Plugin manifest¶

A plugin manifest declares a module's identity, its dependencies, where its binary is, and which SDK it was built against. It is the file the toolchain and the engine both read to decide what a module is.

One extension, *.nosplugin, covers both plugins and subsystems. A folder containing exactly one .nosplugin is treated as a plugin target by the toolchain, which scans Module/ (or MODULE_DIRS) recursively.

Minimal manifest¶

{
    "info": {
        "id": {
            "name": "mycorp.myplugin",
            "version": "0.1.0"
        },
        "display_name": "My Plugin",
        "description": "",
        "dependencies": []
    },
    "sdk_version": "41.0"
}

Complete example¶

Vulkan.nosplugin

{
    "info": {
        "id": {
            "name": "nos.sys.vulkan",
            "version": "8.0.0"
        },
        "display_name": "Vulkan Subsystem",
        "description": "Graphics Subsystem for Nodos using Vulkan.",
        "dependencies": [
            { "name": "nos.sys.shaderc", "version": "2.1" },
            { "name": "nos.sys.settings", "version": "3.0" },
            { "name": "nos.sys.device",   "version": "2.0" },
            { "name": "nos.transfer",     "version": "0.1" }
        ],
        "category": "Graphics"
    },
    "defaults": [
        "Types/Defaults.json"
    ],
    "binary_path": "Binaries/nosSysVulkan",
    "third_party_software": ["Config/Licenses.json"],
    "sdk_version": "41.0",
    "schema_version": "1.4-v1"
}

Fields¶

`info`¶

info.id.name — string, required: Globally unique package name. Dotted namespace convention: <namespace>.<module>, e.g. nos.sys.vulkan. This is the name used by nodos install and in other modules' dependencies.
info.id.version — string, required: Semantic version of this module. This is the version that gets published. Bump the major component on any API break.
info.display_name — string: Human-readable name shown in the editor.
info.description — string: Short description.
info.dependencies — array: Modules this one requires. Each entry is { "name": ..., "version": ... }. The version is a minimum within its minor line, matching nodos install semantics. Resolved by the toolchain at generation time and by the engine at load time — a module whose hard dependencies cannot be satisfied does not load.
info.category — string: Category used to group the module in the editor.

Top level¶

binary_path — string: Path to the compiled binary, relative to the manifest, without a platform extension. The engine appends .dll, .so or .dylib. Omit for modules with no compiled code, such as shader-only node plugins.
sdk_version — string, required: Plugin SDK version this module targets, e.g. "41.0". Determines which SDK the toolchain fetches and generates a target against. This is what marks a manifest as belonging to the 1.4 line.
schema_version — string: Manifest schema version, e.g. "1.4-v1".
defaults — array of strings: Paths to JSON files providing default pin values for the module's types.
custom_types — array of strings: Paths to .fbs FlatBuffers schemas. The toolchain runs flatc over these and generates headers into Include/<PluginName>. A Types/ folder is picked up without listing it here.
third_party_software — array of strings: Paths to JSON files declaring third-party licence information.

Plugin folder layout¶

mycorp.myplugin/
├── mycorp.myplugin.nosplugin
├── Binaries/                    # build output; binary_path points here
├── Include/
│   └── mycorpMyplugin/          # public headers, including the plugin's API header
├── Nodes/                       # *.nosnode definitions, auto-discovered
├── Source/                      # C++ implementation; globbed recursively
├── Types/                       # *.fbs schemas
├── Shaders/                     # by convention
├── Tests/                       # graph files run by `nodos test`
├── .nospub                      # optional; limits what `nodos publish` uploads
└── CMakeLists.txt               # optional; additive to the generated target

Source/ is globbed recursively with CONFIGURE_DEPENDS, so adding a .cpp needs no build file change.