diff --git a/internal-packages/rbac/src/ability.ts b/internal-packages/rbac/src/ability.ts
index 0ff53ea8d88..6cf22d7643e 100644
--- a/internal-packages/rbac/src/ability.ts
+++ b/internal-packages/rbac/src/ability.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
-import type { RbacAbility, RbacResource } from "@trigger.dev/plugins";
+import type { RbacAbility } from "@trigger.dev/plugins";
+
+// Scope-string interpretation is shared with any auth plugin via
+// @trigger.dev/plugins so a public token decodes identically whoever
+// serves the request. Re-exported here so existing importers keep their
+// `./ability.js` import.
+export { buildJwtAbility } from "@trigger.dev/plugins";
 
 /** Every authenticated non-admin subject: can do anything, cannot do super-user actions. */
 export const permissiveAbility: RbacAbility = {
@@ -21,43 +27,3 @@ export const denyAbility: RbacAbility = {
 export function buildFallbackAbility(isAdmin: boolean): RbacAbility {
   return isAdmin ? superAbility : permissiveAbility;
 }
-
-/** Builds an ability from JWT scope strings like "read:runs", "read:runs:run_abc", "read:all", "admin". */
-export function buildJwtAbility(scopes: string[]): RbacAbility {
-  const matches = (action: string, r: RbacResource): boolean =>
-    scopes.some((scope) => {
-      // Only the first two colons are delimiters — everything after the
-      // second colon is the resource id (which may itself contain colons,
-      // e.g. user-provided tags like "env:staging"). Naive
-      // `split(":")` + 3-tuple destructuring truncated such ids to the
-      // first segment and silently failed to match.
-      const parts = scope.split(":");
-      const scopeAction = parts[0];
-      const scopeType = parts[1];
-      const scopeId = parts.length > 2 ? parts.slice(2).join(":") : undefined;
-      // Bare `admin` is the universal wildcard. `admin:<type>` is *not* —
-      // it falls through to normal matching as action="admin" against
-      // resources of that type. Pre-RBAC, the legacy checkAuthorization
-      // string-matched superScopes; `admin:sessions` only granted access
-      // to routes that explicitly listed it. Treating `admin:<anything>`
-      // as universal here would silently broaden any such tokens.
-      if (scopeAction === "admin" && !scopeType) return true;
-      if (scopeAction !== action && scopeAction !== "*") return false;
-      if (scopeType === "all") return true;
-      if (scopeType !== r.type) return false;
-      if (!scopeId) return true;
-      return scopeId === r.id;
-    });
-  return {
-    can(action: string, resource: RbacResource | RbacResource[]): boolean {
-      // Array form means "any element passes → authorized", matching the
-      // legacy multi-key checkAuthorization semantic.
-      return Array.isArray(resource)
-        ? resource.some((r) => matches(action, r))
-        : matches(action, resource);
-    },
-    canSuper(): boolean {
-      return false;
-    },
-  };
-}
diff --git a/packages/plugins/package.json b/packages/plugins/package.json
index 676b53f923d..437e55c3b2a 100644
--- a/packages/plugins/package.json
+++ b/packages/plugins/package.json
@@ -3,9 +3,7 @@
   "version": "4.5.0-rc.5",
   "description": "Plugin contracts and interfaces for Trigger.dev",
   "license": "MIT",
-  "publishConfig": {
-    "access": "public"
-  },
+  "private": true,
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
     "url": "https://github.com/triggerdotdev/trigger.dev",
@@ -38,9 +36,15 @@
   "types": "./dist/index.d.ts",
   "exports": {
     ".": {
-      "types": "./dist/index.d.ts",
-      "import": "./dist/index.js",
-      "require": "./dist/index.cjs"
+      "import": {
+        "@triggerdotdev/source": "./src/index.ts",
+        "types": "./dist/index.d.ts",
+        "default": "./dist/index.js"
+      },
+      "require": {
+        "types": "./dist/index.d.cts",
+        "default": "./dist/index.cjs"
+      }
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/plugins/src/index.ts b/packages/plugins/src/index.ts
index 9a03d93b66b..8d031b36d04 100644
--- a/packages/plugins/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/plugins/src/index.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ export type {
   AuthenticatedEnvironment,
 } from "./rbac.js";
 
