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FigCraft plugins
A FigCraft plugin is a WebAssembly module with a small JSON manifest. It acts on the document only
through FigCraft's commands, the same ones the menus, the CLI, the control channel and the MCP
server run (figcraft-cli commands lists them), so a plugin can do what a script can do, within the
permissions its manifest asks for, and nothing more.
- Sandboxed. Plugins run in wasmi, a pure-Rust WebAssembly interpreter (no JIT), in the desktop app and in the browser build alike. There is no WASI: no file system, network, clock or randomness. A run has an instruction budget (fuel) and a memory cap, so an endless loop or a runaway allocation fails that run, not the app.
- One undo step. Everything a run does is one step in the undo history, named after the plugin; so is everything one callback from its panel does. When a run or a callback fails (the plugin returns an error, traps, panics or runs out of fuel or memory), the document, selection and page are put back as they were.
- Panels and settings (API 2). A plugin can show a small panel of its own while it runs: FigCraft draws its fields and buttons with its own widgets and calls the plugin back when one is used. A plugin can also keep settings from one run to the next.
- Permissions. The manifest says whether the plugin only reads the document or may edit it, and can narrow the commands it may call. FigCraft enforces both.
Using plugins
- Plugins ▸ Development ▸ Import plugin from manifest… picks a
figcraft-plugin.json. The plugin is kept in the preferences and its module is read again on every run, so a rebuilt development plugin runs its new code without importing it again. - The installed plugins head the Plugins menu: a plugin with one command is an item, one with several a submenu. A command with parameters (an ellipsis after its name) first opens a small form with a field per parameter, drawn with FigCraft's own widgets; Run runs it.
- Plugins ▸ Run last plugin (⌥⌘P on macOS, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+P on Windows and Linux, where Ctrl+Alt+P is Pixel preview) runs the last plugin command again with the same parameters.
- Plugins ▸ Manage plugins… lists the installed plugins (version, access, manifest path) with a Remove button for each, and an Import button.
A message the plugin shows (notify) appears as a toast; so does a text result.
Plugin panels. A plugin written for API 2 can show a panel while it runs: a floating window, first placed beside the properties panel (drag its title bar to move it), with the plugin's notes, fields (text, number, checkbox, menu, list, colour) and buttons, drawn with FigCraft's own widgets and named for screen readers. Pressing a button or changing a field calls the plugin back with every field's value; what that callback does is one undo step (none when it changes nothing), and the plugin can update the panel or close it. The module stays loaded while its panel is open, so the plugin keeps its state between callbacks. Closing the window ends the plugin's session. One plugin panel is open at a time: running another plugin that shows one replaces it. An open panel costs nothing while nobody uses it (no frames are drawn).
If a callback fails, it is rolled back and its message shown; a plugin that returned an error keeps its panel, one that crashed or ran out of fuel or memory loses it.
From scripts, the CLI and MCP the same commands apply, panels included:
{"command": "plugin.import", "params": {"path": "plugins/tidy-names"}}
{"command": "select.all", "params": {}}
{"command": "plugin.run", "params": {"id": "org.figcraft.examples.tidy-names", "command": "tidy", "params": {"case": "Title Case"}}}
{"command": "plugin.import", "params": {"path": "target/plugins/dist/swatch-grid"}}
{"command": "plugin.run", "params": {"id": "org.figcraft.examples.swatch-grid", "command": "panel"}}
{"command": "plugin.event", "params": {"id": "org.figcraft.examples.swatch-grid", "control": "palette", "value": "Ocean"}}
{"command": "plugin.event", "params": {"id": "org.figcraft.examples.swatch-grid", "control": "generate"}}
{"command": "plugin.close", "params": {"id": "org.figcraft.examples.swatch-grid"}}
figcraft-cli run script.jsonl --in design.figcraft --out tidy.figcraft runs that headless; over
MCP, run_command takes the same ids. A session started by the CLI or the MCP server starts with no
plugins: import them in the script.
