diff --git a/nodescraper/cli/cli.py b/nodescraper/cli/cli.py
index 81c18f19..ff9eddd6 100644
--- a/nodescraper/cli/cli.py
+++ b/nodescraper/cli/cli.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import os
 import platform
 import sys
+from importlib import import_module
 from typing import Optional
 
 import nodescraper
@@ -54,12 +55,84 @@
 from nodescraper.pluginexecutor import PluginExecutor
 from nodescraper.pluginregistry import PluginRegistry
 
-try:
-    import ext_nodescraper_plugins as ext_pkg
 
-    extra_pkgs = [ext_pkg]
-except ImportError:
+def discover_external_plugins():
+    """Discover ext_nodescraper_plugins from all installed packages.
+
+    Returns:
+        list: List of discovered plugin packages
+    """
     extra_pkgs = []
+    seen_paths = set()  # Track paths to avoid duplicates
+
+    try:
+        import ext_nodescraper_plugins as ext_pkg
+
+        extra_pkgs.append(ext_pkg)
+        if hasattr(ext_pkg, "__file__") and ext_pkg.__file__:
+            seen_paths.add(ext_pkg.__file__)
+    except ImportError:
+        pass
+
+    # Discover ext_nodescraper_plugins from installed packages
+    try:
+        from importlib.metadata import distributions
+
+        for dist in distributions():
+            pkg_name = dist.metadata.get("Name", "")
+            if not pkg_name:
+                continue
+
+            name_variants = [
+                pkg_name.replace("-", "_"),
+                pkg_name.replace("_", "-"),
+            ]
+
+            try:
+                top_level = dist.read_text("top_level.txt")
+                if top_level:
+                    name_variants.extend(top_level.strip().split("\n"))
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+
+            for variant in name_variants:
+                if not variant:
+                    continue
+
+                try:
+                    module_path = f"{variant}.ext_nodescraper_plugins"
+                    ext_pkg = import_module(module_path)
+
+                    # Check if we already have this package (by file path)
+                    pkg_path = getattr(ext_pkg, "__file__", None)
+                    if pkg_path and pkg_path in seen_paths:
+                        continue
+
+                    # Add the package
+                    extra_pkgs.append(ext_pkg)
+                    if pkg_path:
+                        seen_paths.add(pkg_path)
+
+                    break
+
+                except (ImportError, AttributeError, ModuleNotFoundError):
+                    continue
+
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
+    return extra_pkgs
+
+
+# Fix sys.path[0] if it's the venv/bin directory to avoid breaking editable install discovery
+_original_syspath0 = sys.path[0]
+if _original_syspath0.endswith("/bin") or _original_syspath0.endswith("\\Scripts"):
+    sys.path[0] = ""
+
+extra_pkgs = discover_external_plugins()
+
+# Restore original sys.path[0]
+sys.path[0] = _original_syspath0
 
 
 def build_parser(
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 358d9cf2..831d83ad 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -12,9 +12,10 @@ classifiers = ["Topic :: Software Development"]
 
 dependencies = [
     "pydantic>=2.8.2",
-    "paramiko~=3.5.1",
+    "paramiko>=3.2.0,<4.0.0",
     "requests",
-    "pytz"
+    "pytz",
+    "urllib3>=1.26.15,<2.0.0"
 ]
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
diff --git a/test/unit/framework/test_cli.py b/test/unit/framework/test_cli.py
index cd266ed9..49cd8990 100644
--- a/test/unit/framework/test_cli.py
+++ b/test/unit/framework/test_cli.py
@@ -25,13 +25,21 @@
 ###############################################################################
 import argparse
 import os
+import sys
+import tempfile
+import types
+from pathlib import Path
+from unittest import mock
 
 import pytest
 from pydantic import BaseModel
 
+from nodescraper.base import InBandDataPlugin
 from nodescraper.cli import cli, inputargtypes
-from nodescraper.enums import SystemLocation
+from nodescraper.enums import ExecutionStatus, SystemLocation
+from nodescraper.interfaces import DataAnalyzer
 from nodescraper.models import SystemInfo
+from nodescraper.pluginregistry import PluginRegistry
 
