remote-plugins.md

Remote plugin download & installation system

This document describes the design and implementation plan for the remote plugin download and installation system, which allows users to install, update, and uninstall plugins from a central registry hosted at cli.datarobot.com/plugins/index.json.

Overview

The system enables:

• Downloading and installing versioned plugins from a remote registry
• Semver-based version constraints (exact, caret, tilde, range)
• Platform-agnostic plugin packages containing both Posix and Windows scripts
• Python-based plugins wrapped in shell scripts using uv run

Architecture

Plugin Registry (index.json)

A minimal JSON schema pointing to plugin archives:

{
  "version": "1",
  "plugins": {
    "assist": {
      "name": "assist",
      "description": "AI agent design, coding, and deployment assistant",
      "versions": [
        {
          "version": "0.1.6",
          "url": "assist/assist-0.1.6.tar.xz",
          "sha256": "...",
          "releaseDate": "2026-02-11"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Note: URLs can be relative (e.g., assist/assist-0.1.6.tar.xz) or absolute (e.g., https://example.com/plugins/assist-0.1.6.tar.xz). Relative URLs are resolved against the base URL of the registry. This enables the same registry to work with both local development servers and production CDNs.

Plugin package structure

Each .tar.xz archive contains:

manifest.json          # Plugin metadata and platform script mappings
scripts/
  dr-<name>.sh         # Posix wrapper script
  dr-<name>.ps1        # Windows PowerShell script

Manifest schema

The manifest.json inside each package defines platform-specific executables:

{
  "name": "assist",
  "version": "0.1.6",
  "description": "AI agent design, coding, and deployment assistant",
  "minCLIVersion": "0.2.0",
  "scripts": {
    "posix": "scripts/dr-assist.sh",
    "windows": "scripts/dr-assist.ps1"
  }
}

Implementation steps

1. Create plugin registry schema

• Add docs/plugins/index.json with minimal schema
• Support plugin names, semver versions, descriptions, and download URLs
• Include SHA256 checksums per artifact for verification

2. Build plugin package

• Create wrapper scripts:
  • dr-<name>.sh (Posix): Executes uv run --with <package> <command> "$@"
  • dr-<name>.ps1 (Windows): PowerShell equivalent
• Package with manifest.json defining platform script mappings
• Create .tar.xz archive and publish to docs/plugins/<plugin>/

3. Implement plugin install command

• Create cmd/plugin/install/cmd.go
• Fetch registry (index.json) from remote URL
• Parse semver constraints using version comparison logic
• Select appropriate platform (windows vs posix)
• Download and verify SHA256 checksums
• Extract to ~/.config/datarobot/plugins/<name>/
• Make scripts executable
• Persist installation metadata in .installed.json

4. Update plugin discovery

• Modify internal/plugin/discover.go
• Search ~/.config/datarobot/plugins/ first (higher priority than PATH)
• Scan subdirectories for manifest.json
• Resolve platform-specific executable from manifest's scripts field
• Maintain backward compatibility with PATH-based plugins

5. Add update/uninstall commands

• Create cmd/plugin/update/cmd.go:
  • Compare installed vs available versions
  • Re-download and reinstall if newer version exists
  • Support --all flag for bulk updates
• Create cmd/plugin/uninstall/cmd.go:
  • Remove plugin directory from managed plugins
  • Clean up installation metadata

Semver support

Version constraints supported:

• Exact: 1.2.3 - Match exactly this version
• Caret: ^1.2.3 - Any version compatible with major (1.x.x >= 1.2.3)
• Tilde: ~1.2.3 - Any version compatible with minor (1.2.x >= 1.2.3)
• Range: >=1.0.0 - Any version at or above
• Latest: latest or empty - Most recent version

Directory structure

~/.config/datarobot/
  plugins/
    assist/                  # Managed plugin directory
      manifest.json          # Plugin manifest
      .installed.json        # Installation metadata
      scripts/
        dr-assist.sh
        dr-assist.ps1

Plugin execution

When a managed plugin is invoked:

1. Discovery finds the plugin in ~/.config/datarobot/plugins/
2. Platform-specific script is resolved from manifest.json
3. On Posix: Execute .sh script with bash
4. On Windows: Execute .ps1 script with PowerShell

Python plugin pattern

For Python-based plugins, wrapper scripts use uv for dependency management:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
exec uv run --with drapps drapps "$@"

This pattern:

• Eliminates bundling Python dependencies
• Leverages uv's fast package resolution
• Works in air-gapped environments when pre-cached

Files created

File	Purpose
docs/plugins/index.json	Remote plugin registry
cmd/plugin/install/cmd.go	Install command
cmd/plugin/uninstall/cmd.go	Uninstall command
cmd/plugin/update/cmd.go	Update command
internal/plugin/remote.go	Remote fetch & install logic
internal/plugin/types.go	Extended type definitions
cmd/self/plugin/package/cmd.go	Package command
cmd/self/plugin/add/cmd.go	Add to registry command
cmd/self/plugin/publish/cmd.go	Publish command (all-in-one)

Files modified

File	Changes
cmd/plugin/cmd.go	Register new subcommands
internal/plugin/discover.go	Scan managed plugins directory
internal/repo/paths.go	Added ManagedPluginsDir()

Usage examples

# List available plugins from registry
dr plugin install --list
dr plugin install --list --registry-url http://127.0.0.1:8000/cli/dev-docs/plugins

# Install a plugin
dr plugin install assist
dr plugin install assist --version 0.1.6
dr plugin install assist --version "^0.1.0"
dr plugin install assist --registry-url http://127.0.0.1:8000/cli/dev-docs/plugins

# Update plugins
dr plugin update assist
dr plugin update --all

# Uninstall a plugin
dr plugin uninstall assist

# List installed plugins
dr plugin list

Future considerations

1. UV prerequisite checking: Add uv to prerequisites validation
2. Plugin update notifications: Show "(update available)" in dr plugin list
3. GitHub Actions automation: Automate plugin publishing workflow
4. Code signing: Add verification for macOS/Windows binaries