wails/v3/internal/plugins/template/NEXT STEPS.md

Next Steps

Congratulations on generating a plugin. This guide will help you author your plugin and provide some tips on how to get started.

Plugin Structure

The plugin is a standard Go module that adheres to the following interface:

type Plugin interface {
	Name() string
	Init(app *App) error
	Shutdown()
}

The Name() method returns the name of the plugin. It should follow the Go module naming convention and have a prefix of wails-plugin-, e.g. github.com/myuser/wails-plugin-example.

The Init() method is called when the plugin is loaded. The App parameter is a pointer to the main application struct. This may be used for showing dialogs, listening for events or even opening new windows. The Init() method should return an error if it fails to initialise. This method is called synchronously so the application will not start until it returns.

The Shutdown() method is called when the application is shutting down. This is a good place to perform any cleanup. This method is called synchronously so the application will not exit completely until it returns.

Plugin Directory Structure

The plugin directory structure is as follows:

plugin-name
├── models.d.ts
├── plugin.js
├── plugin.go
├── README.md
├── go.mod
├── go.sum
└── plugin.toml

plugin.go

This file contains the plugin code. It should contain a struct that implements the Plugin interface and a NewPlugin() method that returns a pointer to the struct. Methods are exported by capitalising the first letter of the method name. These methods may be called from the frontend. If methods accept or return structs, these structs must be exported.

plugin.js

This file should contain any JavaScript code that may help developers use the plugin. In the example plugin, this file contains function wrappers for the plugin methods. It's good to include JSDocs as that will help developers using your plugin.

models.d.ts

This file should contain TypeScript definitions for any structs that are passed or returned from the plugin. `

plugin.toml

This file contains the plugin metadata. It is important to fill this out correctly as it will be used by the Wails CLI.

README.md

This file should contain a description of the plugin and how to use it. It should also contain a link to the plugin repository and how to report bugs.

go.mod and go.sum

These are standard Go module files. The package name in go.mod should match the name of the plugin, e.g. github.com/myuser/wails-plugin-example.

Promoting your Plugin

Once you have created your plugin, you should promote it on the Wails Discord server in the #plugins channel. You should also open a PR to promote your plugin on the Wails website. Update the website/content/plugins.md file and add your plugin to the list.