-// Convenience re-exports — gives plugin authors (and the cloud workspace
-// link) one import surface without reaching into @trigger.dev/core
-// directly. Both helpers live in core; this is purely a forwarder.
+export { buildJwtAbility } from "./rbac.js";
+
+// Convenience re-exports — give plugin authors one import surface
+// without reaching into @trigger.dev/core directly. Both helpers live in
+// core; this is purely a forwarder.
 export { sanitizeBranchName, isValidGitBranchName } from "@trigger.dev/core/v3/utils/gitBranch";
diff --git a/packages/plugins/src/rbac.ts b/packages/plugins/src/rbac.ts
index 7b59a3ab233..0ca7e6f1df0 100644
--- a/packages/plugins/src/rbac.ts
+++ b/packages/plugins/src/rbac.ts
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
  * these in canonical order (highest authority first) so the dashboard
  * can render columns / build a level ladder without knowing role names.
  *
- * Roles the plugin doesn't expose at all (e.g. seeded but with the
- * `is_hidden` flag set in the cloud plugin) are not returned by
- * `systemRoles()` — there's no "advertised but absent" state.
+ * Roles the plugin chooses not to expose at all (e.g. seeded but hidden)
+ * are not returned by `systemRoles()` — there's no "advertised but
+ * absent" state.
  *
  * `available` indicates whether the role is assignable on the *org's
  * plan*. v1: Free/Hobby plans get Owner+Admin available; Pro+ adds
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ export type Permission = {
   // first appear in `allPermissions()`, so the plugin owns both the
   // bucket label and the section ordering. Omit for "no grouping".
   group?: string;
-  // Inverted rules (CASL `cannot`) surface as ✗ in the Roles page.
+  // Inverted (deny) rules surface as ✗ in the Roles page.
   inverted?: boolean;
-  // CASL conditions (e.g. `{ envType: "PRODUCTION" }`) — when present,
+  // Rule conditions (e.g. `{ envType: "PRODUCTION" }`) — when present,
   // the Roles page renders a tier badge alongside the permission row.
   conditions?: Record<string, unknown>;
 };
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export type RbacResource = {
   // Extra fields a route may pass for condition-based ability checks —
   // e.g. `envType` for env-tier-scoped rules ("Member can read envvars
   // unless envType === 'PRODUCTION'"). The plugin's ability matcher
-  // (CASL) reads these off the resource object; routes that don't use
+  // reads these off the resource object; routes that don't use
   // conditional rules can keep passing `{ type, id? }`.
   [key: string]: unknown;
 };
@@ -89,6 +89,54 @@ export interface RbacAbility {
   canSuper(): boolean;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Builds an ability from JWT scope strings like "read:runs",
+ * "read:runs:run_abc", "read:all", "admin".
+ *
+ * This is the single source of truth for interpreting public-token scope
+ * strings. Both the host's built-in fallback and any auth plugin import it
+ * from here so a token minted by the host is decoded identically no matter
+ * which auth path serves the request — two copies of this grammar would
+ * drift, and the difference would silently change what a token grants.
+ */
+export function buildJwtAbility(scopes: string[]): RbacAbility {
+  const matches = (action: string, r: RbacResource): boolean =>
+    scopes.some((scope) => {
+      // Only the first two colons are delimiters — everything after the
+      // second colon is the resource id (which may itself contain colons,
+      // e.g. user-provided tags like "env:staging"). Naive
+      // `split(":")` + 3-tuple destructuring truncated such ids to the
+      // first segment and silently failed to match.
+      const parts = scope.split(":");
+      const scopeAction = parts[0];
+      const scopeType = parts[1];
+      const scopeId = parts.length > 2 ? parts.slice(2).join(":") : undefined;
+      // Bare `admin` is the universal wildcard. `admin:<type>` is *not* —
+      // it falls through to normal matching as action="admin" against
+      // resources of that type. Treating `admin:<anything>` as universal
+      // would silently broaden any such tokens beyond the narrow,
+      // route-listed grant they had before scope-based abilities.
+      if (scopeAction === "admin" && !scopeType) return true;
+      if (scopeAction !== action && scopeAction !== "*") return false;
+      if (scopeType === "all") return true;
+      if (scopeType !== r.type) return false;
+      if (!scopeId) return true;
+      return scopeId === r.id;
+    });
+  return {
+    can(action: string, resource: RbacResource | RbacResource[]): boolean {
+      // Array form means "any element passes → authorized", matching the
+      // legacy multi-key authorization semantic.
+      return Array.isArray(resource)
+        ? resource.some((r) => matches(action, r))
+        : matches(action, resource);
+    },
+    canSuper(): boolean {
+      return false;
+    },
+  };
+}
+
 export type BearerAuthResult =
   | { ok: false; status: 401 | 403; error: string }
   | {
@@ -127,8 +175,8 @@ export type PatAuthResult =
     };
 
 export interface RoleBaseAccessController {
-  // True when a real RBAC plugin is loaded (i.e. cloud); false when the
-  // OSS fallback is in use. Hosts gate behaviour that's only meaningful
+  // True when a real RBAC plugin is loaded; false when the built-in
+  // fallback is in use. Hosts gate behaviour that's only meaningful
   // when the plugin is present (e.g. skipping role-attachment writes,
   // hiding role-pickers in the UI, branching on whether ability checks
   // are authoritative or permissive).