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Plugin management

AppKit includes a CLI for managing plugins. All commands are available under npx @databricks/appkit plugin.

Manifest convention: manifest.json is the default and recommended format for CLI commands (sync, list, validate). For zero-trust safety, JS manifests (manifest.js/manifest.cjs) are ignored unless you pass --allow-js-manifest, which executes plugin code and should be used only with trusted sources. The add-resource command only edits manifest.json in place.

Create a plugin​

Scaffold a new plugin interactively:

npx @databricks/appkit plugin create

The wizard walks you through:

  • Placement: In your repository (e.g. plugins/my-plugin) or as a standalone package
  • Metadata: Name, display name, description
  • Resources: Which Databricks resources the plugin needs (SQL Warehouse, Secret, etc.) and whether each is required or optional
  • Optional fields: Author, version, license

The command generates a complete plugin scaffold with manifest.json and a TypeScript plugin class that imports the manifest directly — ready to register in your app.

Sync plugin manifests​

Scan your project for plugins and generate appkit.plugins.json:

npx @databricks/appkit plugin sync --write

This discovers plugin manifests from installed packages and local imports, then writes a consolidated manifest used by deployment tooling. Plugins referenced in your createApp({ plugins: [...] }) call are automatically marked as required.

Trusted installed Databricks packages (for example @databricks/appkit) are allowed to load bundled JS manifests during plugin sync. For other sources, if you intentionally rely on JS manifests, opt in explicitly:

npx @databricks/appkit plugin sync --write --allow-js-manifest

Use the --silent flag in build hooks to suppress output:

{
  "scripts": {
    "sync": "appkit plugin sync --write --silent",
    "predev": "npm run sync",
    "prebuild": "npm run sync"
  }
}

Validate manifests​

Check plugin manifests against the JSON schema:

# Validate manifest.json in the current directory
npx @databricks/appkit plugin validate

# Validate specific files or directories
npx @databricks/appkit plugin validate plugins/my-plugin appkit.plugins.json

The validator auto-detects whether a file is a plugin manifest or a template manifest (from $schema) and reports errors with humanized paths and expected values.

To include JS manifests in validation, pass --allow-js-manifest.

List plugins​

View registered plugins from appkit.plugins.json or scan a directory:

# From appkit.plugins.json (default)
npx @databricks/appkit plugin list

# Scan a directory for plugin folders
npx @databricks/appkit plugin list --dir plugins/

# Scan a directory and include JS manifests (trusted code only)
npx @databricks/appkit plugin list --dir plugins/ --allow-js-manifest

# JSON output for scripting
npx @databricks/appkit plugin list --json

Add a resource to a plugin​

Interactively add a new resource requirement to an existing plugin manifest. Requires manifest.json in the plugin directory (the command edits it in place; it does not modify manifest.js):

npx @databricks/appkit plugin add-resource

# Or specify the plugin directory
npx @databricks/appkit plugin add-resource --path plugins/my-plugin