Plugins

DataMind Oda is put together from plugins, and a bundle groups plugins into one package. The Plugins page is where you manage them: switch a plugin or a bundle on or off, see what a pack contains, install more from a package name, a repository address or a folder on this computer, and open the settings a plugin brings. The page is part of Oda's developer surface, so it stays hidden until its feature switch is on.

Open the Plugins page

1. Open Settings > Developer > Advanced features and turn on the Plugins page feature; Advanced features covers that list.
2. Open Plugins in the sidebar.

The sidebar entry and the page exist only while that feature is on. Memory, skills and connectors shows where the switch sits among Oda's settings.

While the page reads, it shows Reading plugins…. If it cannot read everything, it says Could not read all plugins, possibly due to a network problem and offers Retry. When this installation runs without a manageable profile, it reads This deployment runs without a manageable profile, so plugins cannot be installed or switched here., and both installing and switching stay unavailable. An installation with nothing to show reads No plugins are installed yet.

What the page lists

• The Official group holds the feature bundles this installation ships switched off, and the built-in plugins that have settings of their own; the Installed group holds the bundles added on this computer. Each group shows a count of its cards.
• Cards are ordered by name, so switching one does not move it.
• A card shows the name, description and icon its package declares. Reading the page shows these without starting anything: a plugin loads only once it is switched on. A bundle's details and the plugins it holds are read from its package the same way.
• An icon may be an SVG, PNG, JPEG or WebP file up to 256 KiB, and it must stay inside the package's folder. A path outside the folder, an absolute path, a web address or a link that leaves the folder is refused. When a package declares no name, description or icon, the card falls back to the package's name and description and to the default artwork.
• A Beta tag marks a beta package. A row that could not be read carries a Problem tag with its reason and cannot be switched on until the problem is fixed.
• A row's state reads Waiting for dependencies, Loading, Running, Unloading, Problem or Not running. The switch beside it shows your saved choice, not a report that the plugin loaded, so a broken bundle keeps its row, its reason and its saved choice.
• The rows that manage plugins themselves stay locked and are never removable: Plugin management needs it; it cannot be switched off or uninstalled.
• A second, read-only list sits under Settings > Built-in plugins: it inspects what this installation loads and changes nothing. Built-in plugins covers it.

Switch a plugin or a bundle on or off

1. Find the row and flip its switch.
2. Watch the row: it moves through Waiting for dependencies and Loading to Running, or reports Problem.

• Switching a bundle moves the parts it groups together; a part's own switch changes only that part.
• The change applies to every chat in this installation. Where live apply is on, it takes effect while Oda runs; otherwise the row reports The change takes effect at the next start. How changes apply and what start-up reports covers the timing.
• When a higher-priority configuration wins, the notice reads {name} was saved, but a higher-priority configuration overrides it, so it is not in effect.
• A failed switch reports Could not enable: {reason}, Could not disable: {reason}, or, for a part, Could not enable the component: {reason}.
• Switching a plugin off waits for what it was doing, then unloads its code and styles; switching it back on loads a fresh copy.

Look inside a pack

Open a card to see the plugin's own page; the crumb reads Plugins, Back to plugins returns to the list, and Back to {name} appears when you came from another plugin's page.

• The Components section lists the parts a pack contains, each with its own state and its own switch. The switch reads Enable component followed by the part's name, and it changes only that part.
• A summary counts the parts by state, for example 3 total · 3 off.
• Filter components narrows the list; with nothing matching it reads No component matches., and a pack that brings no parts reads This plugin pack contains no components.
• Once a list on the page holds more than ten rows, a filter box appears above it.

Open a plugin's settings

Some plugins and bundles bring settings you edit from their page.

