Skip to main content

How To Use Plugins

Overview​

Use plugins to extend the functionality of your generated application. Some plugins are included in Amplication by default. To add more functionality, you can develop your own plugins, or can use plugins developed by the community, as they become available.

The published plugins are available on the All Plugins screen. The installed plugins are shown on the Installed Plugins screen.

Available Plugins​

The following plugins are currently available. Addition plugins will be added in future releases of Amplication.

MongoDB​

MongoDB is a free and open-source cross-platform document-oriented database program. It is classified as a NoSQL database program, meaning that it does not use the traditional SQL relational database management system. Instead, it uses JSON-like documents with optional schemas to store data.

MongoDB is used to store and retrieve large amounts of data in real-time, and it is often used in situations where high performance and horizontal scaling are required.

PostgreSQL​

PostgreSQL is a free and open-source relational database management system that is designed to be highly scalable, reliable, and powerful. It is known for its ability to handle large amounts of data and a high volume of queries.

PostgreSQL can handle complex data structures and relationships. It supports a wide range of data types, including arrays, JSON, and XML, and it has robust support for stored procedures, triggers, and views.

MySQL​

MySQL is an open-source relational database management system that is widely used in web applications and other software platforms. It is known for its reliability, simplicity, and performance. It is a powerful tool for storing and managing data in a structured and organized way.

Kafka​

KafkaJS is a distributed streaming platform, used for building real-time data pipelines and streaming applications. It is a publish-subscribe messaging system that allows for the creation of high-throughput and low-latency systems.

In the Apache Kafka messaging system, processes known as producers write data to Kafka topics, and processes known as consumers read data from Kafka topics.

NestJS Auth Module​

The NestJS Auth Module plugin provides all the basic modules required for authentication of the service. Installation of this plugin is mandatory for the service to be authenticated, and must be installed together with the JwT Auth Provider plugin or the Basic Auth Provider plugin, as follows:

JWT Auth Provider​

Passport based JWT authentication involves the client sending a request to the server with a user's credentials in the form of a username and password. The server then authenticates the user and issues a JWT if the credentials are valid. This allows the client to authenticate subsequent requests to the server using the JWT. Read more about authentication here.

Basic Auth Provider​

Basic authentication is a simple authentication scheme built into the HTTP protocol that involves sending a request to a server with a user's credentials in the form of a username and password. The credentials are encoded in base64 and included in the Authorization header of the request.

Prettier​

Prettier is an opinionated code formatter that automatically formats your code to ensure adherence to a consistent style. Code is automatically formatted every time it is committed.

Installing plugins​

To install a plugin:

  1. In the All Plugins page, click Install for the required plugin.

  1. Go to the Installed Plugins page. The installed plugins are listed.

  1. To see the plugin on gitHub, select View on GitHub.

Order of Plugin Execution​

The plugins are executed when Amplication generates code, according to their order on the Installed Plugins page.

If a plugin execution is a prerequisite for another plugin, it must be located earlier in the list.

  • To change the order of the installed plugins, click the up or down arrow to the right of the plugin bar.
  • To activate or deactivate the plugin, click the toggle switch.

Managing Plugin Versions​

Amplication plugin developers may release several versions of a plugin over time. By default, the latest version will be available when installing the plugin.

Sometimes, you might need to generate a project with an earlier version of the plugin, to ensure compatibility.

Changing the Plugin Version​

By default, the latest version of the plugin will be available in the list of plugins.

  1. To change the installed version of a plugin, in the All Plugins page, click the Settings icon.

    The plugin’s settings page opens.

  2. Select the required plugin version from the Plugin version drop-down list and click Save.

    In the next build, the code will be generated with the selected plugin version.

note

Each version of the Plugin has its own settings, so when you replace the version you also replace its settings.

Creating Plugins​

To add more functionality, you can develop your own plugins, or can use plugins developed by the community, as they become available.

See Plugin Development Overview for more information.