Yaak plugins are written in TypeScript and executed within a NodeJS runtime, alongside Yaak. This means that plugins have access to the full set of NodeJS APIs and NPM package ecosystem.

The first step in plugin development is installing the yaakcli — a command line utility to help create, develop, and bundle plugins.

1) Install The CLI

Install the Yaak CLI from NPM as a global package.

npm install -g @yaakapp/cli

2) Generate a new plugin

Use the generate command to create a new directory containing an installable sample plugin. This command will prompt for some info, generate the appropriate files, install dependencies, and run an initial build.

yaakcli generate

3) Install the plugin

Install the plugin with Yaak from the Settings > Plugins tab. Once complete, Yaak will monitor the plugin directory and reload it on each rebuild.

Once installed, give it a test! The generated plugin adds a dummy action to the request context menu that shows a toast when clicked.

4) Develop a plugin

Now it’s time for the fun part. Use the dev command to monitor the plugin directory and rebuild the plugin whenever a change is detected.

yaakcli dev

You’ll receive a toast notification whenever the plugin is reloaded.

5) Build a plugin

Use the build command to do a one-time build. This is similar to the dev command, except it does not monitor for changes.

yaakcli build

6) Publish a plugin