Plugin Runtime

Plugins are executable processes. Glade installs them, checks their manifests, writes lock files, and invokes their commands.

Keep plugin authoring in the maintainer guide. User docs show first-party install and lock-file flows; maintainer docs own the executable and archive contracts.

Runtime contract

Each plugin executable must answer:

plugin-name manifest --json

The manifest declares commands, arguments, environment needs, and package metadata. Glade validates the manifest before it exposes commands.

Local proof

Use a linked executable while developing a first-party plugin:

glade plugins link --exec ./glade-plugin-compat
glade plugins lock --include-linked

Use registry or archive installs for team and CI lock files.