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47 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
47 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: How to plugin
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---
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## How to write a plugin
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A short introductory guide for plugin beginners.
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### Should it be a plugin?
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First of all figure out what your plugin / code should do.
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If you want to change how InvenTree base mechanics and business logic work, a plugin will not be sufficient. Maybe fork the project or better [start a discussion](https://github.com/inventree/InvenTree/discussions) on GitHub. There might be an easier / established way to do what you want.
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If you want to remove parts of the user interface -> remove the permissions for those objects / actions and the users will not see them.
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If you add a lot of code (over ~1000 LOC) maybe split it into multiple plugins to make upgrading and testing simpler.
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### It will be a plugin!
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Great. Now please read the [plugin documentation](./plugins.md) to get an overview of the architecture. It is rather short as a the (builtin) mixins come with extensive docstrings.
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### Pick your building blocks
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Consider the usecase for your plugin and define the exact function of the plugin, maybe wrtie it down in a short readme. Then pick the mixins you need (they help reduce custom code and keep the system reliable if internal calls change).
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- Is it just a simple REST-endpoint that runs a function ([ActionMixin](./plugins/action.md)) or a parser for a custom barcode format ([BarcodeMixin](./plugins/barcode.md))?
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- How does the user interact with the plugin? Is it a UI separate from the main InvenTree UI ([UrlsMixin](./plugins/urls.md)), does it need multiple pages with navigation-links ([NavigationMixin](./plugins/navigation.md)).
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- Will it make calls to external APIs ([APICallMixin](./plugins/api.md) helps there)?
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- Do you need to run in the background ([ScheduleMixin](./plugins/schedule.md)) or when things in InvenTree change ([EventMixin](./plugins/event.md))?
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- Does the plugin need configuration that should be user changeable ([SettingsMixin](./plugins/settings.md)) or static (just use a yaml in the config dir)?
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- You want to receive webhooks? Do not code your own untested function, use the WebhookEndpoint model as a base and override the perform_action method.
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- Do you need the full power of Django with custom models and all the complexity that comes with that – welcome to the danger zone and [AppMixin](./plugins/app.md). The plugin will be treated as a app by django and can maybe rack the whole instance.
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### Development guidelines
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If you want to make your life easier, try to follow these guidelines; break where it makes sense for your use case.
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- keep it simple - more that 1000 LOC are normally to much for a plugin
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- use mixins where possible - we try to keep coverage high for them so they are not likely to break
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- do not use internal functions - if a functions name starts with `_` it is internal and might change at any time
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- keep you imports clean - the APIs for plugins and mixins are young and evolving. Use
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```
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from plugin import IntegrationPluginBase, registry
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from plugin.mixins import APICallMixin, SettingsMixin, ScheduleMixin, BarcodeMixin
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```
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- deliver as a package - pip is great for dependency management and pypi can serve as a transparent and reliable delivery infrastructure
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- if you need to use a private infrastructure, use the 'Releases' functions in GitHub or Gitlab. Point to the 'latest' release endpoint when installing to make sure the update function works
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- tag your GitHub repo with 'inventree' and 'inventreeplugins' to make discovery easier
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- use GitHub actions to test your plugin regularly (you can [schedule actions](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/events-that-trigger-workflows#schedule)) against the 'latest' [docker-build](https://hub.docker.com/r/inventree/inventree) of InvenTree
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- if you use the AppMixin pin your plugin against the stable branch of InvenTree, your migrations might get messed up otherwise
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