1. Open the plugin and open its settings.
2. Edit the fields you need.
3. Choose Save.

• An edit stages until you save; leaving the page drops what you have not saved.
• A field holding your value is marked Overridden, and Reset to default clears it.
• What the Official group holds depends on what this installation ships. Where a plugin is present, opening it shows its card: Subagent sets the delegation limits and which models subagents may use (Subagent settings), and Agent loop bounds parallel tool calls (Agent loop settings). Agent Teams and Voice input are marked Beta, and voice input may install extra components the first time you use it (Agent Teams, Set up voice input).
• Some plugins also take live edits while Oda runs; Live plugin settings covers those forms.

Install a plugin

1. On the Plugins page, choose Add plugin.
2. In Package name or address, enter the plugin's package name (it can carry a version), a GitHub repository address, or the path to a local plugin folder on this computer. The field shows the example for example @acme/datamind-plugin.
3. For the exact forms, expand Install guide and examples: Package name, GitHub repository address and Local plugin directory, each with an example and a Use example button. Pressing Enter in the field starts the check too.
4. Open Registry if you want a different download source; the next section covers the choices.
5. Choose Install. Oda reads the address first, with Checking…, then starts the run.

The dialog carries the warning Install only plugins you trust: they run with your permissions and can damage DataMind Oda or leak your data.

Before anything downloads, the check refuses an address it cannot accept. The sentence shows under the field, the address stays editable, and nothing is installed:

• This is not a package name or address that can be installed: {reason}
• This plugin is already installed
• No such plugin was found
• The path does not exist or is not a valid plugin package
• This package declares no bundle, so it cannot be installed as a plugin: {reason}
• The plugin registry could not be reached; check the network and try again
• No registry could be reached (tried: {registries}); check the network or proxy settings, or change the registry

Choose the download source

• Registry names the source the install asks first: Default registry, the mirrors this installation offers, and Custom address.
• A Custom address must start with http:// or https://; anything else is refused with Enter an address starting with http:// or https://. A hint explains that private sources belong here, and where a source's login credentials go.
• Your last choice starts the next dialog.
• When the first source cannot serve the package, the run says so and asks the next one: {previous} could not serve the package; retrying through {registry} (registry {index} of {total}).

While an install runs

• The installing screen shows the package as Oda read it: its name, one-line description and version.
• Show install details folds the run's log: Running, Failed or Done, an exit line such as exit code {code}, and Copy, Copied and Collapse controls. A long log folds after 12 lines, keeping the start and the end.
• One install runs at a time, and while a run is tracked the page's main button reads View installation.
• Cancel install stops a run while it still can: a cancellation during the download waits for confirmation, and once Oda starts applying the change the run cannot be cancelled.
• Closing the dialog hides it. Oda asks to cancel when that is still possible; a run past that point finishes on its own and reports through a notice, and View installation reopens a tracked run.
• A cancelled install switches nothing on: Installation cancelled; the plugin is not enabled, and downloaded files may remain.
• When Oda cannot tell how a run ended, the screen reads Installation status unconfirmed and offers Check installation status.

When packages want to run install scripts

Some dependencies want to run their own install scripts. Oda does not run them on its own; the failed screen lists the packages and explains:

• These packages have install scripts that pnpm did not run.
• Once allowed, the scripts run here with your permissions, and the permission is saved in this profile.
• Allow only packages you trust.

In place of Retry, the screen offers Allow these scripts and retry, which allows the scripts still waiting and retries the install. The permission is saved for those packages, so a later install does not ask again, and the finished screen reads Install scripts allowed for {names}.

When an install finishes

• The done screen reads Install finished with no new dependency. or Installed; it loads at the next start.
• Enable now switches the new plugin on, closes the dialog and scrolls its card into view; Done closes the dialog and leaves it installed and off.
• A successful install does not promise the plugin can start: if it fails to load, its row reports the problem, and the plugin cannot be switched on until it is repaired.

When an install fails

The failed screen shows one line, and Show install details holds the full output. Retry runs the install again; Change registry appears when the source was the problem and no scripts are waiting for permission, and choosing it returns you to the address with the source options open.