 
 def test_log_path_arg():
@@ -150,3 +158,220 @@ def test_system_info_builder():
 )
 def test_process_args(raw_arg_input, plugin_names, exp_output):
     assert cli.process_args(raw_arg_input, plugin_names) == exp_output
+
+
+def test_discover_external_plugins_top_level():
+    """Test discovering ext_nodescraper_plugins as a top-level import."""
+    mock_ext_pkg = mock.MagicMock()
+    mock_ext_pkg.__file__ = "/path/to/ext_nodescraper_plugins/__init__.py"
+
+    with mock.patch("nodescraper.cli.cli.import_module"):
+        with mock.patch.dict("sys.modules", {"ext_nodescraper_plugins": mock_ext_pkg}):
+            result = cli.discover_external_plugins()
+
+            assert len(result) >= 1
+            assert mock_ext_pkg in result
+
+
+def test_discover_external_plugins_no_plugins():
+    """Test when no external plugins are installed."""
+    with mock.patch("nodescraper.cli.cli.import_module") as mock_import:
+        mock_import.side_effect = ImportError("No module named 'ext_nodescraper_plugins'")
+
+        with mock.patch("importlib.metadata.distributions", return_value=[]):
+            result = cli.discover_external_plugins()
+
+            assert result == []
+
+
+def test_discover_external_plugins_from_installed_package():
+    """Test discovering plugins from installed packages (not top-level)."""
+    mock_dist = mock.MagicMock()
+    mock_dist.metadata.get.return_value = "amd-custom-package"
+    mock_dist.read_text.return_value = "custompackage"
+
+    mock_plugin = mock.MagicMock()
+    mock_plugin.__file__ = "/path/to/custompackage/ext_nodescraper_plugins/__init__.py"
+
+    def mock_import_func(module_path):
+        if module_path == "custompackage.ext_nodescraper_plugins":
+            return mock_plugin
+        raise ImportError(f"No module named '{module_path}'")
+
+    with mock.patch("nodescraper.cli.cli.import_module", side_effect=mock_import_func):
+        with mock.patch("importlib.metadata.distributions", return_value=[mock_dist]):
+            result = cli.discover_external_plugins()
+
+            assert mock_plugin in result
+
+
+def test_discover_external_plugins_deduplication():
+    """Test that duplicate plugins are not added multiple times."""
+    mock_ext_pkg = mock.MagicMock()
+    mock_ext_pkg.__file__ = "/path/to/ext_nodescraper_plugins/__init__.py"
+
+    mock_dist1 = mock.MagicMock()
+    mock_dist1.metadata.get.return_value = "package-one"
+    mock_dist1.read_text.return_value = "package_one"
+
+    mock_dist2 = mock.MagicMock()
+    mock_dist2.metadata.get.return_value = "package-two"
+    mock_dist2.read_text.return_value = "package_one"
+
+    def mock_import_func(module_path):
+        if "package_one.ext_nodescraper_plugins" in module_path:
+            return mock_ext_pkg
+        raise ImportError(f"No module named '{module_path}'")
+
+    with mock.patch("nodescraper.cli.cli.import_module", side_effect=mock_import_func):
+        with mock.patch("importlib.metadata.distributions", return_value=[mock_dist1, mock_dist2]):
+            result = cli.discover_external_plugins()
+
+            file_paths = [pkg.__file__ for pkg in result if hasattr(pkg, "__file__")]
+            assert file_paths.count(mock_ext_pkg.__file__) == 1
+
+
+def test_discover_external_plugins_name_variants():
+    """Test that different package name variants are tried (hyphens vs underscores)."""
+    mock_dist = mock.MagicMock()
+    mock_dist.metadata.get.return_value = "amd-error-scraper"
+    mock_dist.read_text.side_effect = Exception("No top_level.txt")
+
+    mock_plugin = mock.MagicMock()
+    mock_plugin.__file__ = "/path/to/amd_error_scraper/ext_nodescraper_plugins/__init__.py"
+
+    call_count = {"count": 0}
+
+    def mock_import_func(module_path):
+        call_count["count"] += 1
+        if module_path == "amd_error_scraper.ext_nodescraper_plugins":
+            return mock_plugin
+        raise ImportError(f"No module named '{module_path}'")
+
+    with mock.patch("nodescraper.cli.cli.import_module", side_effect=mock_import_func):
+        with mock.patch("importlib.metadata.distributions", return_value=[mock_dist]):
+            result = cli.discover_external_plugins()
+
+            assert mock_plugin in result
+            assert call_count["count"] >= 1
+
+
+def test_discover_external_plugins_handles_exceptions():
+    """Test that discovery continues even if some packages fail."""
+    mock_dist1 = mock.MagicMock()
