diff --git a/watcher/.settings/org.eclipse.core.resources.prefs b/watcher/.settings/org.eclipse.core.resources.prefs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6fd0a9aab13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/watcher/.settings/org.eclipse.core.resources.prefs
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+eclipse.preferences.version=1
+encoding//src/main/java=UTF-8
+encoding//src/main/resources=UTF-8
+encoding//src/test/java=UTF-8
+encoding//src/test/resources=UTF-8
+encoding/<project>=UTF-8
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/watcher/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs b/watcher/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..aefac3b3626
--- /dev/null
+++ b/watcher/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+eclipse.preferences.version=1
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.annotation.inheritNullAnnotations=enabled
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.annotation.missingNonNullByDefaultAnnotation=ignore
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.annotation.nullable=org.elasticsearch.common.Nullable
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.annotation.nullanalysis=enabled
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.codegen.targetPlatform=1.7
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.compliance=1.7
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.forbiddenReference=warning
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.nonnullParameterAnnotationDropped=warning
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.nullAnnotationInferenceConflict=warning
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.nullReference=warning
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.nullSpecViolation=warning
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.nullUncheckedConversion=warning
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.potentialNullReference=warning
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.source=1.7
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.formatter.lineSplit=140
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.formatter.tabulation.char=space
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.formatter.tabulation.size=4
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/watcher/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.ui.prefs b/watcher/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.ui.prefs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a42667f8698
--- /dev/null
+++ b/watcher/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.ui.prefs
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+eclipse.preferences.version=1
+formatter_settings_version=12
+# Intellij IDEA import order
+org.eclipse.jdt.ui.importorder=;com;org;java;javax;\#;
+# License header
+org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.custom_code_templates=<?xml version\="1.0" encoding\="UTF-8" standalone\="no"?><templates><template autoinsert\="false" context\="gettercomment_context" deleted\="false" description\="Comment for getter method" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.gettercomment" name\="gettercomment">/**\n *\n */</template><template autoinsert\="false" context\="settercomment_context" deleted\="false" description\="Comment for setter method" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.settercomment" name\="settercomment">/**\n *\n */</template><template autoinsert\="true" context\="constructorcomment_context" deleted\="false" description\="Comment for created constructors" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.constructorcomment" name\="constructorcomment">/**\n * ${tags}\n */</template><template autoinsert\="true" context\="filecomment_context" deleted\="false" description\="Comment for created Java files" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.filecomment" name\="filecomment">/**\n *\n */</template><template autoinsert\="false" context\="typecomment_context" deleted\="false" description\="Comment for created types" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.typecomment" name\="typecomment">/**\n *\n */</template><template autoinsert\="true" context\="fieldcomment_context" deleted\="false" description\="Comment for fields" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.fieldcomment" name\="fieldcomment">/**\n *\n */</template><template autoinsert\="true" context\="methodcomment_context" deleted\="false" description\="Comment for non-overriding methods" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.methodcomment" name\="methodcomment">/**\n * ${tags}\n */</template><template autoinsert\="false" context\="overridecomment_context" deleted\="false" description\="Comment for overriding methods" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.overridecomment" name\="overridecomment">/*\n *\n */</template><template autoinsert\="true" context\="delegatecomment_context" deleted\="false" description\="Comment for delegate methods" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.delegatecomment" name\="delegatecomment">/**\n * ${tags}\n * ${see_to_target}\n */</template><template autoinsert\="false" context\="newtype_context" deleted\="false" description\="Newly created files" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.newtype" name\="newtype">${filecomment}\n/*\n * Licensed to Elasticsearch under one or more contributor\n * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with\n * this work for additional information regarding copyright\n * ownership. Elasticsearch licenses this file to you under\n * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may\n * not use this file except in compliance with the License.\n * You may obtain a copy of the License at\n *\n *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0\n *\n * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,\n * software distributed under the License is distributed on an\n * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY\n * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the\n * specific language governing permissions and limitations\n * under the License.\n */\n\n${package_declaration}\n\n${typecomment}\n${type_declaration}</template><template autoinsert\="true" context\="classbody_context" deleted\="false" description\="Code in new class type bodies" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.classbody" name\="classbody">\n</template><template autoinsert\="true" context\="interfacebody_context" deleted\="false" description\="Code in new interface type bodies" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.interfacebody" name\="interfacebody">\n</template><template autoinsert\="true" context\="enumbody_context" deleted\="false" description\="Code in new enum type bodies" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.enumbody" name\="enumbody">\n</template><template autoinsert\="true" context\="annotationbody_context" deleted\="false" description\="Code in new annotation type bodies" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.annotationbody" name\="annotationbody">\n</template><template autoinsert\="false" context\="catchblock_context" deleted\="false" description\="Code in new catch blocks" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.catchblock" name\="catchblock">throw new RuntimeException();</template><template autoinsert\="false" context\="methodbody_context" deleted\="false" description\="Code in created method stubs" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.methodbody" name\="methodbody">${body_statement}</template><template autoinsert\="false" context\="constructorbody_context" deleted\="false" description\="Code in created constructor stubs" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.constructorbody" name\="constructorbody">${body_statement}</template><template autoinsert\="true" context\="getterbody_context" deleted\="false" description\="Code in created getters" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.getterbody" name\="getterbody">return ${field};</template><template autoinsert\="true" context\="setterbody_context" deleted\="false" description\="Code in created setters" enabled\="true" id\="org.eclipse.jdt.ui.text.codetemplates.setterbody" name\="setterbody">${field} \= ${param};</template></templates>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/watcher/pom.xml b/watcher/pom.xml
index 1eda109a84c..0de710ad75a 100644
--- a/watcher/pom.xml
+++ b/watcher/pom.xml
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
     </parent>
 
