Plugin Registry Design

The plugin registry is the marketplace where plugins are published, discovered, installed, and updated. A well-designed registry makes it easy to find the right plugin and hard to install a bad one. The registry stores: the plugin manifest, the plugin code (or a reference to it), version history, compatibility metadata, usage statistics, and review/rating information.

The registry has three access tiers. Public: plugins reviewed and approved by the registry maintainers. Available to all users. Verified: plugins that pass automated security and compatibility checks but have not been manually reviewed. Available with a warning. Unverified: plugins submitted but not yet checked. Available only for development and testing, never for production. The tier system creates a trust gradient — users can install public plugins with confidence, verified plugins with caution, and unverified plugins only in sandboxed test environments.

1. 1. Define Submission Requirements Every submission includes: valid manifest, source code or compiled package, documentation (purpose, usage, configuration), test suite with coverage report, and a compatibility declaration (which framework versions are supported).
2. 2. Automate Security Checks Run automated checks on every submission: dependency vulnerability scan, permission scope review (does it request more permissions than its functionality requires?), and sandbox execution test (does it run without errors in the sandbox?).
3. 3. Implement Version Management The registry stores all versions of every plugin. Users can pin to a specific version. Updates are available but never forced. Deprecated versions are flagged but remain installable for backward compatibility.