Building and Distribution

Build process and distribution strategies for QueryBox plugins

Overview

QueryBox plugins are standalone executables that communicate with the host application via stdin/stdout. Plugins can be written in any language, but the SDK and examples are written in Go.

This guide covers building plugins with Task, cross-compilation, and distribution strategies.

Build Process

Using Task (Recommended)

The project uses Task as a build tool. To build all plugins:

task build:plugins

From Taskfile.yml:64-69:

build:plugins:
  summary: Builds all executables in `plugins/` and places them in `bin/plugins`
  cmds:
    - mkdir -p {{.BIN_DIR}}/plugins
    - bash ./scripts/build-plugins.sh

Build Script

The build script (scripts/build-plugins.sh) automatically:

1. Discovers all plugin directories under plugins/
2. Skips the template plugin (example only)
3. Builds each plugin with main.go
4. Outputs binaries to bin/plugins/
5. Adds .exe extension on Windows
6. Makes binaries executable

From scripts/build-plugins.sh:1-74:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

ROOT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")../" && pwd)"
PLUGINS_DIR="$ROOT_DIR/plugins"
OUT_DIR="$ROOT_DIR/bin/plugins"

mkdir -p "$OUT_DIR"

echo "Building plugins from $PLUGINS_DIR -> $OUT_DIR"
echo "Target GOOS=${GOOS:-$(go env GOOS)} GOARCH=${GOARCH:-$(go env GOARCH)}"

for d in "$PLUGINS_DIR"/*; do
  [ -d "$d" ] || continue
  name="$(basename "$d")"

  # Skip template plugin
  if [ "$name" = "template" ]; then
    echo "- Skipping template plugin (example)"
    continue
  fi

  # Build only if plugin contains a main.go file
  if [ -f "./plugins/$name/main.go" ]; then
    build_target="./plugins/$name/main.go"
  else
    echo "- Skipping $name (no main.go)"
    continue
  fi

  # Determine output path with .exe on Windows
  out_path="$OUT_DIR/$name"
  goos=${GOOS:-$(go env GOOS)}

  # Handle Windows extension
  if [ "$goos" = "windows" ] && [[ "$out_path" != *.exe ]]; then
    out_path="${out_path}.exe"
  fi

  echo "- Building $name -> $out_path"
  if go build -o "$out_path" "${build_target}"; then
    chmod +x "$out_path" || true
  else
    echo "  Failed to build $name" >&2
  fi
done

Cross-Compilation

Building for Different Platforms

Go supports cross-compilation via GOOS and GOARCH environment variables:

# Build for Linux (amd64)
GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 task build:plugins

# Build for macOS (arm64)
GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 task build:plugins

# Build for Windows (amd64)
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 task build:plugins

Supported Platforms

Platform	GOOS	GOARCH	Notes
Linux x64	linux	amd64	Most servers
Linux ARM64	linux	arm64	Raspberry Pi, AWS Graviton
macOS Intel	darwin	amd64	Pre-2020 Macs
macOS Apple Silicon	darwin	arm64	M1/M2/M3 Macs
Windows x64	windows	amd64	Most Windows systems

Docker Cross-Compilation

For complex builds or when cross-compiling with CGO:

task setup:docker

This builds a Docker image for cross-compilation (approximately 800MB download).

Plugin Structure

A minimal plugin requires:

plugins/
└── myplugin/
    ├── main.go          # Entry point
    └── go.mod           # Dependencies (optional if using workspace)

Minimal Example

From plugins/template/main.go:1-104:

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"

    "github.com/felixdotgo/querybox/pkg/plugin"
    pluginpb "github.com/felixdotgo/querybox/rpc/contracts/plugin/v1"
)

type templatePlugin struct {
    pluginpb.UnimplementedPluginServiceServer
}

func (t *templatePlugin) Info(ctx context.Context, _ *pluginpb.PluginV1_InfoRequest) (*plugin.InfoResponse, error) {
    return &plugin.InfoResponse{
        Type:        plugin.TypeDriver,
        Name:        "template",
        Version:     "0.1.0",
        Description: "Template plugin",
        Author:      "Querybox Core Team",
    }, nil
}

func (t *templatePlugin) Exec(ctx context.Context, req *plugin.ExecRequest) (*plugin.ExecResponse, error) {
    data := map[string]string{"query": req.Query}
    return &plugin.ExecResponse{
        Result: &plugin.ExecResult{
            Payload: &pluginpb.PluginV1_ExecResult_Kv{
                Kv: &plugin.KeyValueResult{Data: data},
            },
        },
    }, nil
}

func (t *templatePlugin) AuthForms(ctx context.Context, _ *plugin.AuthFormsRequest) (*plugin.AuthFormsResponse, error) {
    basic := plugin.AuthForm{
        Key:  "basic",
        Name: "Basic",
        Fields: []*plugin.AuthField{
            {Type: plugin.AuthFieldText, Name: "host", Label: "Host", Required: true},
        },
    }
    return &plugin.AuthFormsResponse{Forms: map[string]*plugin.AuthForm{"basic": &basic}}, nil
}

func (t *templatePlugin) TestConnection(ctx context.Context, req *plugin.TestConnectionRequest) (*plugin.TestConnectionResponse, error) {
    return &plugin.TestConnectionResponse{Ok: true, Message: "Connection successful"}, nil
}

func main() {
    plugin.ServeCLI(&templatePlugin{})
}

Plugin Discovery

From docs/features/02-plugin-system.md:109-126:

QueryBox looks for plugins in two locations:

1. User Plugin Directory

The primary location is a user-writable directory:

• Linux: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/querybox/plugins (usually ~/.config/querybox/plugins)
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/querybox/plugins
• Windows: %APPDATA%\querybox\plugins

At startup, QueryBox copies bundled plugins from bin/plugins to this directory, overwriting existing files. This keeps bundled plugins up-to-date while allowing users to add custom plugins.

