🌟 Creating Plugins

Developing a Robo plugin works in the same way as developing features for a Robo.

To create a new plugin project, run the following command:

Terminal

npx create-robo your-awesome-robo-plugin --plugin

🔑 Make sure to include the --plugin flag, as it's essential for creating a new Plugin project.

Testing Your Plugin 🧪

To test your plugin during development, you can install it from your local directory in a test Robo project. First, navigate to your test Robo project's directory and run the following command:

Terminal

npx robo add /path/to/your-awesome-robo-plugin

Heads up: On Windows, the path may look like this instead: C:\path\to\your-awesome-robo-plugin

Replace /path/to/your-awesome-robo-plugin with the actual path to your plugin's directory. Remember to build your plugin between changes using the robo build plugin command.

You can use the --watch flag to automatically rebuild your plugin when changes are detected. This is the recommended way to develop your plugin, as it provides a smoother development experience. If your test Robo is also running in dev mode, it will auto-reload when your plugin is rebuilt.

Terminal

npx robo build plugin --watch

Building the Plugin 🔨

Robo comes with a built-in compiler to help you package your plugin for distribution. To build your plugin, run the following command:

Terminal

npx robo build plugin

This will compile your plugin and prepare it for publishing to NPM.

Publishing to NPM 📦

Once you've built your plugin using robo build plugin, you're ready to publish it to NPM. Make sure you've set up your NPM account and are logged in through the CLI.

Run the following command to publish your plugin:

Terminal

npm publish

🎉 Congratulations! Your plugin is now available on NPM for other Robo.js users to install and enjoy.

info

Remember to keep sensitive information out of your plugin. Avoid including any .env files or similar data that should not be shared with other users.