| Command | Params | Does |
|---|---|---|
plugin.list |
{} |
{plugins: [{id, name, version, description, main, api, permissions, commands, path, loaded}], last: {id, command}} |
plugin.import |
{path} or {manifest, wasm} |
path is a figcraft-plugin.json or its folder. Without files (the browser, tests), pass the manifest (an object or JSON text) and the module as base64 wasm; such a plugin lasts for the session only. A plugin with the same id is replaced. The module is checked first. |
plugin.remove |
{id} |
Uninstalls it. |
plugin.run |
{id, command?, params?, fuel?} |
Runs a command (default: the first) with its parameters checked against the manifest and the missing ones filled with their defaults; fuel lowers the instruction budget (for the panel's callbacks too). Returns {plugin, command, output, logs, calls, fuel, panel}; output is the plugin's result, parsed as JSON when it is JSON; panel is the plugin's open panel (as plugin.ui returns it) or null. |
plugin.ui |
{id?} |
The open plugin panel: {plugin, command, title, controls, values} (values: every field's current value by name), or null. With id, only that plugin's. |
plugin.event |
{id, control, value?} |
Uses a control of plugin id's open panel, as a click would: a button (no value), or a field set to value (checked like a parameter: a number is clamped, a list or menu value must be one of its options, a colour must be hex). The plugin is called back; returns like plugin.run. |
plugin.close |
{id} |
Closes plugin id's panel and ends its session. {closed} says whether one was open. |
plugins.runLast |
{} |
Runs the last plugin command again. |
plugins.manage |
{} |
Opens the Plugins window; returns the list like plugin.list. |
The manifest: figcraft-plugin.json
{
"id": "org.figcraft.examples.swatch-grid",
"name": "Swatch grid",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "Makes a grid of colour swatches from a palette of hex colours.",
"main": "swatch_grid.wasm",
"api": 1,
"permissions": {
"access": "write",
"commands": ["view.get", "shape.rectangle", "text.create", "select.set"]
},
"commands": [
{
"id": "grid",
"label": "Swatch grid…",
"params": [
{ "name": "palette", "label": "Palette", "type": "text", "default": "#FF5A5F, #00A699" },
{ "name": "columns", "label": "Columns", "type": "number", "default": 3, "min": 1, "max": 24 },
{ "name": "labels", "label": "Label each swatch", "type": "boolean", "default": true }
]
}
]
}
| Field | |
|---|---|
id |
Required. 1–128 letters, digits, ., -, _; a reverse domain name is a good choice. |
name |
Required. Shown in the Plugins menu (64 characters at most). |
version, description |
Optional text. |
main |
Required. The module, a .wasm path relative to the manifest, inside its folder. |
api |
The plugin API version the plugin was written for: 1 (the default) or 2 (panels and settings). A manifest asking for a newer one than FigCraft runs is refused, so a plugin that needs panels fails clearly on an older FigCraft. |
permissions.access |
read (the default): commands that leave the document as it is; such plugins also run from Dev Mode's Inspect tab. write: edits too. |
permissions.commands |
Optional allowlist: exact command ids or prefixes ending in * (node.*). Empty: any command the access allows. |
commands |
The menu commands, each {id, label, params?}. Without any, the plugin has one, run. |
params[] |
{name, label?, type, default?, options?, min?, max?}; type is text, number (clamped to min/max), boolean, select (one of options, a menu), list (one of options, shown as a list) or color (hex, #RRGGBB or #RRGGBBAA). A default that doesn't fit is dropped. |
What a plugin can't do
Whatever its manifest says, FigCraft refuses these calls (the plugin gets the refusal as an error it can handle):
- files and the app:
file.*,app.*,pref.*,help.*,library.add,libraries.*,image.placewith apath(pass the image as base64datainstead),view.theme*; - other documents and the version history:
doc.*andversion.*(exceptdoc.listandversion.list); - the undo history and nesting:
edit.undo,edit.redo,edit.repeat,command.batch(a run is already one undo step), andplugin.*/plugins.*(no plugin runs another); - commands that open a dialog or panel (for example
object.renamewithout aname, which would start renaming in the layers panel): the call is undone and refused; - for a
readplugin, any command that changes the document (checked before the call for commands that make an undo step, and after it for the rest: a change is undone and refused).
