Tabularis Plugin Registry

This directory contains the official plugin registry and documentation for the Tabularis external plugin system.

Directory Contents

plugins/
├── registry.json     # Official plugin registry (fetched by the app at runtime)
├── README.md         # This file
└── PLUGIN_GUIDE.md   # Developer guide for building a plugin

Plugin System Overview

Tabularis supports extending its database support via an external plugin system. Plugins are standalone executables that communicate with the app through JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdin/stdout. They can be written in any programming language and distributed independently of the main application.

Built-in drivers (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite) are compiled into the binary. All additional databases (DuckDB, MongoDB, etc.) are supported through plugins.

How It Works

1. At startup, Tabularis scans the user's plugins directory for subdirectories containing a manifest.json.
2. For each valid plugin, it creates an RPC bridge to the plugin executable and registers it as a driver.
3. When the user connects to a database using a plugin driver, Tabularis spawns the executable and routes all requests through JSON-RPC.
4. Plugins can be installed, updated, and uninstalled from Settings → Available Plugins without restarting the app.

Plugin Installation Directory

OS	Path
Linux	~/.local/share/tabularis/plugins/
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/com.debba.tabularis/plugins/
Windows	%APPDATA%\com.debba.tabularis\plugins\

Each plugin lives in its own subdirectory:

plugins/
└── duckdb/
    ├── manifest.json
    └── duckdb-plugin-executable

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registry.json Format

The registry file is fetched from this repository by the app to display available plugins in the Settings UI.

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "plugins": [
    {
      "id": "duckdb",
      "name": "DuckDB",
      "description": "DuckDB local analytical database",
      "author": "Author Name <https://github.com/author>",
      "homepage": "https://github.com/author/repo",
      "latest_version": "1.1.0",
      "releases": [
        {
          "version": "1.0.0",
          "min_tabularis_version": "0.8.15",
          "assets": {
            "linux-x64": "https://example.com/plugin-linux-x64-1.0.0.zip",
            "darwin-arm64": "https://example.com/plugin-darwin-arm64-1.0.0.zip",
            "darwin-x64": "https://example.com/plugin-darwin-x64-1.0.0.zip",
            "win-x64": "https://example.com/plugin-win-x64-1.0.0.zip"
          }
        },
        {
          "version": "1.1.0",
          "min_tabularis_version": "0.9.0",
          "assets": {
            "linux-x64": "https://example.com/plugin-linux-x64-1.1.0.zip",
            "darwin-arm64": "https://example.com/plugin-darwin-arm64-1.1.0.zip",
            "darwin-x64": "https://example.com/plugin-darwin-x64-1.1.0.zip",
            "win-x64": "https://example.com/plugin-win-x64-1.1.0.zip"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Fields

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Unique driver identifier, must match the id in manifest.json
name	string	Display name shown in the UI
description	string	Short description shown in the plugins list
author	string	Author name and URL in the format "Name <https://url>"
homepage	string	URL to the plugin repository or documentation
latest_version	string	Latest released version (semver)
releases[].version	string	Version string for this release
releases[].min_tabularis_version	string	Minimum app version required for this specific release
releases[].assets	object	Map of platform key → ZIP download URL

Platform Keys

Key	Platform
linux-x64	Linux x86-64
darwin-arm64	macOS Apple Silicon
darwin-x64	macOS Intel
win-x64	Windows x86-64

Omit a platform key if your plugin does not support that platform. The app will show a "not supported" message for that platform.

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Publishing a Plugin

To add your plugin to the official registry:

1. Build and release your plugin as a .zip file for each supported platform. The ZIP must extract to a directory containing manifest.json and the executable.
2. Host the release assets (e.g., GitHub Releases).
3. Open a pull request adding your plugin entry to registry.json.
4. Ensure your manifest.json matches the format described in PLUGIN_GUIDE.md.

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Available Plugins

The full list is maintained in registry.json.

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Development Resources

• PLUGIN_GUIDE.md — Complete guide for implementing a plugin executable
• Driver Trait — Rust trait all drivers implement
• RPC Protocol — JSON-RPC types used for communication