Plugin structure

When creating a plugin with the CLI generator, Strapi generates the following boilerplate structure for you in the ./src/plugins/my-plugin folder:

JavaScript-based plugins

The following diagram is interactive: you can click on any file or folder name highlighted in purple to go to the corresponding documentation section.

. # root of the plugin folder (e.g., /src/plugins/my-plugin)
├── admin # Admin panel part of your plugin.
│   └── src
│       ├── components # Contains your front-end components
│       │   ├── Initializer
│       │   │   └── index.js # Plugin initializer
│       │   └── PluginIcon
│       │       └── index.js # Contains the icon of your plugin in the main navigation
│       ├── pages # Contains the pages of your plugin
│       │   ├── App 
│       │   │   └── index.js # Skeleton around the actual pages
│       │   └── HomePage 
│       │       └── index.js # Homepage of your plugin
│       ├── translations # Translations files to make your plugin i18n-friendly
│       │   ├── en.json
│       │   └── fr.json
│       └── utils
│       │   └── getTrad.js # getTrad function to return the corresponding plugin translations
│       ├── index.js # Main setup of your plugin, used to register elements in the admin panel
│       └── pluginId.js # pluginId variable computed from package.json name
├── node_modules
├── server # Back-end part of your plugin
│   ├── config
│   │   └── index.js # Contains the default server configuration
│   ├── content-types # Content-types specific to your plugin
│   │   └── index.js # Loads all the plugin's content-types
│   ├── controllers # Controllers specific to your plugin
│   │   ├── index.js # Loads all the plugin's controllers
│   │   └── my-controller.js # Custom controller example. You can rename it or delete it.
│   ├── middlewares # Middlewares specific to your plugin
│   │   └── index.js # Loads all the plugin's middlewares
│   ├── policies # Policies specific to your plugin
│   │   └── index.js # Loads all the plugin's policies
│   ├── routes # Routes specific to your plugin
│   │   └── index.js # Contains an example route for the my-controller custom controller example
│   └── services # Services specific to your plugin 
│   │   ├── index.js # Loads all the plugin's services
│   │   └── my-service.js # Custom service example. You can rename it or delete it.
│   ├── bootstrap.js # Function that is called right after the plugin has registered
│   ├── destroy.js # Function that is called to clean up the plugin after Strapi instance is destroyed
│   ├── index.js # Loads the code for all the server elements 
│   └── register.js # Function that is called to load the plugin, before bootstrap.
├── package.json
├── README.md
├── strapi-admin.js # Entrypoint for the admin panel (front end)
└── strapi-server.js # Entrypoint for the server (back end)

TypeScript-based plugins

The following diagram is interactive: you can click on any file or folder name highlighted in purple to go to the corresponding documentation section.

. # root of the plugin folder (e.g., /src/plugins/my-plugin)
├── admin # Admin panel part of your plugin.
│   └── src
│       ├── components # Contains your front-end components
│       │   ├── Initializer
│       │   │   └── index.tsx # Plugin initializer
│       │   └── PluginIcon
│       │       └── index.tsx # Contains the icon of your plugin in the main navigation
│       ├── pages # Contains the pages of your plugin
│       │   ├── App 
│       │   │   └── index.tsx # Skeleton around the actual pages
│       │   └── HomePage 
│       │       └── index.tsx # Homepage of your plugin
│       ├── translations # Translations files to make your plugin i18n-friendly
│       │   ├── en.json
│       │   └── fr.json
│       └── utils
│       │   └── getTrad.ts # getTrad function to return the corresponding plugin translations
│       ├── index.tsx # Main setup of your plugin, used to register elements in the admin panel
│       └── pluginId.tsx # pluginId variable computed from package.tsxon name
├── dist # Build of the backend
├── node_modules
├── server # Back-end part of your plugin
│   ├── config
│   │   └── index.ts # Contains the default server configuration
│   ├── content-types # Content-types specific to your plugin
│   │   └── index.ts # Loads all the plugin's content-types
│   ├── controllers # Controllers specific to your plugin
│   │   ├── index.ts # Loads all the plugin's controllers
│   │   └── my-controller.ts # Custom controller example. You can rename it or delete it.
│   ├── middlewares # Middlewares specific to your plugin
│   │   └── index.ts # Loads all the plugin's middlewares
│   ├── policies # Policies specific to your plugin
│   │   └── index.ts # Loads all the plugin's policies
│   ├── routes # Routes specific to your plugin
│   │   └── index.ts # Contains an example route for the my-controller custom controller example
│   └── services # Services specific to your plugin 
│   │   ├── index.ts # Loads all the plugin's services
│   │   └── my-service.ts # Custom service example. You can rename it or delete it.
│   ├── bootstrap.ts # Function that is called right after the plugin has registered
│   ├── destroy.ts # Function that is called to clean up the plugin after Strapi instance is destroyed
│   ├── index.ts # Loads the code for all the server elements 
│   └── register.ts # Function that is called to load the plugin, before bootstrap.
├── custom.d.ts # Generated types
├── package.json
├── README.md
├── strapi-admin.js # Entrypoint for the admin panel (front end)
├── strapi-server.js # Entrypoint for the server (back end)
├── tsconfig.json # TypeScript compiler options for the admin panel part
└── tsconfig.server.json # TypeScript compiler options for the server part

A Strapi plugin is divided into 2 parts, each living in a different folder and offering a different API:

Plugin part	Description	Folder	API
Admin panel	Includes what will be visible in the admin panel (components, navigation, settings, etc.)	/admin	Admin Panel API
Backend server	Includes what relates to the backend server (content-types, controllers, middlewares, etc.)	/server	Server API

✏️ Notes about the usefulness of the different parts for your specific use case

• Server-only plugin: You can create a plugin that will just use the server part to enhance the API of your application. For instance, this plugin could have its own visible or invisible content-types, controller actions, and routes that are useful for a specific use case. In such a scenario, you don't need your plugin to have an interface in the admin panel.

• Admin panel plugin vs. application-specific customization: You can create a plugin to inject some components into the admin panel. However, you can also achieve this by creating a ./src/admin/app.js file and invoking the bootstrap lifecycle function to inject your components. In this case, deciding whether to create a plugin depends on whether you plan to reuse and distribute the code or if it's only useful for a unique Strapi application.

🤓 What to read next?

The next steps of your Strapi plugin development journey will require you to use any of the Strapi plugins APIs.

2 different types of resources help you understand how to use the plugin APIs:

• The reference documentation for the Admin Panel API and Server API give an overview of what is possible to do with a Strapi plugin.
• Guides cover some specific, use-case based examples.