Plugin Development

Overview

Anatomy of a plugin:

- plugin_name/
-- config.json
-- plugin_name.js
-- modules_meshcore/ // optional
--- plugin_name.js 	// optional

Plugin Configuration File

A valid JSON object within a file named config.json in the root folder of your project. An example:

{
  "name": "Plugin Name",
  "shortName": "plugin_name",
  "version": "0.0.0",
  "author": "Author Name",
  "description": "Short Description of the plugin",
  "hasAdminPanel": false,
  "homepage": "https://www.example.com",
  "changelogUrl": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/User/Project/master/changelog.md",
  "configUrl": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/User/Project/master/config.json",
  "downloadUrl": "https://github.com/User/Project/archive/master.zip",
  "repository": {
    "type": "git",
    "url": "https://github.com/User/Project.git"
  },
  "versionHistoryUrl": "https://api.github.com/repos/User/Project/tags",
  "meshCentralCompat": ">0.4.3"
}

Configuration File Properties

Field	Required	Type	Description
name	Yes	string	a human-readable name for the plugin
shortName	Yes	string	an alphanumeric, unique short identifier for the plugin (will be used to access your functions throughout the project
version	Yes	string	the current version of the plugin
author	No	string	the author's name
description	Yes	string	a short, human-readable description of what the plugin does
hasAdminPanel	Yes	boolean	`true` or `false`, indicates whether or not the plugin will offer its own administrative interface
homepage	Yes	string	the URL of the projects homepage
changelogUrl	Yes	string	the URL to the changelog of the project
configUrl	Yes	string	the URL to the config.json of the project
downloadUrl	Yes	string	the URL to a ZIP of the project (used for installation/upgrades)
repository	Yes	JSON object	contains the following attributes
repository.type	Yes	string	valid values are `git` and in the future, `npm` will also be supported in the future
repository.url	Yes	string	the URL to the project's repository
versionHistoryUrl	No	string	the URL to the project's versions/tags
meshCentralCompat	Yes	string	the semantic version string of required compatibility with the MeshCentral server

Plugin Hooks

These are separated into the following categories depending on the type of functionality the plugin should offer.

Web UI, to modify the MeshCentral admin interface
Back End, to modify core functionality of the server and communicate with the Web UI layer as well as the Mesh Agent (Node) layer to send commands and data
Mesh Agent (Node), to introduce functionality to each agent

Web UI Hooks

onDeviceRefeshEnd: called when a device is selected in the MeshCentral web interface registerPluginTab: called when a device is selected in the MeshCentral web interface to register a new tab for plugin data, if required onDesktopDisconnect: called when a remote desktop session is disconnected

Exports

Any function can be exported to the Web UI layer by adding the name of the function to an exports array in the plugin object.

Back End Hooks

server_startup: called once when the server starts (or when the plugin is first installed) hook_agentCoreIsStable: called once when an agent initially checks in hook_processAgentData: called each time an agent transmits data back to the server

Mesh Agent

Use of the optional file plugin_name.js in the optional folder modules_meshcore will include the file in the default meshcore file sent to each endpoint. This is useful to add functionality on each of the endpoints.

Structure

Much of MeshCentral revolves around returning objects for your structures, and plugins are no different. Within your plugin you can traverse all the way up to the web server and MeshCentral Server classes to access all the functionality those layers provide. This is done by passing the current object to newly created objects, and assigning that reference to a parent variable within that object.

Versioning

Versioning your plugin correctly and consistently is essential to ensure users of your plugin are prompted to upgrade when it is available. Semantic versioning is recommended.

Wait, but MeshCentral uses a trailing -<alpha_char> for it's versions!

True, but we've made sure that we made special consideration for this in the meshCentralCompat check, so you can specify the exact version that you're compatible with.

Changelog

A changelog is highly recommended so that your users know what's changed since their last version.

Sample Plugin

MeshCentral-Sample is a simple plugin that, upon disconnecting from remote desktop, prompts the user to enter a manual event (note), pre-filled in with the date and timestamp.

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