Verstak Plugin SDK

TypeScript API, JSON schemas and contract tests for plugins running in Verstak Desktop. The SDK is versioned independently so plugin authors can validate their manifests and compile against the public host API.

Alpha contract. This is the first public alpha. Keep SDK, Desktop and official-plugin versions in the same release line while APIs are evolving.

Install and verify

npm ci
npm run lint
npm test
npm run build

The build emits dist/. A packed npm artifact can be made locally with:

./scripts/release.sh v0.1.0

It validates the requested version against package.json, then writes an npm tarball and SHA256SUMS to release/.

Publish a GitHub Release

./scripts/publish-github-release.sh v0.1.0

This runs the same local packaging command, then requires a clean, up-to-date main and an authenticated gh CLI. It creates and pushes the annotated version tag when needed and uploads the npm tarball and SHA256SUMS to GitHub Releases. The requested version must match package.json.

Contracts relevant to the alpha

• Workspaces have durable UUID identities; paths are addresses, not identity.
• Activity may be scoped to workspaceId or to explicit unassigned work.
• The hostname-normalization-v1.json vectors define the shared canonical browser-domain representation used by Desktop and the extension.
• Browser activity batches contain only a normalized hostname and bounded duration. Manual captures use a separate Inbox protocol.

Bundled Frontend API Contract

Verstak Desktop creates the real API with createPluginAPI(pluginId) and passes it to bundled plugin components at mount time. The SDK exports TypeScript types for that host-provided object:

• settings.read/write/writeAll
• capabilities.list/get/has
• commands.register/execute/executeFor
• contributions.list
• events.publish/subscribe
• files.list/metadata/readText/readBytes/writeText/createFolder/move/trash/listTrash/restoreTrash/deleteTrash
• workbench.openResource/editResource
• optional dispose

Files paths are canonical vault-relative slash paths. Backslashes, Windows/UNC absolute paths, traversal, null bytes, .verstak variants, and symlink read/write/move/trash operations are rejected by the host. Text read/write is UTF-8 only; readText is limited to 2 MB and readBytes returns a bounded base64 payload for regular files up to 8 MB.

Open/edit routing uses OpenResourceRequest with kind: "vault-file" and contexts generic-text, generic-markdown, and notes-markdown. Plugins that request routing declare workbench.open; editor/viewer plugins contribute contributes.openProviders. A no-match route returns status: "no-provider".

contributions.list(point) returns host-flattened contribution records with pluginId. Files and Notes use this with commands.executeFor(pluginId, handler, args) to run action providers declared by other plugins.

Workspace lifecycle events are workspace.created, workspace.renamed, workspace.trashed, and workspace.selected. Payloads include workspaceRootPath and workspaceName; rename/trash events include previous or trash metadata.

Bundled frontend plugins are trusted/cooperative and run in the desktop JS context. Current permission checks are contract checks, not a security boundary; real isolation belongs to a later sidecar/sandbox milestone.

License

Copyright © 2026 Verstak contributors. Licensed under GNU AGPLv3 or later.