panel-builder

name	panel-builder
description	Tools for creating and managing user plugins

Plugin Building Tools

You have access to tools for creating user plugins in Lightfall.

Plugin Kinds

Two kinds of user plugins are supported. The kind is inferred from what your code defines and registers:

• Panel plugin — a BasePanel subclass with a panel_metadata class attribute, self-registered at module scope with PanelRegistry.get_instance().register(MyPanel, replace=True). This is the canonical user-plugin pattern; see the panel_design skill for the full BasePanel API.
• Agent plugin — an ToolPlugin subclass that extends the embedded Claude agent (skill prompts + MCP tools). Auto-registered via PluginType.__init_subclass__ on module load.

Creating a Plugin

Use lightfall_create_user_plugin to write a plugin file to ~/lightfall/plugins/. The plugin is validated (syntax + exec + at least one panel registration or concrete ToolPlugin subclass), written to disk, and loaded immediately.

Example workflow:

1. User asks for a panel with specific functionality.
2. You generate a BasePanel subclass with a panel_metadata and a trailing PanelRegistry.get_instance().register(MyPanel, replace=True).
3. You call lightfall_create_user_plugin with that source.
4. The plugin is validated, written to disk, and loaded.
5. User can open the panel from View > User > [Panel Name].

Quick Prototyping

For rapid prototyping, use lightfall_create_temp_plugin to create a temporary plugin that will be lost on application restart. This is useful for testing ideas before committing to a persistent plugin.

Plugin Management

• lightfall_list_user_plugins: See all loaded user plugins and their status
• lightfall_reload_plugin: Force reload after external edits
• lightfall_unload_plugin: Remove a plugin from the registry