Install, Update, and Remove Plugins

Now that you have a loader and a plugin, let's load the plugin in your app.

Load plugins at startup

After initializing your app, call this on the window's UI thread:

using DryIoc;
using ShadowExample.Core;
using ShadowPluginLoader.WinUI;
using ShadowPluginLoader.WinUI.Extensions;
using System.IO;

var loader = DiFactory.Services.Resolve<ShadowExamplePluginLoader>();
await loader.CheckUpgradeAndRemoveAsync();
await loader.CreatePipeline()
    .Feed(new DirectoryInfo(loader.PluginFolderPath))
    .ProcessAsync();

Start with CheckUpgradeAndRemoveAsync() to handle removals and updates scheduled during the previous run. Wait for it to finish before loading plugins.

The next three calls set up and run a loading task: CreatePipeline() creates it, Feed(...) tells it where to look, and ProcessAsync() starts the work. The loader reads metadata, checks dependencies, and creates plugin instances. You don't need a separate Load() call.

Where can plugins come from?

Add using ShadowPluginLoader.WinUI.Extensions; to use these Feed overloads:

Argument	How to use it
DirectoryInfo	Find plugin.json in a directory and its subdirectories
FileInfo or local Uri	Point to a plugin.json file or .sdow package
HTTP / HTTPS Uri	Download and install a plugin archive
Type / Feed<TPlugin>()	Load the plugin for that type; requires {assembly name}/plugin.json beside the assembly
Type[] / IEnumerable<Type?>	Supply several plugin types together
Windows.ApplicationModel.Package	Find plugins in an installed Windows package
IMaterial	Use custom processing

Use DirectoryInfo when scanning a folder. It finds unpacked plugins. For .sdow files, pass each package path to Feed instead.

Plugins are installed in the plugin folder under the app's local data directory. Downloads go into temp. Change these locations through BaseSdkConfig if needed.

Install a package

Using the same loader, pass in your package paths. This example installs Hello and Emoji together and reports progress:

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Threading;
using ShadowPluginLoader.WinUI.Models;

var progress = new Progress<PipelineProgress>(p =>
    Debug.WriteLine($"{p.Step}: {p.SubStep} {p.TotalStatusValue}"));
using var cancellation = new CancellationTokenSource();

await loader.CreatePipeline()
    .Feed(new Uri(@"C:\Plugins\ShadowExample.Plugin.Hello-1.1.6.sdow"))
    .Feed(new Uri(@"C:\Plugins\ShadowExample.Plugin.Emoji-1.1.0.sdow"))
    .ProcessAsync(progress, cancellation.Token);

To install from the web, use the archive's HTTPS address. Call cancellation.Cancel() to request cancellation; files already extracted and assemblies already loaded won't be rolled back.

The example reports Step, SubStep, and status text. Percentage calculations aren't yet consistent across stages, so use the steps to show progress for now.

Catch exceptions and check the logs if installation fails. After processing, call GetPlugin(id) to see whether the plugin loaded successfully.

Update and remove

Updates and removals take effect after restarting the app. These lines show the two operations separately:

await loader.UpgradePlugin("ShadowExample.Plugin.Emoji",
    new Uri(@"C:\Plugins\ShadowExample.Plugin.Emoji-1.2.0.sdow"));
await loader.RemovePlugin("ShadowExample.Plugin.Hello");

For updates, provide a local .sdow path. Download web packages first. The plugin must already be loaded, the new version must be higher, and its dependencies must be satisfied. Keep the update archive until the next startup has used it.

Removal also applies to loaded plugins. On the next launch, CheckUpgradeAndRemoveAsync() carries out these operations.

Read and change enabled state

var plugins = loader.GetPlugins();
var enabledPlugins = loader.GetPlugins(isEnabled: true);
var plugin = loader.GetPlugin("ShadowExample.Plugin.Emoji");
bool? enabled = loader.IsEnabled("ShadowExample.Plugin.Emoji");
loader.DisablePlugin("ShadowExample.Plugin.Emoji");
loader.EnablePlugin("ShadowExample.Plugin.Emoji");

GetPlugin and IsEnabled return null when a plugin isn't found. Disabled plugins stay in memory, so each plugin should stop its work in Disabled().

To show loading or enabled-state changes in your UI, see Plugin Events.