Your First Plugin

For a first plugin in v3, use Lua. It gives you a fast local loop without requiring an external runtime.

1. Register the plugin in custom/conf/robot.yaml

ExternalPlugins:
  "hello":
    Description: Example hello-world plugin
    Path: plugins/hello.lua

2. Add matcher and help metadata in custom/conf/plugins/hello.yaml

Commands:
- Command: hello
  Regex: '(?i:hello)$'
  Usage: "hello"
  Summary: "reply with a friendly greeting"
  Examples:
  - "(alias) hello"
  Keywords: [ "hello", "example" ]

3. Create custom/plugins/hello.lua

local gopherbot = require "gopherbot_v1"
local Robot = gopherbot.Robot
local task = gopherbot.task

local cmd = arg and arg[1] or ""

if cmd == "init" then
  return task.Normal
end

if cmd == "hello" then
  local bot = Robot:new()
  bot:Reply("Hello from Lua")
  return task.Normal
end

return task.Fail

4. Reload and test

;reload
;hello

Why this layout matters

• command metadata lives in config, not buried in code
• the plugin code stays small and focused
• help output stays aligned with the actual command surface