diff --git a/PREVENT_CONFLICTS.md b/PREVENT_CONFLICTS.md
index f836d95..e611744 100644
--- a/PREVENT_CONFLICTS.md
+++ b/PREVENT_CONFLICTS.md
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ This document outlines strategies to minimize merge conflicts and improve produc
 ## Discrete Action Items
 
 ### Immediate Actions
-1.  **Refactor Plugin Registration**: Modify `PluginManager` to accept a list of plugins without hardcoding defaults in the class itself. Move default plugin logic to a separate `DefaultPlugins` module.
+1.  [x] **Refactor Plugin Registration**: Modify `PluginManager` to accept a list of plugins without hardcoding defaults in the class itself. Move default plugin logic to a separate `DefaultPlugins` module. (Completed 2025-02-18)
 2.  **Harden Types**: systematically review `src/core/interfaces.ts` and replace `any` with generic types or `unknown` with validation. specifically target `RequestContext`, `DataSourceProvider`, and `DataActionProvider`.
 3.  **Decompose `dataprompt.ts`**: Extract `createDefaultGenkit` and `loadUserGenkitInstance` into a separate `GenkitFactory` module.
 
diff --git a/src/core/config.manager.ts b/src/core/config.manager.ts
index 066a918..0e8d066 100644
--- a/src/core/config.manager.ts
+++ b/src/core/config.manager.ts
@@ -3,9 +3,7 @@ import { z } from 'genkit';
 import { findUp } from 'find-up';
 import { DatapromptPlugin } from './interfaces.js';
 import { DatapromptUserConfig, DatapromptConfig } from './config.js';
-import { firestorePlugin } from '../plugins/firebase/public.js';
-import { schedulerPlugin } from '../plugins/scheduler/index.js';
-import { fetchPlugin } from '../plugins/fetch/index.js';
+import { resolvePlugins } from './default-plugins.js';
 import { pathToFileURL } from 'node:url';
 
 const CoreSecretsSchema = z.object({
@@ -67,7 +65,7 @@ export class ConfigManager {
     mergedConfig.schemaFile = path.resolve(rootDir, mergedConfig.schemaFile);
     
     // Resolve plugins based on the potentially overridden plugins array.
-    mergedConfig.plugins = this.#resolvePlugins(userConfig?.plugins);
+    mergedConfig.plugins = resolvePlugins(userConfig?.plugins);
 
     // Validate the final, fully merged secrets object.
     this.#validateSecrets(mergedConfig);
@@ -92,14 +90,6 @@ export class ConfigManager {
     return packageJsonPath ? path.dirname(packageJsonPath) : this.#projectRoot;
   }
 
-  #resolvePlugins = (userPlugins: DatapromptPlugin[] = []): DatapromptPlugin[] => {
-    const plugins = [...userPlugins];
-    if (!plugins.some(p => p.name === 'firestore')) plugins.push(firestorePlugin());
-    if (!plugins.some(p => p.name === 'fetch')) plugins.push(fetchPlugin());
-    if (!plugins.some(p => p.name === 'schedule')) plugins.push(schedulerPlugin());
-    return plugins;
-  }
-
   // This method now only validates and throws on error. It does not return a value.
   #validateSecrets = (config: Partial<DatapromptConfig>): void => {
     let validationSchema = CoreSecretsSchema;
diff --git a/src/core/default-plugins.ts b/src/core/default-plugins.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c03f012
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/default-plugins.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import { firestorePlugin } from '../plugins/firebase/public.js';
+import { schedulerPlugin } from '../plugins/scheduler/index.js';
+import { fetchPlugin } from '../plugins/fetch/index.js';
+import { DatapromptPlugin } from './interfaces.js';
+
+export function getDefaultPlugins(): DatapromptPlugin[] {
+  return [
+    firestorePlugin(),
+    fetchPlugin(),
+    schedulerPlugin(),
+  ];
+}
+
+export function resolvePlugins(userPlugins: DatapromptPlugin[] = []): DatapromptPlugin[] {
+  const plugins = [...userPlugins];
+  if (!plugins.some(p => p.name === 'firestore')) plugins.push(firestorePlugin());
+  if (!plugins.some(p => p.name === 'fetch')) plugins.push(fetchPlugin());
+  if (!plugins.some(p => p.name === 'schedule')) plugins.push(schedulerPlugin());
+  return plugins;
+}
diff --git a/src/core/plugin.manager.ts b/src/core/plugin.manager.ts
index 2828672..a95c35e 100644
--- a/src/core/plugin.manager.ts
+++ b/src/core/plugin.manager.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
 import { DatapromptConfig } from './config.js';
 import { DatapromptPlugin, DataActionProvider, DataSourceProvider, TriggerProvider } from './interfaces.js';
-import { firestorePlugin } from '../plugins/firebase/public.js';
-import { schedulerPlugin } from '../plugins/scheduler/index.js';
-import { fetchPlugin } from '../plugins/fetch/index.js';
 
 export class PluginManager {
   #dataSources = new Map<string, DataSourceProvider>();
@@ -10,7 +7,7 @@ export class PluginManager {
   #triggers = new Map<string, TriggerProvider>(); // Added map for triggers
 
   constructor(config: DatapromptConfig) {
-    const allPlugins = this.#resolvePlugins(config.plugins);
+    const allPlugins = config.plugins;
     
     for (const plugin of allPlugins) {
       this.#registerPlugin(plugin);
@@ -33,14 +30,6 @@ export class PluginManager {
     }
   }
   
