Plugins

Extend VANT with custom plugins.

Built-in Plugins

Plugin	Description
brain	Brain loading and management
config	Configuration management
echo	Echo test plugin
mood	Mood state management
renderer	Output renderer

Creating a Plugin

Create a directory in src/plugins/:

src/plugins/my-plugin/
  index.js      # Main entry
  config.json  # Optional config

Plugin Interface

The plugin interface definition.

// src/plugins/my-plugin/index.js
module.exports = {
  // Called when plugin loads
  onLoad: (brain) => {
    console.log('Plugin loaded');
  },
  
  // Called on each message (return modified message)
  onMessage: (msg) => {
    // Process message
    return msg;
  },
  
  // Called when brain saves
  onSave: () => {
    console.log('Saving...');
  },
  
  // Called when plugin unloads
  onUnload: () => {
    console.log('Goodbye');
  }
};

config.json

Configuration options.

{
  "name": "my-plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "enabled": true
}

Loading Plugins

Plugins load automatically from src/plugins/:

vant start
# [Plugin] Loaded: brain
# [Plugin] Loaded: config
# [Plugin] Loaded: echo

Examples

Real-world use cases and patterns.

Echo Plugin

Simple echo on message:

// src/plugins/echo/index.js
module.exports = {
  onMessage: (msg) => {
    return `[Echo] ${msg}`;
  }
};

Mood-aware Plugin

Respond differently based on mood:

// src/plugins/mood/index.js
module.exports = {
  onMessage: (msg, { mood }) => {
    if (mood === 'playful') {
      return msg + ' 😄';
    }
    return msg;
  }
};

Best Practices

Keep plugins small and focused
Handle errors gracefully
Document configuration options
Support enable/disable