Limits per run, and again per panel callback: 1,000,000,000 fuel (about a second or two of plain WebAssembly in a debug build, far less in a release build), 64 MB of memory, 100,000 host calls (each also costs 10,000 fuel), 16 MB per string either way, 1,000 log lines, and modules up to 16 MB. A panel spec is at most 64 KB with 64 controls; settings are at most 64 KB per plugin (keys and JSON values), keys 1–128 characters.
ABI (version 2)
Version 2 adds panels and settings to version 1; a version 1 module runs unchanged and gets the
input it always got. Strings are UTF-8 (ptr, len) pairs in the plugin's linear memory; all values
are i32.
The module exports memory and figcraft_run(input_len) -> status. When figcraft_run starts,
the reply buffer holds the input JSON, input_len bytes:
{"api": 1, "command": "grid", "params": {"palette": "#FF5A5F", "columns": 3, "labels": true}, "selection": [12, 15]}
api is the manifest's. When the plugin's panel calls it back, figcraft_run runs again in the
same instance (its memory as the last call left it) with the event and every field's value added:
{"api": 2, "command": "panel", "params": {}, "selection": [], "event": {"control": "generate", "value": null}, "values": {"palette": "Ocean", "columns": 3, "labels": true}}
It returns 0 for success; anything else fails the run (and rolls it back), with the text passed
to set_output as the error message.
The module may import these functions from the module figcraft (anything else, WASI
included, is refused when the plugin is imported):
| Import | Signature | Does |
|---|---|---|
call |
(cmd_ptr, cmd_len, params_ptr, params_len) -> status |
Runs a command with JSON params (empty: {}). 0: done, the reply holds its result JSON. 1: refused or failed, the reply holds the message. |
selection |
() -> len |
The reply becomes the selected layer ids, a JSON array. |
reply_len |
() -> len |
The reply's length in bytes. |
reply_read |
(ptr, len) -> copied |
Copies up to len bytes of the reply to ptr. |
log |
(ptr, len) |
A line of the run's log (returned in logs, and written to FigCraft's log). |
notify |
(ptr, len) |
A short message for the user (a toast in the app). |
set_output |
(ptr, len) |
The run's result (JSON or text), or its error message when it fails. |
ui_show |
(ptr, len) -> status |
API 2. Shows the plugin's panel, or replaces the one showing (the panel spec below, as JSON). 1: the spec is invalid, the reply says why. |
ui_close |
() |
API 2. Closes the panel when the call returns. |
setting_get |
(key_ptr, key_len) -> status |
API 2. 0: the reply holds the setting's JSON. 1: there is none. |
setting_set |
(key_ptr, key_len, value_ptr, value_len) -> status |
API 2. Stores JSON under the key, for this plugin only, kept with the preferences. 1: refused (not JSON, a bad key, over 64 KB), the reply says why. |
setting_delete |
(key_ptr, key_len) |
API 2. Forgets a setting. |
A pointer or length outside the plugin's memory traps, which fails the run. Host functions can only
be called while figcraft_run runs (not from a start function). Settings are forgotten when the
plugin is removed.
