Packaging and publishing plugins

Export a FeatherPanel plugin as an .fpa package, keep files out of it with .featherexport, install it from a file or URL, and how marketplace listings and updates work.

The .fpa format

A FeatherPanel package (.fpa) is a zip archive of the plugin folder, encrypted with a fixed password that the panel knows. The files sit at the root of the archive: conf.yml, the entry class and the plugin folders, not a folder around them.

When the panel installs a package it checks every entry before extracting: absolute paths, .. segments and symlinks are refused.

Export a plugin

1. Turn on developer mode in the admin settings.
2. Open Admin > Plugins, select the plugin and choose Export.
3. The browser downloads <identifier>.fpa.

To keep files out of the package, add a .featherexport file to the plugin root. Each line is a pattern passed to zip -x; blank lines and text after # are ignored. The .featherexport file itself is always excluded.

# .featherexport
node_modules/*
src/*
*.log
.git/*

Build your frontend before exporting, so that only the compiled HTML, JavaScript and CSS under Frontend/Components/ end up in the package.

Install a package

In Admin > Plugins an admin with admin.plugins.manage can install from:

• an uploaded .fpa file,
• a URL that points to an .fpa file,
• the online marketplace.

The panel extracts the package, runs its migrations and calls its install hook. The steps are listed on Lifecycle and events. Installing a package whose identifier is already installed is treated as an update: settings are kept and pluginUpdate() runs.

Marketplace listings

The marketplace in Admin > Plugins and Admin > FeatherCloud reads its listings from FeatherCloud, run by MythicalSystems. Plugin listings are managed there, outside the panel; the panel has no upload or publish feature.

What the panel uses from a listing:

Before you share a plugin

• conf.yml passes validation (see Manifest) and the version is bumped.
• The plugin installs on a clean panel: migrations use IF NOT EXISTS and the install hook does not assume data that is not there.
• pluginUpdate() handles upgrades from earlier versions.
• pluginUninstall() removes what the plugin created.
• No secrets, .env files or build folders in the package.

Related

• Plugin structure
• Plugins overview for installing and managing plugins as an admin