marketplace-docs

Chaskiq Plugins README

Introduction

This README file is meant to provide guidance and information on creating and managing Chaskiq plugins. Chaskiq plugins are files located in the message_apis folder and are installed as AppPackages. These plugins enable you to extend the functionality of your Chaskiq application, and they can be developed locally or synced from the appstore.chaskiq.io.

Getting Started

1. Setting up the development environment Before you begin developing your plugin, make sure you have the following tools installed:

2. Creating a new plugin

To create a new Chaskiq plugin, follow these steps:

rails generate chaskiq_plugin Foo

Start developing your plugin by adding the necessary code, dependencies, and assets. Plugin Development When developing your plugin, consider the following best practices:

• Keep your plugin focused on a single feature or functionality.
• Ensure that your plugin is compatible with the latest version of Chaskiq.
• Test your plugin thoroughly before deploying it to a production environment.
• Keep your plugin up-to-date with any changes in the Chaskiq API or libraries.
• Document your plugin, including its purpose, installation process, and usage instructions.

Chaskiq AppStore

In order to sync our plugins with the Chaskiq AppStore you will need to download with your license_key,

• Add your CHASKIQ_APPSTORE_KEY= to your env variables, if you are on development mode add it on .env file.
• Run the download command to download your plugins bundle exec rails packages:download
• To install the plugins you have downloaded run bundle exec rails packages:install

When you download the plugins what it happens is that the information of the plugins will be stored in your database. While the install will export this information and will create the AppPackage with the proper files in your codebase.

To find your CHASKIQ_APPSTORE_KEY go to the appstore.chaskiq.io site.

Developing and managing Chaskiq plugins is a great way to extend the functionality of your Chaskiq application and provide additional value to your users. By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your plugins are high-quality, reliable, and easy to use. Happy coding!

Local development

Chaskiq will have some built in plugins if you want to download the chaskiq catalog you will need the CHASKIQ_APPSTORE_KEY, in order to get the plugins run this command:

rails packages:download

The command above will download the plungin information and will store that in the plugins table, those record will have a corresponding AppPackage association.

In order to get the plugin files installed on your Chaskiq instance run the following command:

rails packages:install

The command above will load the data from the Plugin and save those in the filesystem on app/services/message_apis/{PLUGIN}

If you are developing a local plugin that exists on the catalog then your plugin could be overriden by the installation. In order to avoid that you can froze a plugin by doing:

bundle exec rails packages:unfreeze['Zapier']

the command above will mark the app package as frozen and then it will only use your local copy of the plugin wihout modifying the plugin files on the packages:download or packages:install commands.

Deployment

When you deploy the application the plugins will be installed automatically. If you need to froze plugins on the remote server you will need to run the froze command on the server.

The plugins will be copied to the FileSystem each time the app is started if you want to skip that process ypi will need to add the following ENV var:

DISABLE_AUTOLOAD_APPSTORE=true