Plugins

Every asimov.js app is a plugin. The protocol is one function:

module.exports = function plugin (options) {
  asimov.init(myInitializer);
  asimov.register('myThing', somePublicMethod);
  asimov.config({ default_setting: true });
};

Other apps mount you with asimov.use(yourPlugin). The framework runs your plugin function once, during the bootstrap phase, before any initializer fires.

Configuration

Plugins typically expose options through asimov.config(). Keys are arbitrary; values can be anything JSON-serialisable.

asimov.config('myConfigVar', true);

var myVar = asimov.config('myConfigVar');     // read one
var allConfig = asimov.config();              // read all

Constants

A key in UPPER_SNAKE_CASE is treated as a constant. Setting it twice throws.

asimov.config('SOMETHING_CONSTANT', true);
asimov.config('SOMETHING_CONSTANT', false); // throws

Loading from JSON

You can also pass an object literal or a require()-loaded JSON file. The keys are merged into the existing config.

var production = require('./env/production.json');
asimov.config(production);

Public interface registration

Plugins extend the global asimov object by registering methods. asimov.pages, asimov.logger, asimov.server are all just register() calls under the hood.

asimov.register('doNothing', function () {});

asimov.register() can only be called before asimov.start() — that is, inside a plugin hook, not inside an initializer.

Dev-only plugins

Plugins added inside module.exports.start (the bootstrap function) only load when the app is being run standalone — not when it is being required as a plugin from another app. This is the right place for debuggers, REPLs, and watch loops.

var devtools = require('asimov-devtools');
module.exports.start = function bootstrap () {
  asimov
    .use(module.exports)
    .use(devtools)        // never loads when we are a plugin
    .start();
};