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Publishing Plugins

Beta Feature

The plugin system is in beta (available in Beekeeper Studio 5.3+). Things might change, but we'd love your feedback!

Publishing Process

1. Create a GitHub Repository

Create a public GitHub repository. It should contain at least a README.md file.

2. Create a GitHub Release

Version Matching

Make sure your git tag version matches the version in your manifest.json file. For example, if your manifest shows "version": "1.0.0", use tag v1.0.0.

Using the Starter Template

If you created your project using our starter template, you already have a GitHub workflow that automates this process! Simply create and push a semver tag with "v" prefix:

git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0

The workflow will automatically:
- Build your plugin
- Create the ZIP file
- Generate a draft release with the required assets

Publish the Draft

The workflow creates a draft release. You still need to go to GitHub, review the draft, and click "Publish release" to make it public and mark it as the latest release.

Manual Release Process

If you're not using the starter template, create a latest release manually with a semver tag prefixed with "v" (e.g., v1.0.0) and two required assets:

  1. manifest.json - Your plugin manifest file
  2. {pluginId}-{version}.zip - ZIP file containing all plugin files

For example, a plugin with:
- Plugin ID: my-awesome-plugin
- Version: 1.0.0 (in manifest.json)
- Git tag: v1.0.0 (must match manifest version)

Your release must include:
- manifest.json
- my-awesome-plugin-1.0.0.zip

Real Example

See the AI Shell repository for a working example.

3. Submit to Plugin Registry

  1. Fork the registry repository: beekeeper-studio-plugins

  2. Edit plugins.json and add your plugin entry:

    [
      {
        // Other plugins...
      },
    + {
    +   "id": "my-awesome-plugin",
    +   "name": "My Awesome Plugin",
    +   "author": "Your Name",
    +   "description": "Brief description of what your plugin does",
    +   "repo": "yourusername/my-awesome-plugin"
    + }
    ]
    

  3. Create a pull request with your changes

4. Review and Approval

Once you submit your PR:

  1. Review process - The maintainers will review your plugin for quality and security
  2. Approval and merge - After approval, your PR will be merged
  3. Public availability - Your plugin becomes available in the Beekeeper Studio Plugin Manager

Users can then discover and install your plugin directly from within Beekeeper Studio! 🎉