+    mock_dist1.metadata.get.return_value = "good-package"
+    mock_dist1.read_text.return_value = "goodpackage"
+
+    mock_dist2 = mock.MagicMock()
+    mock_dist2.metadata.get.side_effect = Exception("Corrupted metadata")
+
+    mock_plugin = mock.MagicMock()
+    mock_plugin.__file__ = "/path/to/goodpackage/ext_nodescraper_plugins/__init__.py"
+
+    def mock_import_func(module_path):
+        if module_path == "goodpackage.ext_nodescraper_plugins":
+            return mock_plugin
+        raise ImportError(f"No module named '{module_path}'")
+
+    with mock.patch("nodescraper.cli.cli.import_module", side_effect=mock_import_func):
+        with mock.patch("importlib.metadata.distributions", return_value=[mock_dist1, mock_dist2]):
+            result = cli.discover_external_plugins()
+
+            assert mock_plugin in result
+
+
+def test_external_plugins_integration():
+    """Integration test: Create a temporary external plugin and verify it's picked up."""
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
+        pkg_dir = Path(tmpdir) / "test_external_pkg"
+        pkg_dir.mkdir()
+        (pkg_dir / "__init__.py").write_text("")
+
+        ext_plugins_dir = pkg_dir / "ext_nodescraper_plugins"
+        ext_plugins_dir.mkdir()
+        (ext_plugins_dir / "__init__.py").write_text("")
+
+        plugin_module_dir = ext_plugins_dir / "test_plugin"
+        plugin_module_dir.mkdir()
+
+        plugin_code = """
+from nodescraper.base import InBandDataPlugin
+from nodescraper.enums import ExecutionStatus
+from nodescraper.interfaces import DataAnalyzer
+
+class TestAnalyzer(DataAnalyzer):
+    DATA_MODEL = dict
+
+    def analyze_data(self, data):
+        return ExecutionStatus.SUCCESS, None
+
+class TestExternalPlugin(InBandDataPlugin):
+    DATA_MODEL = dict
+    ANALYZER = TestAnalyzer
+
+    def run(self):
+        return ExecutionStatus.SUCCESS, {"test": "data"}
+"""
+        (plugin_module_dir / "__init__.py").write_text(plugin_code)
+
+        sys.path.insert(0, tmpdir)
+
+        try:
+            import test_external_pkg.ext_nodescraper_plugins as test_ext_pkg
+
+            plugin_registry = PluginRegistry(plugin_pkg=[test_ext_pkg])
+
+            assert (
+                "TestExternalPlugin" in plugin_registry.plugins
+            ), f"External plugin not found. Available plugins: {list(plugin_registry.plugins.keys())}"
+
+            plugin_class = plugin_registry.plugins["TestExternalPlugin"]
+            assert plugin_class.__name__ == "TestExternalPlugin"
+
+        finally:
+            sys.path.remove(tmpdir)
+            modules_to_remove = [
+                key for key in sys.modules.keys() if key.startswith("test_external_pkg")
+            ]
+            for module in modules_to_remove:
+                del sys.modules[module]
+
+
+def test_discover_and_load_external_plugins():
+    """Test the full flow: discover external plugins using mocked modules."""
+    mock_plugin_module = types.ModuleType("mock_ext_nodescraper_plugins")
+    mock_plugin_module.__file__ = "/fake/path/mock_ext_nodescraper_plugins/__init__.py"
+    mock_plugin_module.__path__ = ["/fake/path/mock_ext_nodescraper_plugins"]
+
+    mock_submodule = types.ModuleType("mock_ext_nodescraper_plugins.mock_plugin")
+    mock_submodule.__file__ = "/fake/path/mock_ext_nodescraper_plugins/mock_plugin.py"
+
+    class MockAnalyzer(DataAnalyzer):
+        DATA_MODEL = dict
+
+        def analyze_data(self, data):
+            return ExecutionStatus.SUCCESS, None
+
+    class MockExternalPlugin(InBandDataPlugin):
+        DATA_MODEL = dict
+        ANALYZER = MockAnalyzer
+
+        def run(self):
+            return ExecutionStatus.SUCCESS, {}
+
+    mock_submodule.MockExternalPlugin = MockExternalPlugin
+
+    def mock_iter_modules(path, prefix=""):
+        yield None, f"{prefix}mock_plugin", False
+
+    def mock_import_module(name):
+        if "mock_plugin" in name:
+            return mock_submodule
+        raise ImportError(f"No module named {name}")
+
+    with mock.patch("pkgutil.iter_modules", side_effect=mock_iter_modules):
+        with mock.patch("importlib.import_module", side_effect=mock_import_module):
+            plugin_registry = PluginRegistry(plugin_pkg=[mock_plugin_module])
+
+            assert "MockExternalPlugin" in plugin_registry.plugins
+            assert plugin_registry.plugins["MockExternalPlugin"] == MockExternalPlugin