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Plugin structure

When creating a plugin with the CLI generator, Strapi generates the following boilerplate structure for you in the ./src/plugins/my-plugin folder:

The following diagram is interactive: you can click on any file or folder name highlighted in purple to go to the corresponding documentation section.

. # root of the plugin folder (e.g., /src/plugins/my-plugin)
├── admin # Admin panel part of your plugin.
│ └── src
│ ├── components # Contains your front-end components
│ │ ├── Initializer
│ │ │ └── index.js # Plugin initializer
│ │ └── PluginIcon
│ │ └── index.js # Contains the icon of your plugin in the main navigation
│ ├── pages # Contains the pages of your plugin
│ │ ├── App
│ │ │ └── index.js # Skeleton around the actual pages
│ │ └── HomePage
│ │ └── index.js # Homepage of your plugin
│ ├── translations # Translations files to make your plugin i18n-friendly
│ │ ├── en.json
│ │ └── fr.json
│ └── utils
│ │ └── getTrad.js # getTrad function to return the corresponding plugin translations
│ ├── index.js # Main setup of your plugin, used to register elements in the admin panel
│ └── pluginId.js # pluginId variable computed from package.json name
├── node_modules
├── server # Back-end part of your plugin
│ ├── config
│ │ └── index.js # Contains the default server configuration
│ ├── content-types # Content-types specific to your plugin
│ │ └── index.js # Loads all the plugin's content-types
│ ├── controllers # Controllers specific to your plugin
│ │ ├── index.js # Loads all the plugin's controllers
│ │ └── my-controller.js # Custom controller example. You can rename it or delete it.
│ ├── middlewares # Middlewares specific to your plugin
│ │ └── index.js # Loads all the plugin's middlewares
│ ├── policies # Policies specific to your plugin
│ │ └── index.js # Loads all the plugin's policies
│ ├── routes # Routes specific to your plugin
│ │ └── index.js # Contains an example route for the my-controller custom controller example
│ └── services # Services specific to your plugin
│ │ ├── index.js # Loads all the plugin's services
│ │ └── my-service.js # Custom service example. You can rename it or delete it.
│ ├── bootstrap.js # Function that is called right after the plugin has registered
│ ├── destroy.js # Function that is called to clean up the plugin after Strapi instance is destroyed
│ ├── index.js # Loads the code for all the server elements
│ └── register.js # Function that is called to load the plugin, before bootstrap.
├── package.json
├── README.md
├── strapi-admin.js # Entrypoint for the admin panel (front end)
└── strapi-server.js # Entrypoint for the server (back end)

A Strapi plugin is divided into 2 parts, each living in a different folder and offering a different API:

Plugin partDescriptionFolderAPI
Admin panelIncludes what will be visible in the admin panel (components, navigation, settings, etc.)/adminAdmin Panel API
Backend serverIncludes what relates to the backend server (content-types, controllers, middlewares, etc.)/serverServer API

✏️ Notes about the usefulness of the different parts for your specific use case
  • Server-only plugin: You can create a plugin that will just use the server part to enhance the API of your application. For instance, this plugin could have its own visible or invisible content-types, controller actions, and routes that are useful for a specific use case. In such a scenario, you don't need your plugin to have an interface in the admin panel.

  • Admin panel plugin vs. application-specific customization: You can create a plugin to inject some components into the admin panel. However, you can also achieve this by creating a ./src/admin/app.js file and invoking the bootstrap lifecycle function to inject your components. In this case, deciding whether to create a plugin depends on whether you plan to reuse and distribute the code or if it's only useful for a unique Strapi application.


🤓 What to read next?

The next steps of your Strapi plugin development journey will require you to use any of the Strapi plugins APIs.

2 different types of resources help you understand how to use the plugin APIs:

  • The reference documentation for the Admin Panel API and Server API give an overview of what is possible to do with a Strapi plugin.
  • Guides cover some specific, use-case based examples.