New plugin format, Root plugins, Library improvements

• Plugins now follow a new format

  • Plugin metadata like name, description, html files and flags, now reside in a separate plugin.json file.
  • This allows plugins that only use javascript (called passive plugins internally), to not include any python code at all
  • This new format also supports the new flags field, where plugins can modify the way the loader treats them. The only flags supported so far are root, which loads the plugin into a root process, and the debug flag which replaces the hot_reload setting.
  • You can find more information on this new plugin format in the Wiki.

• Library improvements

  • Added functions to inject and remove css from tabs.
  • Added library function to execute code in a different tab.
  • You can now find the documentation for all the library methods in the Wiki.

• Security improvements

  • Plugins are now assigned a callsign (a random string), which they use for all internal identification, like resource fetching and method calls. This is to ensure that plugins only access their own resources and methods.
  • Plugins are now owned by root and have read-only permissions. This is handled automatically.
  • Plugins now run in their own isolated processes, with their own event loop. This isolation allows us to implement useful functionality like root access, since these processes can also have different permissions.

Proper auto reload, better plugin structure

Changelog

• The loader now automatically reinjects itself into Steam when Steam gets restarted
  • This means the loader now properly starts up again when switching back from Desktop Mode and also is more reliable when rebooting the Deck
• Plugin Tiles are now isolated in their own iframes
• Plugins now all live in their own folder
  • This allows separating python backend code from UI code, bundling extra dependencies and so on
• The menu title now gets changed from Plugins to the name of the current Plugin when one gets loaded
• Fixed first plugin button being smaller than the rest of them

Initial Release

Changelog

Compared to the original version:

• The loader has been rewritten in Python
• Plugins are now written in Python. Check out the Plugin Template if you want to make your own plugins!
• Plugins can now call Python functions from JavaScript