Plugin Type Reference¶

This section provides detailed documentation for each plugin type in Lightfall.

Overview¶

Type	Base Class	Purpose	Singleton
`settings`	`SettingsPlugin`	Add preferences pages	Yes
`panel`	`PanelPlugin`	Add application panels	Yes
`plan`	`PlanPlugin`	Register Bluesky plans	Yes
`engine`	`EnginePlugin`	Provide execution backends	Yes
`theme`	`ThemePlugin`	Define color themes	Yes
`statusbar`	`StatusBarPlugin`	Add status bar indicators	Yes
`controller`	`ControllerPlugin`	Device-specific control widgets	Yes
`mcp_tool`	`MCPToolPlugin`	Claude assistant tools	Yes
`skill`	`SkillPlugin`	Claude assistant expertise	Yes

Common Interface¶

All plugin types inherit from PluginType and share these characteristics:

Class Attributes¶

class PluginType(ABC):
    type_name: ClassVar[str] = "base"       # Unique type identifier
    description: ClassVar[str] = "..."      # Human-readable description
    is_singleton: ClassVar[bool] = False    # One instance per plugin?

Required Property¶

@property
@abstractmethod
def name(self) -> str:
    """Unique identifier within this plugin type."""
    ...

Optional Methods¶

def get_introspection_data(self) -> dict[str, Any]:
    """Return plugin metadata for debugging/MCP tools."""
    return {
        "type": self.type_name,
        "name": self.name,
        "class": self.__class__.__name__,
        "module": self.__class__.__module__,
    }

Choosing a Plugin Type¶

UI Extensions¶

Goal	Plugin Type
Add a preferences page	`SettingsPlugin`
Add a new panel/dock widget	`PanelPlugin`
Add custom device control widget	`ControllerPlugin`
Add a status indicator	`StatusBarPlugin`
Add a color theme	`ThemePlugin`

Data Acquisition¶

Goal	Plugin Type
Add a Bluesky scan plan	`PlanPlugin`
Add an execution backend	`EnginePlugin`

Claude Assistant¶

Goal	Plugin Type
Add tools Claude can call	`MCPToolPlugin`
Add domain expertise/context	`SkillPlugin`

Documentation Template¶

Each plugin type page follows this structure:

Purpose - What this plugin type is for
Base Class - Import path and class name
Class Attributes - Type-specific class attributes
Required Methods - Methods you must implement
Optional Methods - Methods you can override
Lifecycle - When methods are called
Complete Example - Working implementation
Registration - How to register the plugin

Plugin Types