     <properties>
+        <!-- TODO: try to avoid this... -->
+        <elasticsearch.assembly.descriptor>${basedir}/src/main/assemblies/plugin.xml</elasticsearch.assembly.descriptor>
         <elasticsearch.plugin.classname>org.elasticsearch.watcher.WatcherPlugin</elasticsearch.plugin.classname>
         <!-- TODO: fix plugin dependencies for full isolation -->
         <elasticsearch.plugin.isolated>false</elasticsearch.plugin.isolated>
diff --git a/watcher/src/main/assemblies/plugin.xml b/watcher/src/main/assemblies/plugin.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..db07b214b22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/watcher/src/main/assemblies/plugin.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<assembly>
+    <id>plugin</id>
+    <formats>
+        <format>zip</format>
+    </formats>
+    <includeBaseDirectory>false</includeBaseDirectory>
+    <fileSets>
+        <fileSet>
+            <filtered>false</filtered>
+            <directory>bin/watcher</directory>
+            <outputDirectory>bin</outputDirectory>
+        </fileSet>
+    </fileSets>
+    <dependencySets>
+        <dependencySet>
+            <outputDirectory>/</outputDirectory>
+            <useProjectArtifact>true</useProjectArtifact>
+            <useTransitiveFiltering>true</useTransitiveFiltering>
+            <excludes>
+                <exclude>org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch</exclude>
+            </excludes>
+        </dependencySet>
+        <dependencySet>
+            <outputDirectory>/</outputDirectory>
+            <useTransitiveDependencies>false</useTransitiveDependencies>
+            <includes>
+                <include>com.sun.mail:javax.mail</include>
+                <include>javax.activation:activation</include>
+                <include>com.googlecode.owasp-java-html-sanitizer:owasp-java-html-sanitizer</include>
+            </includes>
+        </dependencySet>
+    </dependencySets>
+    <files>
+        <file>
+            <source>${elasticsearch.tools.directory}/plugin-metadata/plugin-descriptor.properties</source>
+            <outputDirectory></outputDirectory>
+            <filtered>true</filtered>
+        </file>
+        <file>
+            <source>LICENSE.txt</source>
+            <outputDirectory>/</outputDirectory>
+        </file>
+        <file>
+            <source>NOTICE.txt</source>
+            <outputDirectory>/</outputDirectory>
+        </file>
+    </files>
+</assembly>
diff --git a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/WatcherPluginDisableTests.java b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/WatcherPluginDisableTests.java
index 9efdeeffc8c..315ecb56b34 100644
--- a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/WatcherPluginDisableTests.java
+++ b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/WatcherPluginDisableTests.java
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ public class WatcherPluginDisableTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
         return Settings.settingsBuilder()
                 .put(super.nodeSettings(nodeOrdinal))
                 .put("plugin.types", WatcherPlugin.class.getName() + "," + LicensePlugin.class.getName())
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                 .put(WatcherPlugin.ENABLED_SETTING, false)
                 .put(Node.HTTP_ENABLED, true)
                 .build();
@@ -49,7 +48,6 @@ public class WatcherPluginDisableTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
     protected Settings transportClientSettings() {
         return Settings.builder()
                 .put(super.transportClientSettings())
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                 .build();
     }
 
diff --git a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/actions/index/IndexActionTests.java b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/actions/index/IndexActionTests.java
index 0adcd82e86b..8a43eafa0c5 100644
--- a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/actions/index/IndexActionTests.java
+++ b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/actions/index/IndexActionTests.java
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ public class IndexActionTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
     protected Settings nodeSettings(int nodeOrdinal) {
         return Settings.builder()
                 .put(super.nodeSettings(nodeOrdinal))
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                 .build();
     }
 
@@ -59,7 +58,6 @@ public class IndexActionTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
     protected Settings transportClientSettings() {
         return Settings.builder()
                 .put(super.transportClientSettings())
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                 .build();
     }
 
diff --git a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/input/search/SearchInputTests.java b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/input/search/SearchInputTests.java
index 0a1baa0e74c..8eb87fc94f7 100644
--- a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/input/search/SearchInputTests.java
+++ b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/input/search/SearchInputTests.java
@@ -95,7 +95,6 @@ public class SearchInputTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
 
