Create Answer Plugin

中文 | English

A powerful CLI tool for creating and managing plugins for the Apache Answer project. This tool provides scaffolding for both Backend Plugins and Standard UI Plugins, along with plugin lifecycle management.

Features

• 🚀 Interactive Plugin Creation: Create plugins with an interactive CLI
• 📦 Multiple Plugin Types: Support for 7 Backend Plugin types and 4 Standard UI Plugin types
• 🔧 Plugin Management: List, install, and uninstall plugins
• 🛡️ Type Safety: Built with TypeScript for better type safety
• 🔒 Security: Built-in security validation and command sanitization
• 📝 Auto-generated Templates: Hello World examples for all plugin types

Installation

Global Installation

npm install -g create-answer-plugin
# or
pnpm add -g create-answer-plugin

Note: The package name is create-answer-plugin, but the command is answer-plugin. You can also use create-answer-plugin as an alias.

Usage with npx (Recommended)

# Both commands work:
npx create-answer-plugin <command>
npx answer-plugin <command>

Commands

Create Plugin

Create a new plugin with an interactive wizard:

answer-plugin create [pluginName]
# or
answer-plugin [pluginName]

Options:

• pluginName (optional): Pre-fill the plugin name
• --path, -p: Path to Answer project (root directory)

Example:

answer-plugin create my-plugin

List Plugins

List all plugins in the Answer project:

answer-plugin list [path]

Options:

• path (optional): Path to Answer project (defaults to current directory)

Example:

answer-plugin list
answer-plugin list /path/to/answer

Install Plugins

Install plugins to the Answer project:

answer-plugin install [plugins...] [--path <path>]

Options:

• plugins (optional): Plugin names to install (defaults to all not installed plugins)
• --path, -p: Path to Answer project

Example:

# Install all not installed plugins
answer-plugin install

# Install specific plugins
answer-plugin install my-plugin another-plugin

Uninstall Plugins

Uninstall plugins from the Answer project:

answer-plugin uninstall [plugins...] [--path <path>]

Options:

• plugins (optional): Plugin names to uninstall (defaults to all installed plugins)
• --path, -p: Path to Answer project

Example:

# Uninstall all installed plugins
answer-plugin uninstall

# Uninstall specific plugins
answer-plugin uninstall my-plugin another-plugin

Supported Plugin Types

Backend Plugins

Backend plugins extend Answer's backend functionality:

1. Connector - OAuth/SSO integration plugins
2. Storage - File storage plugins (e.g., S3, OSS)
3. Cache - Caching plugins (e.g., Redis, Memcached)
4. Search - Search engine plugins (e.g., Elasticsearch, Meilisearch)
5. User Center - User management plugins
6. Notification - Notification service plugins (e.g., Email, SMS)
7. Reviewer - Content review plugins

Standard UI Plugins

Standard UI plugins extend Answer's frontend UI:

1. Editor - Rich text editor plugins
2. Route - Custom route/page plugins
3. Captcha - Captcha verification plugins
4. Render - Content rendering plugins

Usage Examples

Create a Backend Plugin

answer-plugin create github-connector

The tool will guide you through:

1. Plugin name (pre-filled if provided)
2. Answer project path
3. Plugin type (Backend or Standard UI)
4. Sub-type selection (e.g., Connector, Storage, etc.)

Create a Standard UI Plugin

answer-plugin create my-custom-route

For Route plugins, you'll also be prompted for the route path.

Manage Plugins

# List all plugins
answer-plugin list

# Install all plugins
answer-plugin install

# Install specific plugins
answer-plugin install plugin1 plugin2

# Uninstall plugins
answer-plugin uninstall plugin1

Configuration

The tool supports configuration through environment variables:

• ANSWER_PLUGINS_PATH: Custom plugins directory path (default: ui/src/plugins)
• ANSWER_I18N_PATH: Custom i18n directory path (default: answer-data/i18n)
• GO_MOD_TIDY_TIMEOUT: Timeout for go mod tidy in milliseconds (default: 30000)
• PNPM_INSTALL_TIMEOUT: Timeout for pnpm install in milliseconds (default: 120000)
• LOG_LEVEL: Logging level - DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR, SILENT (default: INFO)

Generated Plugin Structure

Backend Plugin

ui/src/plugins/my-plugin/
├── my_plugin.go          # Main plugin implementation
├── info.yaml             # Plugin metadata
├── go.mod                # Go module definition
├── i18n/                 # Internationalization files
│   ├── en_US.yaml
│   ├── zh_CN.yaml
│   └── translation.go
└── README.md             # Plugin documentation

Standard UI Plugin

ui/src/plugins/my-plugin/
├── my_plugin.go          # Go wrapper
├── info.yaml             # Plugin metadata
├── Component.tsx         # React component
├── index.ts              # Plugin entry point
├── package.json          # npm dependencies
├── tsconfig.json         # TypeScript config
├── vite.config.ts        # Vite config
├── i18n/                 # Internationalization files
│   ├── en_US.yaml
│   ├── zh_CN.yaml
│   └── index.ts
└── README.md             # Plugin documentation

Development

Local Development

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/answerdev/create-answer-plugin.git
cd create-answer-plugin

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Run in development mode
pnpm dev

# Build
pnpm build

Testing

# Verify a single plugin
pnpm verify <plugin-name>

# Verify all plugins
pnpm verify:all

# Create all plugin types for testing
pnpm create:all

How It Works

1. Plugin Creation: The tool generates plugin scaffolding based on the selected type, including:

   • Go implementation files (for Backend plugins)
   • React/TypeScript components (for Standard UI plugins)
   • Configuration files (info.yaml, go.mod, package.json)
   • i18n translation files
   • README documentation

2. Plugin Installation: When you run install:

   • Adds plugin import to cmd/answer/main.go
   • Adds replace directive to go.mod
   • Runs go mod tidy
   • Merges i18n resources using go run ./cmd/answer/main.go i18n

3. Plugin Uninstallation: When you run uninstall:

   • Removes plugin import from main.go
   • Removes replace directive from go.mod
   • Runs go mod tidy
   • Updates i18n resources

Architecture

The tool is built with:

• TypeScript: For type safety and better developer experience
• Error Handling: Comprehensive error handling with custom error types
• File Transactions: Atomic file operations with rollback support
• Security: Command validation and path sanitization
• Configuration Management: Centralized configuration with environment variable support
• Logging: Structured logging with configurable log levels

Requirements

• Node.js >= 16
• Go >= 1.23 (for Backend plugins)
• pnpm (for Standard UI plugins)

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Related Links

• Apache Answer
• Answer Plugin Documentation