• The network connection failed
• No registry could be reached (tried: {registries}). Check the network or proxy settings, or change the registry and retry.
• {host} could not be reached. A GitHub address or a .tgz link is not fetched through the registry: this machine must reach it directly or through a proxy. If the plugin is also published to npm, enter its package name instead.
• No version matches the request
• The disk is full; the install stopped
• No write permission; the plugin cannot be installed
• The downloaded package failed its integrity check
• The install timed out
• Something went wrong during the install; the details say what

A failed or cancelled install puts the package records back, so the app is as it was; files already downloaded can stay.

Remove an installed plugin

1. Open the plugin's page and choose Uninstall.
2. Confirm in the dialog, which asks Uninstall "{name}"? and explains What it provides goes away once it is uninstalled.

Oda unloads the plugin before the package is removed.

• Oda refuses to remove what it manages itself, and it refuses a bundle whose parts another configuration still uses: Other configuration still uses this bundle's components; switch them off first.
• A refused removal changes nothing; the failure reads Could not uninstall: {reason}.

When Oda manages plugins for you

You can ask Oda in a chat to install, switch or remove a plugin. Every one of these actions needs Full access or your approval for that single action; approving does not change the chat's access mode, and a declined, cancelled or unavailable approval changes nothing. Installing runs plugin code with your permissions, so allow only what you trust. Plugins and bundles covers that chat side, and When Oda needs more access covers approvals.

1. In a chat, ask Oda to install the bundle and tell Oda where it is on this computer.
2. Approve the install.
3. If the package wants to run build scripts during the install, Oda lists them and waits. Nothing runs until you approve those scripts.
4. Once installed, the bundle stays with your app on this computer and survives a restart.

Oda performs the install and the bundle selection itself; do not install the package with package manager commands in the chat. A switch, an install or a replaced package can report one of these states:

Connect an MCP server through a bundle

An MCP server gives Oda the tools of another service, and a bundle can carry such a connection. Ask Oda to set up the connection as part of a bundle; to add and manage servers yourself, see MCP servers.

• A connection bundles a server in one of two ways: an HTTP address the server answers at, or a local command that runs on this computer. A local command can take arguments, environment values and its own working folder.
• If the server cannot start, the connection fails and reports it.
• To check that a connection works, use it: ask Oda to call one of the server's tools. The tools a connection offers are named after the server it came from.
• If a connection fails, repair the same bundle instead of setting up a second one.
• Keep secrets out of the chat. A connection can refer to a credential kept on this computer; do not paste tokens or passwords into the conversation.

Install a bundle from a command line

A bundle you build or receive as a folder on this computer can also join a profile through the profile's plugin command, giving the folder's absolute path as a file: address.

1. Run the profile's plugin command, naming the profile and the folder's own absolute path.
2. Start the profile again. A running profile keeps the bundle set it started with, so a change to its packages applies at the next start.
3. Switch the bundle on, on the Plugins page.

Managing packages from outside Oda needs pnpm on your PATH; the command forwards its arguments to the package manager, so removing or updating a bundle uses the same form. Oda profiles and launchers covers profiles and the command in full, and Install a plugin covers installing from inside the app.

Keep a change you make in Creator mode

Creator mode extends Oda through conversation: Oda can write a plugin that adds a feature or a UI. The two inspection calls it uses are read-only, so looking never changes anything; a change that should outlast the chat is authored as a bundle and installed the way any bundle is, from inside the app or from a command line. Installing is a managed operation with the same approvals as any other install, and a newly installed package loads at the next start. Inspect and manage extensions covers the read-only calls.

