kubo/docs/plugins.md

# Plugins

Since 0.4.11 Kubo has an experimental plugin system that allows augmenting
the daemons functionality without recompiling.

When an IPFS node is started, it will load plugins from the `$IPFS_PATH/plugins`
directory (by default `~/.ipfs/plugins`).

**Table of Contents**

- [Plugin Types](#plugin-types)
    - [IPLD](#ipld)
    - [Datastore](#datastore)
- [Available Plugins](#available-plugins)
- [Installing Plugins](#installing-plugins)
    - [External Plugin](#external-plugin)
        - [In-tree](#in-tree)
        - [Out-of-tree](#out-of-tree)
    - [Preloaded Plugins](#preloaded-plugins)
- [Creating A Plugin](#creating-a-plugin)

## Plugin Types

Plugins can implement one or more plugin types, defined in the
[plugin](https://godoc.org/github.com/ipfs/kubo/plugin) package.

### IPLD

IPLD plugins add support for additional formats to `ipfs dag` and other IPLD
related commands.

### Datastore

Datastore plugins add support for additional datastore backends.

### Tracer

(experimental)

Tracer plugins allow injecting an opentracing backend into Kubo.

### Daemon

Daemon plugins are started when the Kubo daemon is started and are given an
instance of the CoreAPI. This should make it possible to build an ipfs-based
application without IPC and without forking Kubo.

Note: We eventually plan to make Kubo usable as a library. However, this
plugin type is likely the best interim solution.

### Internal

(never stable)

Internal plugins are like daemon plugins _except_ that they can access, replace,
and modify all internal state. Use this plugin type to extend Kubo in
arbitrary ways. However, be aware that your plugin will likely break every time
Kubo updated.

## Configuration

Plugins can be configured in the `Plugins` section of the config file. Here,
plugins can be:

1. Passed an arbitrary config object via the `Config` field.
2. Disabled via the `Disabled` field.

Example:

```js
{
  // ...
  "Plugins": {
    "Plugins": {
      // plugin named "plugin-foo"
      "plugin-foo": {
        "Config": { /* arbitrary json */ }
      },
      // plugin named "plugin-bar"
      "plugin-bar": {
        "Disabled": true // "plugin-bar" will not be loaded
      }
    }
  }
}
```

## Available Plugins

| Name                                                                            | Type      | Preloaded | Description                                    |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|------------------------------------------------|
| [git](https://github.com/ipfs/kubo/tree/master/plugin/plugins/git)           | IPLD      | x         | An IPLD format for git objects.                |
| [badgerds](https://github.com/ipfs/kubo/tree/master/plugin/plugins/badgerds) | Datastore | x         | A high performance but experimental datastore. |
| [flatfs](https://github.com/ipfs/kubo/tree/master/plugin/plugins/flatfs)     | Datastore | x         | A stable filesystem-based datastore.           |
| [levelds](https://github.com/ipfs/kubo/tree/master/plugin/plugins/levelds)   | Datastore | x         | A stable, flexible datastore backend.          |
| [jaeger](https://github.com/ipfs/go-jaeger-plugin)                              | Tracing   |           | An opentracing backend.                        |

* **Preloaded** plugins are built into the Kubo binary and do not need to be
  installed separately. At the moment, all in-tree plugins are preloaded.

## Installing Plugins

Kubo supports two types of plugins: External and Preloaded.

* External plugins must be installed in `$IPFS_PATH/plugins/` (usually
`~/.ipfs/plugins/`).
* Preloaded plugins are built-into the Kubo when it's compiled.

### External Plugin

The advantage of an external plugin is that it can be built, packaged, and
installed independently of Kubo. Unfortunately, this method is only supported
on Linux and MacOS at the moment. Users of other operating systems should follow
the instructions for preloaded plugins.

#### In-tree

To build plugins included in
[plugin/plugins](https://github.com/ipfs/kubo/tree/master/plugin/plugins),
run:

```bash
kubo$ make build_plugins
kubo$ ls plugin/plugins/*.so
```

To install, copy desired plugins to `$IPFS_PATH/plugins`. For example:

```bash
kubo$ mkdir -p ~/.ipfs/plugins/
kubo$ cp plugin/plugins/git.so ~/.ipfs/plugins/
kubo$ chmod +x ~/.ipfs/plugins/git.so # ensure plugin is executable
```

Finally, restart daemon if it is running.

#### Out-of-tree

To build out-of-tree plugins, use the plugin's Makefile if provided. Otherwise,
you can manually build the plugin by running:

```bash
myplugin$ go build -buildmode=plugin -o myplugin.so myplugin.go
```

Finally, as with in-tree plugins:

1. Install the plugin in `$IPFS_PATH/plugins`.
2. Mark the plugin as executable (`chmod +x $IPFS_PATH/plugins/myplugin.so`).
3. Restart your IPFS daemon (if running).

### Preloaded Plugins

The advantages of preloaded plugins are:

1. They're bundled with the Kubo binary.
2. They work on all platforms.

To preload a Kubo plugin:

1. Add the plugin to the preload list: `plugin/loader/preload_list`
2. Build ipfs
```bash
kubo$ make build
```

You can also preload an in-tree but disabled-by-default plugin by adding it to
the IPFS_PLUGINS variable. For example, to enable plugins foo, bar, and baz:

```bash
kubo$ make build IPFS_PLUGINS="foo bar baz"
```

## Creating A Plugin

To create your own out-of-tree plugin, use the [example
plugin](https://github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs-example-plugin/) as a starting point.
When you're ready, submit a PR adding it to the list of [available
plugins](#available-plugins).