Plugin System

The ZinTrust Framework uses a "Zero-Config" plugin system to manage optional components like database adapters, authentication providers, and other features. This keeps the core framework lightweight and dependency-free while allowing you to easily add powerful capabilities when needed.

Overview

Plugins in ZinTrust are a mix of npm dependencies and (optionally) templates that scaffold code into your project. For modular adapters/drivers, the key step is activation: the CLI updates src/zintrust.plugins.ts with side-effect imports (for example @zintrust/db-postgres/register) so the adapter/driver registers itself at runtime.

Managing Plugins

You can manage plugins using the zin plugin (or zin p) command.

Listing Available Plugins

To see what plugins are available for installation:

zin plugin list
# OR
zin p -l

Output example:

Available Plugins:
  adapter:postgres     - Available     Production-ready PostgreSQL database adapter
  adapter:sqlite       ✓ Installed     Production-ready SQLite database adapter

Installing a Plugin

To install a plugin, use the install command with the plugin ID or one of its aliases.

# Standard syntax
zin plugin install adapter:sqlite

# Short syntax
zin p -i a:sqlite

# Shortcut syntax (delegates to plugin installer)
zin add db:sqlite

# Choose a package manager explicitly (optional)
zin plugin install adapter:sqlite --package-manager pnpm

What happens during installation?

You can control which package manager is used to install the plugin's dependencies with --package-manager. If not specified, ZinTrust will attempt to detect the project package manager by looking for lockfiles (pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, package-lock.json) and default to npm if none are found. Supported values: npm, yarn, pnpm.

1. Dependencies: The CLI runs your chosen package manager in your project directory (updates package.json and your lockfile).
2. Templates (optional): Some plugins scaffold files into your project (features, helpers, etc.).
3. Activation: For modular adapters/drivers, the CLI adds imports to src/zintrust.plugins.ts so registrations are active at runtime.
4. Post-install commands (opt-in): Some plugins include a postInstall.command. For safety, the framework will not execute these commands by default; you must opt-in by setting ZINTRUST_ALLOW_POSTINSTALL=1.

Uninstalling a Plugin

# Standard syntax
zin plugin uninstall adapter:sqlite

# Short syntax
zin p -u a:sqlite

Note: Uninstall is currently non-destructive and does not roll back generated files or remove npm dependencies. If you want to revert, do it manually (e.g., restore from git).

Available Plugins

Database Adapters

Plugin ID	Aliases	Description	Dependencies
adapter:postgres	a:postgres, pg, db:postgres, db:postgresql	PostgreSQL adapter (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/db-postgres
adapter:mysql	a:mysql, mysql, db:mysql	MySQL adapter (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/db-mysql
adapter:sqlite	a:sqlite, sqlite, db:sqlite	SQLite adapter (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/db-sqlite
adapter:mssql	a:mssql, mssql, db:mssql	SQL Server adapter (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/db-sqlserver

Drivers

Plugin ID	Aliases	Description	Dependencies
driver:queue-redis	queue:redis	Redis-backed queue driver (installs @zintrust/queue-redis)	@zintrust/queue-redis
driver:queue-rabbitmq	queue:rabbitmq	RabbitMQ-backed queue driver (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/queue-rabbitmq, amqplib
driver:queue-sqs	queue:sqs	AWS SQS-backed queue driver (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/queue-sqs, @aws-sdk/client-sqs
driver:broadcast-redis	broadcast:redis	Redis-backed broadcast driver (installs redis client)	redis
driver:cache-redis	cache:redis	Redis cache driver (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/cache-redis
driver:cache-mongodb	cache:mongodb	MongoDB Atlas Data API cache driver (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/cache-mongodb
driver:mail-nodemailer	mail:nodemailer	Nodemailer mail driver (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/mail-nodemailer
driver:mail-smtp	mail:smtp	SMTP mail driver (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/mail-smtp
driver:mail-sendgrid	mail:sendgrid	SendGrid mail driver (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/mail-sendgrid
driver:mail-mailgun	mail:mailgun	Mailgun mail driver (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/mail-mailgun
driver:storage-s3	storage:s3	S3 storage driver (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/storage-s3
driver:storage-r2	storage:r2	Cloudflare R2 storage driver (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/storage-r2
driver:storage-gcs	storage:gcs	Google Cloud Storage driver (registers via plugin hook)	@zintrust/storage-gcs, @google-cloud/storage

Features

Plugin ID	Aliases	Description	Dependencies
feature:auth	f:auth, auth	JWT & Bcrypt authentication helper	jsonwebtoken, bcrypt
feature:queue	f:queue, queue	Simple job queue interface	None

Creating Custom Plugins

Custom/local plugins are not supported yet.