Where a plugin's configuration is described

A plugin's settings arrive through its entry in the composition: the profile's layers and your own settings file write the same entries, and the last write wins (The Oda settings file covers the file your changes live in). The reference for what each entry can set is the plugin configuration catalogue:

• One configuration block per plugin. For each plugin, the catalogue shows the config: block a composition entry can set: its fields and their shape. It is generated from the plugins' own source, so it describes what a build actually accepts.
• Requires: lines. A Requires: line lists the service keys the plugin declares. They are resolved before the plugin starts: a declared service whose provider is away parks the plugin instead of failing a later call.
• Plugins with no configuration. The Loadable plugins with no config section lists plugins that load and take no configuration.
• Packages you cannot load. The Seam packages (not directly loadable) and Library packages (no plugin entry) sections keep packages that are not plugins you load apart from the loadable ones.

To read the exact schema a running installation has mounted, use the inspection tools: filter the config directory by the plugin's name, then query with the entry's id. The answer carries the entry's status and, when it has one, its exact JSON schema; Inspect and manage extensions covers the calls.

Questions, answered

Why do I not see Plugins in the sidebar?

The page is part of Oda's developer surface, so it stays hidden until the Plugins page feature is on in Settings > Developer > Advanced features. Advanced features covers the switch and its risks.

How is a bundle different from a plugin?

A plugin is one of the parts Oda is built from; a bundle is a package that groups parts together under one switch. A bundle's page lists its Components, and switching the bundle moves those parts together, while a part's own Enable component switch changes only that part and leaves the rest of the bundle untouched.

What do the states and tags on a row mean?

A row's state is one of Waiting for dependencies, Loading, Running, Unloading, Problem or Not running. A Beta tag marks a beta package, and a Problem tag comes with the reason the row could not be read; a row in that state cannot be switched on until it is repaired.

What does the switch record?

Your saved choice, not whether the plugin loaded. That is why a broken bundle keeps its saved choice on the switch while its row shows the problem. The choice belongs to this installation and applies to every chat; where live apply is off, it takes effect at the next start. When a higher-priority configuration decides the plugin's state, that configuration wins and the notice says your choice is not in effect.

How do I see what a plugin pack contains?

Open its card: the Components section lists the parts, with a count for the states (3 total · 3 off), and each part's own state and switch. Filter components narrows the list; a pack that brings no parts reads This plugin pack contains no components.

Which source is a plugin downloaded from?

The one chosen in Registry: Default registry, a mirror this installation offers, or a Custom address. Your last choice starts the next dialog, and a custom address must start with http:// or https://.

Why does an install ask me to allow install scripts?

A dependency of the package wants to run its own install scripts, and Oda does not run them on its own. The screen lists the packages, Allow these scripts and retry allows the scripts still waiting and retries, and the permission is saved for later installs. Allowed scripts run with your permissions, so allow only packages you trust.

How do I remove a plugin I added?

Open its page and choose Uninstall, then confirm in the dialog. Oda unloads the plugin before the package is removed, and it refuses to remove what it manages itself or a bundle whose parts another configuration still uses. Until you uninstall it, a plugin you installed stays part of this installation, with your switch choices saved.

Can Oda manage plugins for me in a chat?

Yes. You can ask Oda to install, switch or remove a plugin, and every such action needs Full access or your approval for that single action. Installing runs plugin code with your permissions, so allow only what you trust. A change Oda reports as restart-required is not live until you restart Oda. When Oda needs more access covers approvals.

Can I install a bundle straight from a folder on this computer?

Yes. In the app, enter the folder's path in Package name or address. From a command line, add the folder to a profile with the profile's plugin command, giving its absolute path as a file: address, then start the profile again; a running profile keeps the bundle set it started with.

Can a bundle connect an MCP server?

Yes. A connection can bundle a server that answers at an HTTP address, or a local command that runs on this computer. Ask Oda to set the connection up for you, and check it by asking Oda to call one of the server's tools.

Where do I find what settings a plugin accepts?

In the plugin configuration catalogue: for every plugin it shows the config: block a composition entry can set, generated from the plugins' own source. In a running installation, filter the config directory by the plugin's name and query with the entry's id to read its exact schema.