Here are some resources that will be helpful for getting started with plugin development
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==== Our IRC channel
Many Kibana developers hang out on `irc.freenode.net` in the `#kibana` channel. We *want* to help you with plugin development. Even more than that, we *want your help* in understanding your plugin goals so we can build a great plugin system for you! If you've never used IRC, welcome to the fun. You can get started with the http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=kibana[Freenode Web Client].
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==== Some light reading
- Our {repo}blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md[contributing guide] can help you get a development environment going
- Tim Roes' excellent blog series https://www.timroes.de/2016/02/21/writing-kibana-plugins-custom-applications/[Writing Kibana Plugins]
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==== Videos
- https://www.elastic.co/elasticon/2015/sf/contributors-guide-to-the-kibana-galaxy[Contributors Guide to the Kibana Galaxy]
- https://www.elastic.co/elasticon/conf/2016/sf/how-to-build-your-own-kibana-plugins[Kibana Plugin Dev - Elasticon 2016]
It is recommended that you kick-start your plugin by generating it with the {repo}tree/{branch}/packages/kbn-plugin-generator[Kibana Plugin Generator]. Run the following within the Kibana repo and you will be asked a couple questions, see some progress bars, and have a freshly generated plugin ready for you to play within Kibana's `plugins` folder.
The Kibana directory must be named `kibana`, and your plugin directory should be located in the root of `kibana` in a `plugins` directory, for example:
You're welcome to use these components, but be aware that they are rapidly evolving and we might introduce breaking changes that will disrupt your plugin's UI.
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==== TypeScript Support
Plugin code can be written in http://www.typescriptlang.org/[TypeScript] if desired. To enable TypeScript support create a `tsconfig.json` file at the root of your plugin that looks something like this:
["source","js"]
-----------
{
// extend Kibana's tsconfig, or use your own settings
"extends": "../../kibana/tsconfig.json",
// tell the TypeScript compiler where to find your source files
"include": [
"server/**/*",
"public/**/*"
]
}
-----------
TypeScript code is automatically converted into JavaScript during development, but not in the distributable version of Kibana. If you use the {repo}blob/{branch}/packages/kbn-plugin-helpers[@kbn/plugin-helpers] to build your plugin then your `.ts` and `.tsx` files will be permanently transpiled before your plugin is archived. If you have your own build process, make sure to run the TypeScript compiler on your source files and ship the compilation output so that your plugin will work with the distributable version of Kibana.