@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ cargo run --example dataframe -- dataframe
 | ------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
 | composed_extension_codec | [`proto/composed_extension_codec.rs`](examples/proto/composed_extension_codec.rs) | Use multiple extension codecs for serialization/deserialization               |
 | expression_deduplication | [`proto/expression_deduplication.rs`](examples/proto/expression_deduplication.rs) | Example of expression caching/deduplication using the codec decorator pattern |
+| extension_plan_registry  | [`proto/extension_plan_registry.rs`](examples/proto/extension_plan_registry.rs)   | Decode two crates' extension plans by name, with no composed codec            |
 
 ## Query Planning Examples
 
 
@@ -364,6 +364,11 @@ impl PhysicalProtoConverterExtension for AdapterPreservingCodec {
                     PhysicalExtensionNode {
                         node: payload_bytes,
                         inputs: vec![inner_proto],
+                        // This converter recognizes its own nodes by the marker
+                        // inside the payload, so it needs no `plan_name`
+                        // discriminator. Plans that decode through the session
+                        // registry set it to their `PLAN_NAME` instead.
+                        plan_name: None,
                     },
                 )),
             });
 
@@ -0,0 +1,252 @@
+// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+//! See `main.rs` for how to run it.
+//!
+//! The same problem as `composed_extension_codec.rs`, solved without composing
+//! codecs: two plans from two independent crates in one tree.
+//!
+//! ```text
+//! ParentExec      (from crate A)
+//!     ChildExec   (from crate B)
+//! ```
+//!
+//! With `ComposedPhysicalExtensionCodec` the decoding side has to register the
+//! same codecs in the same *order* the encoder used, because the composed codec
+//! writes the position of the encoding codec into the payload. Here each plan
+//! names itself on the wire instead, so order does not matter and a name two
+//! crates both claim is an error at registration rather than a wrong decode.
+
+use std::fmt::Formatter;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+use datafusion::common::tree_node::TreeNodeRecursion;
+use datafusion::common::{Result, internal_err};
+use datafusion::execution::TaskContext;
+use datafusion::physical_expr::PhysicalExpr;
+use datafusion::physical_plan::proto::{
+    ExecutionPlanDecodeCtx, ExecutionPlanEncodeCtx, ExtensionPlanFromProto,
+    ProtoDecoderRegistry, register_execution_plan,
+};
+use datafusion::physical_plan::{
+    ChildrenPropertiesMode, DisplayAs, DisplayFormatType, ExecutionPlan, PlanProperties,
+    ReplaceChildrenOptions, SendableRecordBatchStream,
+};
+use datafusion::prelude::{SessionConfig, SessionContext};
+use datafusion_proto::physical_plan::{AsExecutionPlan, DefaultPhysicalExtensionCodec};
+use datafusion_proto::protobuf::PhysicalPlanNode;
+use datafusion_proto::protobuf::physical_plan_node::PhysicalPlanType;
+
+pub fn extension_plan_registry() -> Result<()> {
+    let plan: Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan> = Arc::new(ParentExec {
+        input: Arc::new(ChildExec {}),
+    });
+
+    // Each crate exposes a function that fills a registry it is handed; the
+    // application that owns the session composes them. The two crates need to
+    // know nothing about each other, and the call order does not matter.
+    let mut registry = ProtoDecoderRegistry::new();
+    crate_a::register(&mut registry)?;
+    crate_b::register(&mut registry)?;
+
+    let ctx = SessionContext::new_with_config(
+        SessionConfig::new().with_extension(Arc::new(registry)),
+    );
+
+    // `DefaultPhysicalExtensionCodec` decodes nothing at all, so whatever
+    // survives the round trip came from the registry.
+    let codec = DefaultPhysicalExtensionCodec {};
+    let node = PhysicalPlanNode::try_from_physical_plan(Arc::clone(&plan), &codec)?;
+    let decoded = node.try_into_physical_plan(ctx.task_ctx().as_ref(), &codec)?;
+
+    assert_eq!(format!("{plan:?}"), format!("{decoded:?}"));
+
+    // A session that does not register the plans cannot decode them, and the
+    // error names what is missing rather than only what the codec said. Children
+    // are decoded before their parent falls back to the codec, so the innermost
+    // unregistered plan is the one reported:
+    //
+    //     No decoder is registered for the extension ExecutionPlan
+    //     'example-crate-b.ChildExec'. Register the plan in the
+    //     ProtoDecoderRegistry attached to the decoding session's
+    //     SessionConfig, ... Registered extension plans: none
+    let bare = SessionContext::new();
+    let err = node
+        .try_into_physical_plan(bare.task_ctx().as_ref(), &codec)
+        .expect_err("an unregistered plan must not decode");
+    assert!(err.to_string().contains("No decoder is registered"));
+    assert!(err.to_string().contains(ChildExec::NAME));
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// What the crate that owns `ParentExec` would export.
+mod crate_a {
+    use super::*;
+
+    pub fn register(registry: &mut ProtoDecoderRegistry) -> Result<()> {
+        register_execution_plan::<ParentExec>(registry)
+    }
+}
+
+/// What the crate that owns `ChildExec` would export.
+mod crate_b {
+    use super::*;
+
+    pub fn register(registry: &mut ProtoDecoderRegistry) -> Result<()> {
+        register_execution_plan::<ChildExec>(registry)
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct ParentExec {
+    input: Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>,
+}
+
