Plugins

Arcagrad reads and organizes your own files on its own. Plugins are how it reaches outside your library — to fetch metadata, browse an external source, download new items, and watch for new releases. They’re optional: reading and organizing what you already have works without them.

What plugins can do

Add metadata

Pull tags, a cover, a description, and creator info for an item from an online source — one click, or automatically as files arrive.

Browse a source

Browse an external catalog from inside Arcagrad, with the same grid and covers as your own library.

Download into your library

Bring an item you found straight into a kind folder as a new file — no manual download-and-import.

Follow for releases

Subscribe to a search on a source; Arcagrad checks it for you and collects new matches to review.

Read online

Stream a source’s pages in Arcagrad’s reader without downloading the whole item first.

Find by image

Reverse-image lookup — match a cover or page against a source to identify what an item is.

Note

These are what the plugin contract allows — not every plugin does all of them. A plugin declares which it supports, and the bundled ones focus on metadata and browsing.

Sandboxed by design

Plugins are sandboxed WebAssembly modules. A plugin can’t read your disk or open network connections on its own — the server makes every request on its behalf, and only to the sites the plugin declares up front. So even a community-made plugin is boxed in, and can only do what you allow.

Installing a plugin

Plugin management lives under Plugins in the sidebar, and is admin-only.

1. Open Plugins. Bundled plugins are listed and ready to install; to get community ones, add a repository (below).

2. Click Install. It loads immediately — no restart. Uninstalling is just as quick, and it keeps any saved credentials in case you reinstall later.

3. Arcagrad checks your repositories for updates nightly, so the store tells you when a newer version is available.

Turning plugins on per kind

Plugins are off by default. You choose which are active for each kind — for example, a metadata source for your Manga kind but not your Books kind.

Automatic metadata

Mark a plugin auto for a kind and Arcagrad fetches metadata for new items in that kind as they arrive — drop files in, and they come back tagged.

Credentials

Some sources need an account. Add its credentials on the plugin’s page; they’re stored for that plugin only and never shared with another plugin. Each plugin explains what it needs and where to find it.

Using plugins

• Add metadata — on an item, choose Scrape and pick a plugin. It fills in tags, a cover, and a description (or let auto do it).
• Browse & download — open a source’s catalog, preview an item, and download it into the kind you choose.
• Follow — save a search as a Following; new matches are collected for you to review and download when you want them.

Repositories

Community plugins install from a repository — a URL you add under Plugins → Repositories. Bundled plugins are built in and always available. A repository only supplies the plugin files; a plugin still can’t touch the network except through the sandbox above.

Authoring your own

Plugins follow an open, versioned contract, so anyone can write one. The authoring guide and SDK reference live in the repository for now; a fuller version will follow here.