Plugin quickstart

For Paseo v0.7.x. This is the current stable plugin API.

Experimental: The plugin API is still evolving, so expect breaking changes and updates to your plugins as Paseo evolves.

See the plugin roadmap for planned contribution surfaces and their current status.

Paseo plugins add native workspace panels, composer pills, Command Center items, global surfaces, app themes, daemon behavior, and composer attachment sources. They run on every Paseo client connected to the host, including mobile.

Trust every plugin you add. paseo plugin add and paseo plugin install mean “I trust this codebase.” Server code and Git preparation commands run unsandboxed with the daemon user's access on the daemon host; client contributions run inside Paseo. Dependencies and future updates are part of that decision. With --host, commands run on the remote daemon host.

On the target host, open Settings → Plugins and turn on Enable plugins. This is the global switch for every configured plugin on that daemon.

You can also change the root pluginsEnabled field in the daemon's config.json, then apply it without restarting:

paseo reload --json

Enabling starts configured plugins; disabling tears them down. Automation must inspect the current value first and obtain your explicit permission before changing a disabled or omitted value to true.

Create a plugin

Use an absolute path on the daemon machine:

paseo plugin init /absolute/path/to/workspace-plugin
cd /absolute/path/to/workspace-plugin
npm install

init creates a strict TypeScript project. It does not run the package manager. npm install installs development dependencies for local typechecking and tests. Paseo supplies the plugin SDK, React, React Native, TanStack Query, and Zod at runtime; plugins do not need a build hook for these modules. index.ts registers contributions; client UI lives in *.client.tsx files.

Plugins run on desktop, browser, iOS, and Android. Paseo ships several themes. Color every Text from theme.colors.foreground or theme.colors.foregroundMuted, and size layout from layout.compact. Hardcoded black text fails in dark themes.

Replace main.client.tsx with:

import { type PluginWorkspacePanelProps, useWorkspace } from "@getpaseo/plugin";
import { useMemo } from "react";
import { Text, View } from "react-native";

export function WorkspaceOverview({ theme, layout, workspaceId }: PluginWorkspacePanelProps) {
  const workspace = useWorkspace(workspaceId, ({ name, directory }) => ({
    name,
    directory,
  }));
  const styles = useMemo(
    () => ({
      screen: {
        flex: 1,
        padding: layout.compact ? 16 : 24,
        gap: layout.compact ? 8 : 12,
        backgroundColor: theme.colors.surface0,
      },
      title: { color: theme.colors.foreground, fontSize: layout.compact ? 20 : 24 },
      label: { color: theme.colors.foregroundMuted },
      detail: { color: theme.colors.foreground },
    }),
    [theme, layout.compact],
  );

  return (
    <View style={styles.screen}>
      <Text style={styles.title}>{workspace?.name}</Text>
      <Text style={styles.label}>Directory</Text>
      <Text style={styles.detail}>{workspace?.directory}</Text>
    </View>
  );
}

Replace index.ts with:

import type { PluginContext } from "@getpaseo/plugin";
import { WorkspaceOverview } from "./main.client";

export default function contribute(plugin: PluginContext) {
  plugin.addWorkspacePanel({
    id: "overview",
    title: "Workspace overview",
    icon: "PanelsTopLeft",
    context: "workspace",
    locations: ["workspace", "explorer"],
    Component: WorkspaceOverview,
  });
  plugin.addCommandCenterItem({
    id: "open-overview",
    title: "Open workspace overview",
    icon: "PanelsTopLeft",
    context: "workspace",
    onSelect({ openPanel }) {
      openPanel("overview");
    },
  });
  return () => {};
}

The icon is a Lucide icon name. *.client.tsx files can use React Native runtime APIs; Paseo excludes them from the daemon bundle. Panel props contain stable IDs; useWorkspace selects the cached fields the component needs without fetching through RPC or re-rendering for unrelated workspace changes. See Theme and layout for the required tokens.

Check and install it

npm run typecheck
paseo plugin install /absolute/path/to/workspace-plugin
paseo plugin ls

Open a workspace, press ⌘K on macOS or Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux, and choose Open workspace overview. It opens as a normal workspace tab. If the item does not appear, confirm that Enable plugins is on, the plugin status is running in paseo plugin ls, and the client is viewing the host where you installed it.

To install a plugin published through GitHub or another Git host:

paseo plugin add owner/repository
paseo plugin add https://gitlab.com/group/repository.git
paseo plugin add https://git.example.com/owner/repository.git
paseo plugin add owner/monorepo:plugins/workspace
paseo plugin add owner/repository --ref main

Append :relative/path to the source when the plugin lives below the repository root.

An omitted --ref tracks the default branch. Explicit branches track updates; tags and commits are pinned. Apply updates with:

paseo plugin update workspace-plugin
paseo plugin update --all

Most plugins should omit build. Paseo compiles TypeScript and TSX and supplies its runtime modules. Declare preparation only when the staged checkout must install another dependency, generate source, or perform another required build step:

{
  "id": "workspace-plugin",
  "build": [
    ["npm", "ci"],
    ["npm", "run", "build"]
  ]
}

Each build entry is a non-empty argv array, executed directly without a shell from the staged plugin directory. Paseo never chooses a package manager or infers commands from lockfiles. On install and update it resolves the exact commit, runs these commands, then validates, compiles, and activates the candidate. A failed command discards the candidate and keeps the installed/running version. The daemon log records the exact argv and output; --host runs them on the remote daemon host.

Edit and reload

Source changes are explicit:

npm run typecheck
paseo plugin reload workspace-plugin

A reload stops the old plugin, runs its cleanup, compiles the current source, and starts it again. A failed reload stays failed and reports its load error; fix the source and reload again.

Debug backend output

Use normal Node logging in daemon-side handlers and cleanup:

console.log("Refreshing issues");
console.error("Issue refresh failed", error);

Read recent stdout and stderr from Settings → Plugins → Logs or the CLI:

paseo plugin logs workspace-plugin
paseo plugin logs workspace-plugin --json

The log tail includes [paseo] loading, ready, stopping, and stopped entries, plus compilation and load failures. It survives reloads and crashes. Inspect it when a plugin fails to start or an RPC rejects. See Debug backend output for retention and security behavior.

Plugin reference, add daemon behavior, use the Paseo SDK, contribute themes and attachments, and manage lifecycle.
TypeScript SDK, the workspace, agent, provider, and config API exposed inside plugins.

#Plugin quickstart

#Create a plugin

#Check and install it

#Edit and reload

#Debug backend output

#Next

Plugin quickstart

Create a plugin

Check and install it

Edit and reload

Debug backend output

Next