# Plugins A plugin is a function that returns an object - more specifically, the object may contain functions and components that augment and modify Swagger-UI's functionality. ### Format A plugin return value may contain any of these keys, where `myStateKey` is a name for a piece of state: ```javascript { statePlugins: { myStateKey: { actions, reducers, selectors, wrapActions, wrapSelectors } }, components: {}, wrapComponents: {}, fn: {} } ``` ### System is provided to plugins Let's assume we have a plugin, `NormalPlugin`, that exposes a `doStuff` action under the `normal` state namespace. ```javascript const ExtendingPlugin = function(system) { return { statePlugins: { extending: { actions: { doExtendedThings: function(...args) { // you can do other things in here if you want return system.normalActions.doStuff(...args) } } } } } } ``` As you can see, each plugin is passed a reference to the `system` being built up. As long as `NormalPlugin` is compiled before `ExtendingPlugin`, this will work without any issues. There is no dependency management built into the plugin system, so if you create a plugin that relies on another, it is your responsibility to make sure that the dependent plugin is loaded _after_ the plugin being depended on. ### Interfaces ##### Actions ```javascript const MyActionPlugin = () => { return { statePlugins: { example: { actions: { updateFavoriteColor: (str) => { return { type: "EXAMPLE_SET_FAV_COLOR", payload: str } } } } } } } ``` Once an action has been defined, you can use it anywhere that you can get a system reference: ```javascript // elsewhere system.exampleActions.updateFavoriteColor("blue") ``` The Action interface enables the creation of new Redux action creators within a piece of state in the Swagger-UI system. This action creator function will be exposed to container components as `exampleActions.updateFavoriteColor`. When this action creator is called, the return value (which should be a [Flux Standard Action](https://github.com/acdlite/flux-standard-action)) will be passed to the `example` reducer, which we'll define in the next section. For more information about the concept of actions in Redux, see the [Redux Actions documentation](http://redux.js.org/docs/basics/Actions.html). ##### Reducers Reducers take a state (which is an [Immutable.js map](https://facebook.github.io/immutable-js/docs/#/Map)) and an action, and return a new state. Reducers must be provided to the system under the name of the action type that they handle, in this case, `EXAMPLE_SET_FAV_COLOR`. ```javascript const MyReducerPlugin = function(system) { return { statePlugins: { example: { reducers: { "EXAMPLE_SET_FAV_COLOR": (state, action) => { // you're only working with the state under the namespace, in this case "example". // So you can do what you want, without worrying about /other/ namespaces return state.set("favColor", action.payload) } } } } } } ``` ##### Selectors Selectors reach into They're an easy way to keep logic for getting data out of state in one place, and is preferred over passing state data directly into components. ```javascript const MySelectorPlugin = function(system) { return { statePlugins: { example: { selectors: { myFavoriteColor: (state) => state.get("favColor") } } } } } ``` You can also use the Reselect library to memoize your selectors, which is recommended for any selectors that will see heavy use, since Reselect automatically memoizes selector calls for you: ```javascript import { createSelector } from "reselect" const MySelectorPlugin = function(system) { return { statePlugins: { example: { selectors: { // this selector will be memoized after it is run once for a // value of `state` myFavoriteColor: createSelector((state) => state.get("favColor")) } } } } } ``` Once a selector has been defined, you can use it anywhere that you can get a system reference: ```javascript system.exampleSelectors.myFavoriteColor() // gets `favColor` in state for you ``` ##### Components You can provide a map of components to be integrated into the system. Be mindful of the key names for the components you provide, as you'll need to use those names to refer to the components elsewhere. ```javascript class HelloWorldClass extends React.Component { render() { return