Automatically configuring and enabling plugins after installing with ark plugin:install

[alessiodf]

It seems counterintuitive that you can install a plugin via ark plugin:install but then nothing new happens when you restart Core 3.1.0 since you have to manually edit app.json to add the newly installed plugin there.

I see references to PluginDiscoverer in the latest commit. Is this the solution for this problem? If so, can you please explain how it will work from an end user perspective and also from the perspective of a plugin developer? For instance, if I develop a plugin that needs to start with the relay process only and not the forger or vice versa, how can I make that happen without expecting users to manually configure app.json? One idea could be to read a manifest file in the root of the plugin's directory to determine which processes (e.g. core, relay, forger, snapshot) the plugin should launch with. Or is it something I would have to check in the plugin code itself? Obviously I know it could be manually set in app.json but this is about avoiding the need for manual configuration.

[sebastijankuzner]

ark plugin:install will install plugin under the selected network data path (for example: /ark-core/devnet /plugins/).

In order to use installed plugin it has to be included in the app.json. We cannot automatically load the plugin based on its manifest file, because we cannot determine which processes will use it (e.g. core, relay). The order of the plugin is also important, because plugins are loaded sequentially as they are listed in app.json. If you use dependencies to other packages that often means that it has to be loaded just after the dependent plugin and we cannot simplify it to be loaded after the other packages. For example if you want to decorate logger which is the first plugin, you want you package to be loaded right after it before other packages are loaded.

In order to use plugin in the app.jso it has to export ServiceProvider class. You can look into core-manager plugin for reference (ServiceProvider, export).

To avoid manual configuration your plugin can also export CLI commands. You can implement custom command like plugin_name:config that will position plugin in the right place inside app.json. For reference take a look into manager:config command. Any additional ENV variables can also be set trough command.

To sum it up you can implement the CLI plugin that extends CLI commands or Core plugin that exports ServiceProvider and can be set in app.json. Both principles can be used in the single package. You can check if command are registered properly via the ark help command. New command should be listed after plugin installation.

If you are using only one network configuration CLI plugins are loaded automatically. When you are using multiple network configurations (devnet, testnet, mainnet) then provide desired network via --network flag. For example ark help --network=testnet.

References:

• Creating CLI Commands
• Core Plugins

[alessiodf]

Thanks @sebastijankuzner, I had no idea you could add commands to the CLI. That's great.