         //Set path so ScriptService will pick up the test scripts
         return settingsBuilder().put(super.nodeSettings(nodeOrdinal))
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                 .put("path.conf", configPath).build();
     }
 
@@ -103,7 +102,6 @@ public class SearchInputTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
     protected Settings transportClientSettings() {
         return Settings.builder()
                 .put(super.transportClientSettings())
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                 .build();
     }
 
diff --git a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/shield/BasicShieldTests.java b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/shield/BasicShieldTests.java
index 90cb829a15d..1393d17ee6b 100644
--- a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/shield/BasicShieldTests.java
+++ b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/shield/BasicShieldTests.java
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ public class BasicShieldTests extends AbstractWatcherIntegrationTests {
                 .put("plugin.types", ShieldPlugin.class.getName() + "," + WatcherPlugin.class.getName())
                 // Use just the transport user here, so we can test Watcher roles specifically
                 .put("shield.user", "transport_client:changeme")
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                 .build();
     }
 
diff --git a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/AbstractWatcherIntegrationTests.java b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/AbstractWatcherIntegrationTests.java
index 1948f046daf..3115dcc927d 100644
--- a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/AbstractWatcherIntegrationTests.java
+++ b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/AbstractWatcherIntegrationTests.java
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractWatcherIntegrationTests extends ElasticsearchInteg
                 .put("scroll.size", randomIntBetween(1, 100))
                 .put("plugin.types", Strings.collectionToCommaDelimitedString(pluginTypes()))
                 .put(ShieldSettings.settings(shieldEnabled))
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                 .put("watcher.trigger.schedule.engine", scheduleImplName)
                 .build();
     }
@@ -199,7 +198,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractWatcherIntegrationTests extends ElasticsearchInteg
         if (shieldEnabled == false) {
             return Settings.builder()
                     .put(super.transportClientSettings())
-                    .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                     .put("plugin.types", WatcherPlugin.class.getName())
                     .build();
         }
@@ -207,7 +205,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractWatcherIntegrationTests extends ElasticsearchInteg
         return Settings.builder()
                 .put("client.transport.sniff", false)
                 .put("plugin.types", ShieldPlugin.class.getName() + "," + WatcherPlugin.class.getName())
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                 .put("shield.user", "admin:changeme")
                 .build();
     }
diff --git a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/rest/WatcherRestTests.java b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/rest/WatcherRestTests.java
index 44e1ff3cdf4..d2d41f6a9f0 100644
--- a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/rest/WatcherRestTests.java
+++ b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/rest/WatcherRestTests.java
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ public class WatcherRestTests extends ElasticsearchRestTestCase {
                         + "," + licensePluginClass().getName())
                 .put(Node.HTTP_ENABLED, true)
                 .put(ShieldSettings.settings(shieldEnabled))
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
         .build();
     }
 
@@ -81,7 +80,6 @@ public class WatcherRestTests extends ElasticsearchRestTestCase {
             String token = basicAuthHeaderValue("admin", new SecuredString("changeme".toCharArray()));
             return Settings.builder()
                     .put(Headers.PREFIX + ".Authorization", token)
-                    .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                     .build();
         } else {
             return Settings.EMPTY;
@@ -98,7 +96,6 @@ public class WatcherRestTests extends ElasticsearchRestTestCase {
                             + (shieldEnabled ? ShieldPlugin.class.getName() + "," : ""))
                     .put("shield.user", "admin:changeme")
                     .put(Node.HTTP_ENABLED, true)
-                    .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                     .build();
         }
 
@@ -107,7 +104,6 @@ public class WatcherRestTests extends ElasticsearchRestTestCase {
                 .put(Node.HTTP_ENABLED, true)
                 .put("plugin.types", WatcherPlugin.class.getName() + ","
                         + "," + LicensePlugin.class.getName())
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                 .build();
     }
 
diff --git a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/transform/search/SearchTransformTests.java b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/transform/search/SearchTransformTests.java
index b41448799a5..46678b98cfd 100644
--- a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/transform/search/SearchTransformTests.java
+++ b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/transform/search/SearchTransformTests.java
@@ -95,7 +95,6 @@ public class SearchTransformTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
         return settingsBuilder()
                 .put(super.nodeSettings(nodeOrdinal))
                 // we're not extending from the base watcher test case, so we should prevent the watcher plugin from being loaded
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                 .put("path.conf", configPath).build();
     }
 
@@ -103,7 +102,6 @@ public class SearchTransformTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
     protected Settings transportClientSettings() {
         return Settings.builder()
                 .put(super.transportClientSettings())
-                .put(PluginsService.LOAD_PLUGIN_FROM_CLASSPATH, false)
                 .build();
     }