Panel spec
{"title": "Swatch grid", "controls": [
{"type": "list", "name": "palette", "label": "Palette", "options": ["Sunset", "Ocean"], "value": "Ocean"},
{"type": "note", "label": "#0A2463, #1E5AA8, #3E92CC"},
{"type": "number", "name": "columns", "label": "Columns", "min": 1, "max": 24, "value": 3},
{"type": "boolean", "name": "labels", "label": "Label each swatch", "value": true},
{"type": "color", "name": "accent", "label": "Accent", "value": "#FF5A5F"},
{"type": "button", "name": "generate", "label": "Generate"},
{"type": "button", "name": "close", "label": "Close"}
]}
title defaults to the plugin's name. Controls are the manifest's parameter types (text,
number, boolean, select, list, color) plus button and note (text in label, up to
1,000 characters, no name needed), in order, each name unique. A field shows its value; a
field without one keeps what the user entered before the panel was updated, so a plugin can update
a note without resetting the other fields. Buttons next to each other share a row; the first button
is the primary one. FigCraft checks the whole spec (sizes, kinds, options, bounds) and drops values
that don't fit their field.
Writing a plugin in Rust
plugins/ in the repository is a workspace of its own: plugins/sdk (the crate
figcraft-plugin-sdk, no_std with alloc) wraps the ABI with serde_json, and
plugins/examples has two plugins:
- Tidy names (
tidy-names): cleans up the selected layers' names (extra spaces, the "copy" left by duplicating) and optionally their letter case, inside the selection too. Two commands: one with a form (case, include layers inside), and a quick one without. - Swatch grid (
swatch-grid, API 2): a grid of colour swatches, centred in the view, named after their colours and optionally labelled. Palettes… opens a panel with a list of built-in palettes (picking one shows its colours), columns, labels and a Generate button; the palette picked last is remembered as a setting for next time. From hex colours… takes a palette of hex colours in the parameters form.
cargo xtask plugins (part of cargo xtask wasm and cargo xtask ci; it needs the
wasm32-unknown-unknown target: rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown) checks, tests and
builds them, and leaves each example's manifest and module side by side in
target/plugins/dist/<example>/, ready to import.
A plugin of your own:
# Cargo.toml
[package]
name = "my-plugin"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2024"
[lib]
crate-type = ["cdylib"]
[dependencies]
figcraft-plugin-sdk = { path = "../figcraft/plugins/sdk" }
[profile.release]
opt-level = "z"
lto = true
panic = "abort"
strip = true
// src/lib.rs
use figcraft_plugin_sdk::{Input, Result, Value, call, entry, json, notify};
fn run(input: Input) -> Result<Value> {
if input.selection.is_empty() {
return Err("Select some layers first".into());
}
for id in &input.selection {
let layer = call("node.get", &json!({"id": id}))?;
let name = layer["name"].as_str().unwrap_or_default().to_uppercase();
call("object.rename", &json!({"ids": [id], "name": name}))?;
}
notify(&format!("Renamed {} layers", input.selection.len()));
Ok(json!({"renamed": input.selection.len()}))
}
entry!(run);
Build it with cargo build --release --target wasm32-unknown-unknown, put
target/wasm32-unknown-unknown/release/my_plugin.wasm next to a figcraft-plugin.json whose main
names it, and import the manifest. The SDK gives call, selection, log, notify and the
Input (command, params with str/f64/bool helpers, selection, and event when the
panel calls back: control, value and every field's values); returning Err fails the run and
rolls it back. With "api": 2 in the manifest: show_ui(&json!({...})) and close_ui() for the
panel, setting(key), set_setting(key, &value) and delete_setting(key) for settings. Outside WebAssembly every host call fails, so the plugin's own logic can
be unit-tested with cargo test.
Any language that compiles to WebAssembly works the same way: export memory and figcraft_run,
import what you need from figcraft.
Not yet
- Distribution: no plugin directory, signing or automatic updates; plugins are imported from a manifest.
- Widgets (objects on the canvas drawn by a plugin) and plugins written for other apps (JavaScript plugins): neither runs.
- Panels: one at a time; a colour field is a swatch with a hex field (no colour picker); no images, sliders or free layout inside a panel.
- Data in the document: plugins keep data on layers (pages included) with
node.set {props: {pluginData: {key: value}}}; there is no separate per-document store.