Plugins - Implement Plugin Framework

[ReenigneArcher]

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If RetroArcher supported plugins it would provide an easier way for people to make RetroArcher better without having to contribute to the core project (which can be quite overwhelming).

Describe the solution you'd like A clear and concise description of what you want to happen.

Something similar to plugins from one of these:

• Plex Media Server
• Kodi
• HomeAssistant

More research is needed

Describe alternatives you've considered A clear and concise description of any alternative solutions or features you've considered.

Additional context Add any other context or screenshots about the feature request here.

Examples of possible plugins:

• Additional standalone emulators
• A bios verifier tool
• Resource monitoring dashboard

[ReenigneArcher]

Some ideas...

Plugin Repository (decided against this, separate github organization instead with separate repos)

• Could create a RetroArcher.plugins repo which would be separated from RetroArcher.X.
• The repo could have 3 branches
  • master (stable)
  • nightly (latest)
  • template (mostly empty, just contain template files)
• Workflow could be something like this:
  • Plugin Developers fork the repo
  • Create a new branch in their fork using template branch as a base
  • When finished with release do a PR back to the main repo's nightly branch

Plugin Requirements

• all plugins to be installed to a specified folder, likely named plug-ins
• plug-ins will need some kind of manifest file with all the metadata... json is probably a good format for this
• settings/configurations

Likely required changed to RetroArcher.X

• create an interface for dealing with plugins, which could:
  • install plugins that are part of the RetroArcher.plugins repo
  • uninstall any installed plugins
  • for installed plugins, load a configuration UI (html) page associated with that plugin
• for each folder in plugin directory, import the plugin... each plugin's main file will probably need to be named __init__.py
• if the plugin was imported successfully, list the plugin in the plugins menu/page

[ReenigneArcher]

Here's a preview of the in process plugin management page.

Plugins to be installed to the plugins folder within the RetroArcher root directory.

Idea for structure of a plugin:

└───example-plugin
    │   manifest.xml
    │
    ├───bin
    ├───code
    │       requirements.txt
    │       __init__.py
    │
    ├───html
    │       config.html
    │       index.html
    │
    ├───lib
    └───resources
        ├───css
        ├───fonts
        ├───images
        │       background.png
        │       icon.png
        │
        └───js

Milestones:

• [ ] Install plugins using git
• [ ] Check plugins for updates using git
• [ ] Define requirements for plugins
• [ ] Document plugins

[github-actions[bot]]

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