# DMS Plugin Ecosystem — Where to Look

## Canonical Documentation (Start Here)

- Plugin Overview: https://danklinux.com/docs/dankmaterialshell/plugins-overview
- Plugin Development (the comprehensive guide): https://danklinux.com/docs/dankmaterialshell/plugin-development
- Current DMS version docs are versioned; always match the user's installed version.

## High-Quality Example Code

1. **Inside the main DMS monorepo** (best for "how the shell itself expects plugins to behave"):
   https://github.com/AvengeMedia/DankMaterialShell/tree/master/quickshell/PLUGINS

   Small, focused examples:
   - ColorDemoPlugin
   - ExampleEmojiPlugin (popout + grid)
   - LauncherExample / LauncherImageExample
   - ControlCenterExample
   - WallpaperWatcherDaemon
   - ExampleDesktopClock
   - QuickNotesExample (good state API usage)

2. **First-party maintained plugins** (real production code, kept up to date):
   https://github.com/AvengeMedia/dms-plugins

   Good references for patterns:
   - DankGifSearch, DankStickerSearch (launcher with images/tiles/categories)
   - DankActions, DankHooks, DankPomodoroTimer, DankBatteryAlerts

3. **Community plugins via the registry** (inspiration for what people actually ship):
   https://plugins.danklinux.com/
   Source: https://github.com/AvengeMedia/dms-plugin-registry (the `plugins/` and `themes/` directories)

   Look for plugins in the same category as what you're building. Many are high quality.

## Tooling & Helpers You Should Know Exist

- `dms` CLI (the Go binary) — `dms ipc call plugins ...`, `dms plugins install`, etc.
- `Proc` singleton (`qs.Common`) — debounced external command runner with stdout capture.
- `PopoutComponent` (`qs.Modules.Plugins`) — consistent header + close behavior for popouts.
- The family of `*Setting` components + `PluginSettings` wrapper (`qs.Modules.Plugins`).
- `PluginGlobalVar` helper for reactive cross-instance state.
- `DesktopPluginComponent` for desktop layer widgets.

## Development Environment

- Quickshell language server (qmlls) setup is documented in the official development guide and in the DMS repo's CONTRIBUTING.md.
- Symlink + `dms ipc call plugins reload <id>` is the standard fast iteration loop.
- Many plugin authors keep their source outside the plugins directory and symlink during development.

## Registry Submission

- Follow the instructions in https://github.com/AvengeMedia/dms-plugin-registry/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md
- You will need: public Git repo, `plugin.json`, README, screenshots, (ideally) a version tag.
- The schema is enforced.

## When You're Really Stuck

1. Reproduce the problem in the smallest possible plugin using one of the templates in this skill.
2. Run the shell from a terminal and watch the logs.
3. Search the DMS GitHub issues and discussions with the exact error or behavior.
4. The Matrix/Discord space linked from the official site is active.

This ecosystem is unusually well-documented and has a healthy set of real examples. The fastest path is almost always "find a plugin that does something similar and read its source while keeping the official development guide open."