Manifest: plugin.json

Every plugin has a plugin.json file at the root of its zip. It tells Acode and the plugin store who your plugin is, which file to run, and which files to ship.

Quick reference

Field	Type	Required	Summary
id	string	Yes	Unique plugin identifier.
name	string	Yes	Display name.
version	string	Yes	Version of this release.
main	string	Yes	Path of the script Acode runs.
minVersionCode	number	Recommended	Oldest Acode build that can run it.
author	object	Recommended	Who made the plugin.
readme	string	Recommended	Path of the store description.
icon	string	Recommended	Path of the store icon.
files	string[]	No	Extra files to include.
dependencies	string[]	No	Plugins to install first.
price	number	No	Price in INR. 0 is free.
license	string	No	License name.
keywords	string[]	No	Search terms.
changelogs	string	No	Path of the changelog.
contributors	object[]	No	People who contributed.
repository	string	No	Source code URL (free plugins only).

Example

{
  "id": "com.example.plugin",
  "name": "Example Plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "main": "main.js",
  "readme": "readme.md",
  "icon": "icon.png",
  "files": ["worker.js"],
  "minVersionCode": 292,
  "price": 0,
  "license": "MIT",
  "keywords": ["example", "starter"],
  "changelogs": "changelogs.md",
  "author": {
    "name": "Example Author",
    "email": "example@email.com",
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "github": "example"
  }
}

Required fields

id

Unique identifier of the plugin. The reverse-domain style (com.example.plugin) is recommended because it avoids clashes, but any unique string works.

This is the same id you pass to acode.setPluginInit and acode.setPluginUnmount.

WARNING

Changing the id creates a different plugin. Users of the old one will not receive it as an update.

name

Display name shown in the plugin list and store.

version

Version of this release, for example 1.2.0. Acode compares this with the store's version to decide whether an update is available, so increase it for every release.

main

Path, inside the zip, of the script Acode loads when the plugin starts. This is usually your bundled output (for example dist/main.js). See Core File for what it must contain.

Recommended fields

author

An object describing the author.

Key	Description
name	Author name.
email	Contact email.
url	Website.
github	GitHub username.

minVersionCode

The oldest Acode version code that can run the plugin. Older builds do not offer it.

Use the version code of the newest API your plugin needs. If it uses nothing recent, 290 is a safe floor because the field itself was introduced then. Pages in these docs mark newer APIs with badges such as v954+; use that number.

readme

Path of a Markdown file shown as the plugin's description in the store.

icon

Path of a PNG shown as the plugin's icon.

INFO

The icon must be 50 KB or smaller.

Optional fields

files

Extra files your plugin needs at runtime besides main, readme and icon: for example a web worker, fonts or images. When building with the official templates, list each extra file here so the pack-zip script includes it in the zip; then load it through baseUrl. Acode itself does not use this field to package files.

"files": ["worker.js", "fonts/Mono.woff2", "images/logo.png"]

dependencies

Ids of other plugins that must be installed first.

"dependencies": ["com.example.core", "com.example.themes"]

When a user installs your plugin, Acode looks each id up in the store, lists the ones that are missing or outdated, and asks for confirmation. If the user agrees, they are installed before your plugin. Dependencies of dependencies are resolved too.

WARNING

Installation fails if an id does not exist in the store. Use exact ids of published plugins.

price

Price in Indian Rupees (INR). 0 or omitted means free. The allowed range is 0 to 10,000.

license

Name of the license, for example MIT or GPL-3.0.

keywords

Search terms that help people find the plugin.

changelogs

Path of a Markdown changelog.

WARNING

When building with the official templates, list this file in files or the pack-zip script will not include it in the zip.

contributors

People who helped build the plugin. Each entry needs:

Key	Description
name	Contributor's name.
role	What they did.
github	GitHub username.

repository

URL of the source code on GitHub or GitLab. Only available for free plugins.

How Acode reads the file

When installing, Acode checks the manifest against the zip:

• plugin.json must exist at the root of the zip, or the plugin is rejected as invalid.
• If main is missing or points to a file that is not in the zip, Acode falls back to main.js. If that is missing too, installation fails.
• If icon or readme is missing or does not exist in the zip, Acode falls back to icon.png and readme.md.

So a typo in main does not always fail loudly. Check that the path matches a real file.

Publishing updates

1. Increase version.
2. Make your changes, including any to name, icon, readme or price.
3. Build a new zip that contains the updated plugin.json, and upload it. You can also publish it from CI when price is unchanged; price changes must be uploaded on the website.

Related

• Core File
• Create a plugin