(TEST_HELPERS_DIR)
+$(FAKE_PLUGIN_SO): $(TEST_HELPERS_DIR)/fake_plugin.cpp $(PROXYSQL_PATH)/include/ProxySQL_Plugin.h | $(TEST_HELPERS_DIR)
 	$(CXX) -shared -fPIC -o $@ $< $(STDCPP) $(IDIRS) -ldl
 
 # Keep on-demand unit-test library rebuilds aligned with the default top-level
 # feature set so incremental rebuilds do not mix incompatible objects.
-$(LIBPROXYSQLAR):
+# Always delegate libproxysql.a freshness checks to the lib submake so unit
+# tests do not link against a stale archive after source/header changes.
+.PHONY: FORCE
+FORCE:
+
+$(LIBPROXYSQLAR): FORCE
 	$(MAKE) -C $(PROXYSQL_PATH)/lib libproxysql.a \
 		PROXYSQLCLICKHOUSE=1 PROXYSQLGENAI=$(PROXYSQLGENAI) \
 		PROXYSQLFFTO=$(PROXYSQLFFTO) PROXYSQLTSDB=$(PROXYSQLTSDB) \
@@ -293,6 +298,7 @@ UNIT_TESTS := smoke_test-t query_cache_unit-t query_processor_unit-t \
 	log_utils_unit-t \
 	genai_thread_unit-t \
 	listen_validator_unit-t \
+	plugin_config_unit-t \
 	c_tokenizer_unit-t \
 	pgsql_tokenizer_unit-t \
 	ezoption_parser_unit-t \
@@ -327,6 +333,7 @@ ezoption_parser_unit-t: ezoption_parser_unit-t.cpp $(ODIR)/tap.o $(ODIR)/tap_noi
 
 plugin_manager_unit-t: plugin_manager_unit-t.cpp $(FAKE_PLUGIN_SO) $(ODIR)/tap.o $(ODIR)/test_globals.o $(ODIR)/test_init.o $(LIBPROXYSQLAR)
 	$(CXX) $< $(ODIR)/tap.o $(ODIR)/test_globals.o $(ODIR)/test_init.o \
+		-DPROXYSQL_FAKE_PLUGIN_PATH=\"$(FAKE_PLUGIN_SO)\" \
 		$(IDIRS) $(LDIRS) $(OPT) $(LIBPROXYSQLAR_FULL) $(STATIC_LIBS) \
 		$(MYLIBS) -ldl $(ALLOW_MULTI_DEF) -o $@
 
@@ -346,4 +353,4 @@ plugin_manager_unit-t: plugin_manager_unit-t.cpp $(FAKE_PLUGIN_SO) $(ODIR)/tap.o
 .PHONY: clean
 .SILENT: clean
 clean:
-	rm -rf $(ODIR) $(UNIT_TESTS)
+	rm -rf $(ODIR) $(UNIT_TESTS) $(FAKE_PLUGIN_SO)
diff --git a/test/tap/tests/unit/plugin_manager_unit-t.cpp b/test/tap/tests/unit/plugin_manager_unit-t.cpp
index e2a9a4577..4c229edf0 100644
--- a/test/tap/tests/unit/plugin_manager_unit-t.cpp
+++ b/test/tap/tests/unit/plugin_manager_unit-t.cpp
@@ -3,20 +3,31 @@
 
 #include <string>
 
+#ifndef PROXYSQL_FAKE_PLUGIN_PATH
+#error "PROXYSQL_FAKE_PLUGIN_PATH must be defined"
+#endif
+
 static void test_loader_round_trip() {
 	ProxySQL_PluginManager mgr;
 	std::string err;
 
-	ok(mgr.load("../../test_helpers/libproxysql_fake_plugin.so", err),
+	const bool loaded = mgr.load(PROXYSQL_FAKE_PLUGIN_PATH, err);
+	ok(loaded,
 	   "load fake plugin succeeds");
+	if (!loaded) {
+		diag("load error: %s", err.c_str());
+		BAIL_OUT("fake plugin must load before lifecycle assertions");
+	}
 	ok(mgr.size() == 1, "exactly one plugin is loaded");
+	ok(!mgr.start_all(err), "start_all rejects uninitialized plugins");
+	ok(!err.empty(), "start_all without init reports an error");
 	ok(mgr.init_all(err), "init_all succeeds");
 	ok(mgr.start_all(err), "start_all succeeds");
 	ok(mgr.stop_all(), "stop_all succeeds");
 }
 
 int main() {
-	plan(5);
+	plan(7);
 
 	test_loader_round_trip();