paseo/docs/plugins.md

Local plugins

Local plugins contribute daemon RPCs, native app surfaces, workspace panels, Command Center items, and composer attachment sources from one index.ts. Paseo executes the server contribution in a subprocess and evaluates the client contribution in the app runtime. Plugin code is trusted code; this first slice does not sandbox it.

Install a directory source

Create a typecheckable plugin project, install its development dependencies, then install it into the daemon. init only writes the project files; it does not run the package manager.

paseo plugin init /absolute/path/to/my-plugin
cd /absolute/path/to/my-plugin
npm install
npm run typecheck
paseo plugin install /absolute/path/to/my-plugin
paseo plugin install /absolute/path/to/my-plugin --id another-runtime-id
paseo plugin ls

The daemon stores directory sources under the root plugins object:

{
  "pluginsEnabled": true,
  "plugins": {
    "my-plugin": {
      "source": "directory",
      "path": "/absolute/path/to/my-plugin",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

The plugin system is disabled unless pluginsEnabled is true. Changing that root field is runtime-safe: run paseo reload after editing config.json. Enabling starts every configured, enabled plugin; disabling tears them all down without restarting the daemon. Plugin source entries remain lifecycle-owned and do not reload from manual config edits.

The directory contains an identity-only manifest, one entry point, and local typechecking support:

my-plugin/
  paseo-plugin.json
  index.ts
  main.client.tsx
  paseo-plugin.d.ts
  package.json
  tsconfig.json

Paseo compiles TypeScript and TSX when loading the plugin, so these packages are development dependencies only. The generated declaration file supplies @getpaseo/plugin and @getpaseo/plugin/server types until the SDK is distributed as a public package. Regenerate new plugins with the matching Paseo CLI when the SDK contract changes.

{
  "id": "my-plugin"
}

The config key is the runtime plugin ID. The manifest ID is the default selected during install; --id overrides it. Existing configuration is not renamed when the manifest changes, and the runtime does not compare the two IDs. The same directory can be installed under several config keys.

Never enable plugins on a user's behalf without explicit permission. Before asking, check the target daemon's current pluginsEnabled value. State that plugins are trusted, unsandboxed code: backend code can access the daemon machine, while client contributions run inside the Paseo app.

Source changes are explicit. Run paseo plugin reload <id> to stop and fully tear down the old plugin before compiling and starting from disk. A failed reload stays failed; Paseo does not restore the old code. Use enable, disable, and remove to manage one plugin. Remove deletes only its configuration, never its source directory. The global pluginsEnabled switch remains available.

Server contributions can write to stdout and stderr with normal Node logging. Paseo adds [paseo] entries for loading, ready, stopping, and stopped transitions. Compilation and load failures are recorded as stderr entries before a subprocess exists. Inspect the recent in-memory tail from the host plugin settings or with paseo plugin logs <id>. Reload, disable, and process failure retain the tail; removing the plugin clears it. Daemon restarts do not retain the tail, but structured copies remain in $PASEO_HOME/daemon.log. Plugin output can contain secrets, so do not log credentials or tokens.

Contribute behavior and UI

Default export one contribution function from index.ts. Keep it to contribution wiring. Runtime code lives behind filename boundaries:

Suffix	Owns
*.client.tsx	React, React Native, hooks, styles, surfaces, panels, and callbacks.
*.server.ts	Node APIs, filesystem and process access, credentials, and handlers.
*.shared.ts	Zod RPC contracts and plain values used by both runtimes.

Shared files import contracts from @getpaseo/plugin/server. Client files import hooks from @getpaseo/plugin. Plugin UI runs on desktop and mobile across multiple themes: color every Text from theme.colors.foreground or theme.colors.foregroundMuted, and size layout from layout.compact. See public-docs/plugins/reference.md.

