Plugins and bundles

DataMind Oda is built from plugins, and a bundle groups plugins together. The Plugins page in the sidebar manages the plugins and bundles this installation runs: switch them on or off, install what you add, and remove what you no longer need. This page covers that management in full: what each row records, what an install checks and reports, and where its errors and logs live.

The Plugins page

Open Plugins in the sidebar. In the desktop app the page appears once the Plugins page feature is on; Built-in plugins shows where to turn it on.

• Each row names a plugin or a bundle, with the name, description and icon its package declares, read before the plugin runs.
• A switch records your saved choice. It is not a report that the plugin loaded: a bundle that failed to load keeps its row with the error, can be switched off, and cannot be switched back on until it is repaired.
• A few rows manage Oda itself and stay read-only: they cannot be switched, even if their own files become unreadable.
• Settings holds a read-only list of what is loaded; Built-in plugins covers it.

To install your first bundle step by step, and to connect an MCP server, see Plugins and MCP connections.

Switch a plugin or a bundle on or off

1. Open Plugins in the sidebar.
2. Find the plugin's row or the bundle's row.
3. Flip its switch.

• A plugin switch edits one entry. It updates the last entry for that plugin in this computer's settings file; comments and expressions already in the file stay as they are, and switching twice ends where you started. When the file's entry for the plugin is not clear, Oda adds a clear one instead of guessing. The profile settings file describes the file.
• A bundle switch rewrites the ordered list of bundles. Switching a bundle on adds it at the end of the order. The order can change which setting wins, so a bundle you switch on can change how another setting resolves.
• A change affects every chat in this profile. With hot reload on it applies while Oda runs; otherwise it is saved and applies at the next start. Hot reload covers which case you are in.

Install a bundle

Ask Oda in a chat to install the package you name: Oda performs the install itself, reading and checking the package, adding it, and switching the new bundle on. Do not install the package with package-manager commands.

• Refused before anything runs. Oda refuses a package it cannot accept and names the reason: an empty name; a local path that is not absolute; a web address that is not a git repository or a tarball; a name the package source would not accept; or a version left empty after @. A refusal installs nothing.
• The stages of an install. While it runs, the install reports its stage: installing while the package is fetched and installed, cancelling while a cancellation is settled, and applying once it has passed the point where it can still be cancelled.
• Already present. If the package is already on this computer as a dependency, the install answers restart-required: the change is saved and takes effect after a restart.
• Not a bundle. A package that declares no plugins for Oda is not added as a bundle: Oda reports it and puts the package records back.

Where Oda gets a package

• Your source first. Oda tries the source you named first when it is one of the sources this installation allows.
• A private source is asked alone. Oda never falls through from a private source to a public one, so a package that lives only in a private source is never fetched from a public one.
• Only some failures move on. A network failure, a timeout, or the package or version not being found can change with another source, so Oda tries the next one; any other failure stops the attempt.
• Every attempt is reported. The result names each source Oda asked, so you can see where it stopped.

When a package wants to run build scripts

Some packages run their own build steps during an install. Oda does not run them on its own: it lists them and waits, and they run only after you approve them. Approve only scripts you have seen.

Oda approves the exact scripts still listed as waiting. Approving a script that is no longer waiting refuses the whole approval and writes nothing, so approve from the list as it stands.

Cancel an install

While an install runs, you can ask to stop it. The answer tells you where it stopped:

• cancelled: it stopped in time, and the package manifest and lockfile were put back as they were.
• too-late: it had already passed the point of cancellation, so it finishes applying.
• not-running: there was nothing left to cancel.

Remove a bundle

Select the bundle on the Plugins page and remove it. Oda unloads the bundle's plugins before the package is removed. Oda refuses to remove:

• a bundle Oda manages itself;
• a bundle that is still needed at startup, or whose plugins are active and cannot be unloaded;
• a bundle a settings file above keeps active.

A refused removal changes nothing. A removal that fails partway can keep the changes that landed; Oda reports what is left.

When an install fails

• The records are put back. Oda returns the package manifest and lockfile to what they were, so a failed install leaves the app as it was. Files already downloaded can stay.
• What went wrong is named. Oda reports one of these kinds: the package manager was not found; the wait timed out; the package was not found; no version matched; the network failed; the disk is full; a permission was refused; the package's build scripts were blocked; a package failed its integrity check; or something else.
• The log is kept. Oda keeps the full log of each operation on this computer, while the report in the app is shorter. When you ask for help, keep the report.

Questions, answered

Why does a broken bundle keep its row, and why can it not be switched back on?

A bundle that failed to load stays listed with its error, and its switch keeps showing your saved choice, because the switch is not a report of loading. You can switch it off; switching it back on is refused until the bundle is repaired.

Do I have to approve every plugin change Oda makes?

Yes, for the changes Oda makes: every management action needs Full access or your approval for that one action, and a lower access mode asks first. Approving does not change the chat's access mode, and a declined, cancelled or unavailable approval changes nothing. See When Oda needs more access.

Why was my package refused before anything was installed?

Oda reads the package you named before anything is downloaded, and refuses one it cannot accept: an empty name, a local path that is not absolute, a web address that is not a git repository or a tarball, a name the package source would not accept, or a version left empty after @. A refusal installs nothing.

Where does Oda look for the package, and in what order?

The source you named first, when it is one of the sources this installation allows. From a private source Oda never falls through to a public one, and a source outside the allowed set is asked alone. A network failure, a timeout, or the package or version not being found moves the attempt to the next source; any other failure stops it, and the result names every source Oda asked.

What does the install state tell me?

installing: the package is being fetched and installed. cancelling: a cancellation is being settled. applying: the install has passed the point where it can still be cancelled, so it is finishing up.

Why was my build-script approval refused?

Oda approves only the scripts still listed as waiting. A script that is no longer waiting refuses the whole approval and writes nothing, so read the list as it stands and approve only what is on it.

Why can't I remove a bundle?

Oda refuses to remove a bundle it manages itself, a bundle that is still needed at startup, a bundle whose plugins are active and cannot be unloaded, and one a settings file above keeps active. A refused removal changes nothing.

Does a switch affect chats that are already open?

Yes. A change on the Plugins page applies to every chat in this profile: while Oda runs where hot reload is on, and at the next start otherwise. See Hot reload.

Where is the log of an install kept?

On this computer. Oda keeps the full log of each operation, while the report in the app is a shorter version; it stays there to check later when you ask for help.

Which plugin rows are read-only?

A few rows manage Oda itself. They stay read-only: Oda refuses to switch them, even if their own files become unreadable, so the parts of Oda that manage plugins stay visible.