-  #resolvePlugins = (userPlugins: DatapromptPlugin[] = []): DatapromptPlugin[] => {
-    const plugins = [...userPlugins];
-    if (!plugins.some(p => p.name === 'firestore')) plugins.push(firestorePlugin());
-    if (!plugins.some(p => p.name === 'fetch')) plugins.push(fetchPlugin());
-    if (!plugins.some(p => p.name === 'schedule')) plugins.push(schedulerPlugin());
-    return plugins;
-  }
-
   public getDataSource(name: string): DataSourceProvider {
     const provider = this.#dataSources.get(name);
     if (!provider) {
diff --git a/tests/config.manager.test.ts b/tests/config.manager.test.ts
index e415f59..cad9bdf 100644
--- a/tests/config.manager.test.ts
+++ b/tests/config.manager.test.ts
@@ -46,6 +46,11 @@ describe('ConfigManager with a config file', () => {
     expect(config.promptsDir).toBe(path.resolve(tempDir, 'custom_prompts'));
     expect(config.secrets.MY_CUSTOM_SECRET).toBe('secret_value');
     expect(config.secrets.GOOGLEAI_API_KEY).toBe('test-key-from-env'); // from default
+
+    // Assert default plugins are present
+    expect(config.plugins.some(p => p.name === 'fetch')).toBe(true);
+    expect(config.plugins.some(p => p.name === 'firestore')).toBe(true);
+    expect(config.plugins.some(p => p.name === 'schedule')).toBe(true);
     
     // CLEANUP
     delete process.env.GOOGLEAI_API_KEY;
@@ -81,6 +86,11 @@ describe('ConfigManager without a config file', () => {
     expect(config.secrets.GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS).toBe('./fake-creds.json');
     expect(config.promptsDir).toBe(path.resolve(tempDir, 'prompts'));
 
+    // Assert default plugins are present
+    expect(config.plugins.some(p => p.name === 'fetch')).toBe(true);
+    expect(config.plugins.some(p => p.name === 'firestore')).toBe(true);
+    expect(config.plugins.some(p => p.name === 'schedule')).toBe(true);
+
     // CLEANUP
     delete process.env.GOOGLEAI_API_KEY;
     delete process.env.GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS;
diff --git a/tests/integration/prompt.test.ts b/tests/integration/prompt.test.ts
index 3a7bf99..42888b8 100644
--- a/tests/integration/prompt.test.ts
+++ b/tests/integration/prompt.test.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { DatapromptConfig } from '../../src/core/config.js';
 import { DatapromptFile, RequestContext } from '../../src/core/interfaces.js';
 import { createRoute } from '../../src/routing/route-builder.js';
 import { SchemaMap, registerUserSchemas } from '../../src/utils/schema-loader.js';
+import { getDefaultPlugins } from '../../src/core/default-plugins.js';
 
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 
@@ -106,7 +107,7 @@ describe('Prompt Class Integration Tests', () => {
             GOOGLEAI_API_KEY: process.env.GOOGLEAI_API_KEY || 'test-key',
             GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS: './fake-creds.json'
         },
-        plugins: []
+        plugins: getDefaultPlugins()
     };
     
     ai = new Genkit({ plugins: [googleAI({ apiKey: config.secrets.GOOGLEAI_API_KEY })] });
diff --git a/tests/unit/plugin.manager.test.ts b/tests/unit/plugin.manager.test.ts
index 8ab4f3a..af2821e 100644
--- a/tests/unit/plugin.manager.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/plugin.manager.test.ts
@@ -3,15 +3,16 @@ import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
 import { PluginManager } from '../../src/core/plugin.manager.js';
 import { DatapromptConfig } from '../../src/core/config.js';
 import { DatapromptPlugin } from '../../src/core/interfaces.js';
+import { getDefaultPlugins } from '../../src/core/default-plugins.js';
 
 describe('PluginManager', () => {
-  it('should register default plugins if none are provided', () => {
+  it('should register provided plugins', () => {
     const mockConfig: DatapromptConfig = {
       rootDir: '/mock',
       promptsDir: '/mock/prompts',
       schemaFile: '/mock/schema.ts',
       secrets: {},
-      plugins: [] // Start with an empty plugins array
+      plugins: getDefaultPlugins()
     };
 
     const manager = new PluginManager(mockConfig);
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ describe('PluginManager', () => {
     expect(actions.map(a => a.name)).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(['firestore']));
   });
 
-  it('should register user-provided plugins alongside defaults', () => {
+  it('should register user-provided plugins alongside others', () => {
     const userPlugin: DatapromptPlugin = {
       name: 'custom-plugin',
       createDataSource: () => ({ name: 'custom-source', fetchData: async () => ({}) }),
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ describe('PluginManager', () => {
       promptsDir: '/mock/prompts',
       schemaFile: '/mock/schema.ts',
       secrets: {},
-      plugins: [userPlugin]
+      plugins: [userPlugin, ...getDefaultPlugins()]
     };
 
     const manager = new PluginManager(mockConfig);