Module	Use it for
@getpaseo/plugin	hooks and UI types
@getpaseo/plugin/server	defineRpc, defineAttachmentSource, and handler types

The compiler removes client registrations and imports from the server entry point, and server registrations and imports from the client entry point. Importing a *.server module from a client module, or a *.client module from a server module, fails compilation. Top-level React Native calls such as StyleSheet.create belong in *.client.tsx; placing them in index.ts executes them in the server bundle.

import type { PluginContext } from "@getpaseo/plugin";
import { Greeting } from "./greeting.client";
import { createGreeting } from "./greeting.server";
import { greetRpc } from "./greeting.shared";

export default function contribute(plugin: PluginContext) {
  plugin.handle(greetRpc, createGreeting);
  plugin.addSurface("main", Greeting);
  plugin.addSidebarItem({ id: "main", title: "Greeting", icon: "MessageCircle", surface: "main" });
  return () => {};
}

The contribution function must return cleanup. Server cleanup may be async; Paseo waits for it when the plugin is reloaded, disabled, removed, disconnected, or shut down. Cleanup is for resources created by plugin code. Paseo removes registered contributions, unmounts surfaces, clears query state, rejects pending RPCs, closes the plugin's daemon session, and stops the subprocess. Cleanup errors are logged and do not interrupt host teardown.

Paseo owns the route, screen header, Lucide icon validation, close action, theme DTO, layout facts, and render error boundary. The contributed component owns the complete body below the header.

RPC contracts validate inputs and outputs in both the app and plugin subprocess. useRpc returns a typed async function. Use the host-provided @tanstack/react-query for request state and caching; Paseo gives each plugin installation its own query client.

usePaseo() and the handler's { paseo } context expose the same PaseoApi: workspaces, agents, providers, and daemon config. They do not expose connection lifecycle. A surface borrows the selected host's existing connection; switching the screen's host changes both usePaseo() and useRpc() to that host. An offline selected host fails there and never falls through to another installation. A server handler owns an IPC-backed daemon session for the life of its subprocess. Use plugin RPC for plugin-specific backend behavior that is not a normal Paseo operation.

Each subprocess gets an exclusively owned plugin:<id> session. That identity is reserved from normal clients, never resumes another session, and is cleaned immediately on exit without reconnect grace. During daemon startup, plugin sessions may connect while application WebSockets remain paused; the daemon accepts clients only after configured plugins have settled and the initial catalog is complete.

When the same plugin contribution exists on multiple hosts, Paseo shows it once in the sidebar and adds a host picker to the screen header. The selected host supplies the bundle, RPC transport, and query cache. Plugin code cannot address another host.

Workspace panels and Command Center items remain client contributions. The daemon transports their compiled bundle without interpreting placement or callbacks. Panel props contain workspace and agent IDs. Required-selector hooks read normalized client state synchronously and use shallow equality, so a panel does not subscribe to fields it does not render. Command callbacks materialize their snapshots only when invoked. Contribution discovery and panel opening never fetch active context through plugin RPC. Snapshot DTOs are deeply readonly and frozen at runtime so plugin code cannot mutate normalized app state or a memoized selection. Panels use one persisted plugin workspace-tab target, so reload, disable, removal, and restoration resolve through the current installed-plugin catalog. A missing contribution renders unavailable inside the tab.

Command Center callbacks use the selected host's existing PaseoApi for normal Paseo operations. They use typed plugin RPC only for plugin-specific backend work. Navigation is limited to the plugin's registered global surfaces and workspace panels; plugins do not receive Expo Router or workspace-layout store access.

Contribute composer attachments

Register a declarative attachment source backed by a plugin RPC. Paseo owns the attachment menu, search picker, drafts, selected pill, and submission. The plugin returns complete text snapshots; credentials and vendor API calls stay in the daemon handler.

import type { PluginContext } from "@getpaseo/plugin";
import { search } from "./issues.server";
import { issues, searchIssues } from "./issues.shared";

export default function contribute(plugin: PluginContext) {
  plugin.handle(searchIssues, search);
  plugin.addAttachmentSource(issues);
  return () => {};
}

Attachment sources stay scoped to the composer's host. Unlike sidebar contributions, equal sources on several hosts are not coalesced. The selected snapshot submits as a text attachment with neutral external-resource presentation, so it remains readable if the plugin is removed or an older peer drops the optional presentation fields.

See plugin-examples/local-plugin for a native surface and plugin-examples/linear for a complete attachment-source example.