openproject/doc/DEVELOP_PLUGINS.md

Developing OpenProject Plugins

The core functionality of OpenProject may be extended through the use of plugins.

Rails/backend plugins

Plugins that extend the Rails application are packaged as Ruby gems. These plugins must contain a Gem::Specification (typically as a .gemspec file in the root directory of the plugin).

To use a Rails plugin

• declare the dependency in Gemfile.plugins within the :opf_plugins group using the Bundler DSL.

  Example:

  group :opf_plugins do
    gem :openproject_costs, git: 'https://github.com/finnlabs/openproject-backlogs.git', branch: 'dev'
  end
  

• run bundle install.

Frontend plugins [WIP]

Plugins that extend the frontend application may be packaged as npm modules. These plugins must contain a package.json in the root directory of the plugin.

Plugins are responsible for loading their own assets, including additional images, styles and I18n translations.

To load translation strings use the provided I18n.addTranslation function:

```js
I18n.addTranslations('en', require('../../config/locales/js-en.yml').en);
```

Pure frontend plugins should be considered a work in progress. As such, it is currently recommended to create hybrid plugins (see below).

To use a frontend plugin:

• You will currently need to modify the package.json of OpenProject core directly. A more robust solution is currently in planning.

Hybrid plugins

Plugins that extend both the Rails and frontend applications are possible. They must contain both a Gem::Specification and package.json.

CAVEAT: npm dependencies for hybrid plugins are not yet resolved.

To use a hybrid plugin:

• declare the dependency in Gemfile.plugins within the :opf_plugins group using the Bundler DSL.

• then run bundle install.

You do not need to modify the package.json of OpenProject core. Provided Ruby Bundler is aware of these plugins, Webpack (our node-based build pipeline) will bundle their assets.