+impl ExtensionPlanFromProto for ParentExec {
+    // Namespaced with the owning crate, so a collision with another crate is
+    // an error at registration rather than a wrong decode.
+    const NAME: &'static str = "example-crate-a.ParentExec";
+
+    fn try_from_proto(
+        node: &PhysicalPlanNode,
+        ctx: &ExecutionPlanDecodeCtx<'_>,
+    ) -> Result<Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>> {
+        let Some(PhysicalPlanType::Extension(extension)) = &node.physical_plan_type
+        else {
+            return internal_err!("PhysicalPlanNode is not an Extension");
+        };
+        let mut children = ctx.decode_children(&extension.inputs)?;
+        if children.len() != 1 {
+            return internal_err!("ParentExec expects exactly one child");
+        }
+        Ok(Arc::new(ParentExec {
+            input: children.remove(0),
+        }))
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct ChildExec {}
+
+impl ExtensionPlanFromProto for ChildExec {
+    const NAME: &'static str = "example-crate-b.ChildExec";
+
+    fn try_from_proto(
+        _node: &PhysicalPlanNode,
+        _ctx: &ExecutionPlanDecodeCtx<'_>,
+    ) -> Result<Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>> {
+        Ok(Arc::new(ChildExec {}))
+    }
+}
+
+/// Both plans are serde-only: this example never executes them.
+macro_rules! serde_only_body {
+    ($name:ident) => {
+        fn name(&self) -> &str {
+            stringify!($name)
+        }
+
+        fn properties(&self) -> &Arc<PlanProperties> {
+            unreachable!("this example only serializes")
+        }
+
+        fn apply_expressions(
+            &self,
+            _f: &mut dyn FnMut(&Arc<dyn PhysicalExpr>) -> Result<TreeNodeRecursion>,
+        ) -> Result<TreeNodeRecursion> {
+            Ok(TreeNodeRecursion::Continue)
+        }
+
+        fn with_new_children(
+            self: Arc<Self>,
+            children: Vec<Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>>,
+        ) -> Result<Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>> {
+            self.replace_children(
+                children,
+                ReplaceChildrenOptions::new(ChildrenPropertiesMode::Recompute),
+            )
+        }
+
+        fn execute(
+            &self,
+            _partition: usize,
+            _context: Arc<TaskContext>,
+        ) -> Result<SendableRecordBatchStream> {
+            internal_err!("{} is a serde-only example plan", stringify!($name))
+        }
+
+        /// `extension_node` stamps `Self::NAME`, so the name on the wire and
+        /// the registry key cannot drift apart. Neither plan has state of its
+        /// own, hence the empty payload.
+        fn try_to_proto(
+            &self,
+            ctx: &ExecutionPlanEncodeCtx<'_>,
+        ) -> Result<Option<PhysicalPlanNode>> {
+            Ok(Some(ctx.extension_node::<Self>(vec![], self.children())?))
+        }
+    };
+}
+
+impl DisplayAs for ParentExec {
+    fn fmt_as(&self, _t: DisplayFormatType, f: &mut Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "ParentExec")
+    }
+}
+
+impl ExecutionPlan for ParentExec {
+    serde_only_body!(ParentExec);
+
+    fn children(&self) -> Vec<&Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>> {
+        vec![&self.input]
+    }
+
+    fn replace_children(
+        self: Arc<Self>,
+        mut children: Vec<Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>>,
+        _: ReplaceChildrenOptions,
+    ) -> Result<Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>> {
+        if children.len() != 1 {
+            return internal_err!("ParentExec expects exactly one child");
+        }
+        Ok(Arc::new(ParentExec {
+            input: children.remove(0),
+        }))
+    }
+}
+
+impl DisplayAs for ChildExec {
+    fn fmt_as(&self, _t: DisplayFormatType, f: &mut Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "ChildExec")
+    }
+}
+
+impl ExecutionPlan for ChildExec {
+    serde_only_body!(ChildExec);
+
+    fn children(&self) -> Vec<&Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>> {
+        vec![]
+    }
+
+    fn replace_children(
+        self: Arc<Self>,
+        _children: Vec<Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>>,
+        _: ReplaceChildrenOptions,
+    ) -> Result<Arc<dyn ExecutionPlan>> {
+        Ok(self)
+    }
+}
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 //!
 //! ## Usage
 //! ```bash
-//! cargo run --example proto -- [all|composed_extension_codec|expression_deduplication]
+//! cargo run --example proto -- [all|composed_extension_codec|expression_deduplication|extension_plan_registry]
 //! ```
 //!
 //! Each subcommand runs a corresponding example:
@@ -32,9 +32,13 @@
 //!
 //! - `expression_deduplication`
 //!   (file: expression_deduplication.rs, desc: Example of expression caching/deduplication using the codec decorator pattern)
+//!
+//! - `extension_plan_registry`
+//!   (file: extension_plan_registry.rs, desc: Decode two crates' extension plans by name, with no composed codec)
 
 mod composed_extension_codec;
 mod expression_deduplication;
+mod extension_plan_registry;
 
 use datafusion::error::{DataFusionError, Result};
 use strum::{IntoEnumIterator, VariantNames};
@@ -46,6 +50,7 @@ enum ExampleKind {
     All,
     ComposedExtensionCodec,
     ExpressionDeduplication,
+    ExtensionPlanRegistry,
 }
 
 impl ExampleKind {
@@ -69,6 +74,9 @@ impl ExampleKind {
             ExampleKind::ExpressionDeduplication => {
                 expression_deduplication::expression_deduplication()?
             }
+            ExampleKind::ExtensionPlanRegistry => {
+                extension_plan_registry::extension_plan_registry()?
+            }
         }
         Ok(())
     }