2. Bundled Plugin Directory

The fallback location is bin/plugins next to the executable (or inside .app bundles on macOS).

Plugin Registration

1. QueryBox scans both directories at startup
2. Executes plugin info (2s timeout) for each binary
3. Caches metadata in memory for the process lifetime
4. User directory takes precedence over bundled directory when names conflict

Manual Rescan

Plugins are not automatically reloaded. To refresh without restarting:

• Click Rescan in the Plugins window (triggers synchronous re-probe)
• Or restart the application

Distribution Strategies

1. Bundle with Application

Place plugins in bin/plugins/ before packaging:

task build:plugins
task package

The bundled plugins are automatically copied to the user directory on first launch.

2. Standalone Distribution

Distribute plugins as separate downloads:

1. Build the plugin binary
2. Package with installation instructions
3. Users manually copy to their plugin directory

Example distribution package:

myplugin-v1.0.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz
├── myplugin              # Binary
├── README.md             # Installation instructions
└── LICENSE

Installation instructions:

# Linux/macOS
mkdir -p ~/.config/querybox/plugins
cp myplugin ~/.config/querybox/plugins/
chmod +x ~/.config/querybox/plugins/myplugin

# Windows (PowerShell)
mkdir "$env:APPDATA\querybox\plugins" -Force
cp myplugin.exe "$env:APPDATA\querybox\plugins\"

3. Plugin Repository (Future)

While not currently implemented, QueryBox could support:

• Central plugin registry
• In-app plugin browser
• Automatic updates

Dependencies

Managing Go Dependencies

Plugins can use any Go module. Add dependencies to your plugin’s go.mod:

cd plugins/myplugin
go get github.com/lib/pq

Or rely on the workspace root’s dependencies:

// plugins/myplugin/main.go
import (
    "github.com/felixdotgo/querybox/pkg/plugin"
    "github.com/lib/pq"  // Shared dependency
)

Vendor Dependencies (Optional)

For reproducible builds:

cd plugins/myplugin
go mod vendor
go build -mod=vendor -o ../../bin/plugins/myplugin

Binary Size Optimization

Build Flags

Reduce binary size with linker flags:

go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o bin/plugins/myplugin plugins/myplugin/main.go

• -s: Strip symbol table
• -w: Strip DWARF debugging info

UPX Compression

Further compress with UPX:

upx --best --lzma bin/plugins/myplugin

Before/After Example:

mysql (uncompressed):    12.5 MB
mysql (stripped):        10.2 MB
mysql (UPX compressed):   3.8 MB

Versioning

Plugins should follow Semantic Versioning:

func (p *myPlugin) Info(ctx context.Context, _ *pluginpb.PluginV1_InfoRequest) (*plugin.InfoResponse, error) {
    return &plugin.InfoResponse{
        Name:    "myplugin",
        Version: "1.2.3",  // MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH
        // ...
    }, nil
}

• MAJOR: Incompatible API changes
• MINOR: Backward-compatible features
• PATCH: Backward-compatible bug fixes

Testing Plugins

Manual Testing

# Build plugin
task build:plugins

# Test info command
./bin/plugins/myplugin info

# Test exec command (requires JSON on stdin)
echo '{"connection":{"dsn":"test"}, "query":"SELECT 1"}' | ./bin/plugins/myplugin exec

# Test authforms command
./bin/plugins/myplugin authforms

Automated Testing

Create test files alongside your plugin:

// plugins/myplugin/myplugin_test.go
package main

import (
    "context"
    "testing"

    "github.com/felixdotgo/querybox/pkg/plugin"
)

func TestInfo(t *testing.T) {
    p := &myPlugin{}
    resp, err := p.Info(context.Background(), nil)
    if err != nil {
        t.Fatalf("Info failed: %v", err)
    }
    if resp.Name != "myplugin" {
        t.Errorf("Expected name 'myplugin', got '%s'", resp.Name)
    }
}

Run tests:

cd plugins/myplugin
go test ./...

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions Example

name: Build Plugins

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        goos: [linux, darwin, windows]
        goarch: [amd64, arm64]

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - uses: actions/setup-go@v4
        with:
          go-version: '1.21'

      - name: Build Plugin
        env:
          GOOS: ${{ matrix.goos }}
          GOARCH: ${{ matrix.goarch }}
        run: task build:plugins

      - name: Upload Artifacts
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: myplugin-${{ matrix.goos }}-${{ matrix.goarch }}
          path: bin/plugins/

Packaging for Release

Create Release Archives

# Linux
GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 task build:plugins
tar -czf myplugin-v1.0.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz -C bin/plugins myplugin

# macOS
GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 task build:plugins
tar -czf myplugin-v1.0.0-darwin-arm64.tar.gz -C bin/plugins myplugin

# Windows
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 task build:plugins
zip myplugin-v1.0.0-windows-amd64.zip bin/plugins/myplugin.exe

GitHub Releases

Attach archives to GitHub releases with checksums:

sha256sum myplugin-*.tar.gz myplugin-*.zip > checksums.txt

Debugging Build Issues

Enable Verbose Output

go build -v -o bin/plugins/myplugin plugins/myplugin/main.go

Check Dependencies

cd plugins/myplugin
go mod tidy
go mod verify

View Build Environment

go env