52 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
52 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
# Module system
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The module system in Element Web is a way to add or modify functionality of Element Web itself, bundled at compile time
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for the app. This means that modules are loaded as part of the `yarn build` process but have an effect on user experience
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at runtime.
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## Installing modules
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If you already have a module you want to install, such as our [ILAG Module](https://github.com/element-hq/element-web-ilag-module),
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then copy `build_config.sample.yaml` to `build_config.yaml` in the same directory. In your new `build_config.yaml` simply
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add the reference to the module as described by the sample file, using the same syntax you would for `yarn add`:
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```yaml
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modules:
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# Our module happens to be published on NPM, so we use that syntax to reference it.
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- "@vector-im/element-web-ilag-module@latest"
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```
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Then build the app as you normally would: `yarn build` or `yarn dist` (if compatible on your platform). If you are building
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the Docker image then ensure your `build_config.yaml` ends up in the build directory. Usually this works fine if you use
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the current directory as the build context (the `.` in `docker build -t my-element-web .`).
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## Writing modules
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While writing modules is meant to be easy, not everything is possible yet. For modules which want to do something we haven't
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exposed in the module API, the module API will need to be updated. This means a PR to both this repo
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and [`matrix-react-sdk-module-api`](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk-module-api).
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Once your change to the module API is accepted, the `@matrix-org/react-sdk-module-api` dependency gets updated at the
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`element-web` layer (usually by us, the maintainers) to ensure your module can operate.
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If you're not adding anything to the module API, or your change was accepted per above, then start off with a clone of
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our [ILAG module](https://github.com/element-hq/element-web-ilag-module) which will give you a general idea for what the
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structure of a module is and how it works.
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The following requirements are key for any module:
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1. The module must depend on `@matrix-org/react-sdk-module-api` (usually as a dev dependency).
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2. The module's `main` entrypoint must have a `default` export for the `RuntimeModule` instance, supporting a constructor
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which takes a single parameter: a `ModuleApi` instance. This instance is passed to `super()`.
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3. The module must be deployed in a way where `yarn add` can access it, as that is how the build system will try to
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install it. Note that while this is often NPM, it can also be a GitHub/GitLab repo or private NPM registry.
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Be careful when using git dependencies in yarn classic, many lifecycle scripts will not be executed which may mean
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that your module is not built and thus may fail to be imported.
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... and that's pretty much it. As with any code, please be responsible and call things in line with the documentation.
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Both `RuntimeModule` and `ModuleApi` have extensive documentation to describe what is proper usage and how to set things
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up.
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If you have any questions then please visit [#element-dev:matrix.org](https://matrix.to/#/#element-dev:matrix.org) on
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Matrix and we'll help as best we can.
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