cinny-desktop/docs/PLUGIN_BUTTON_API.md

Plugin Button Registration API

An easy way to register plugin buttons in various UI locations with positioning and grouping support.

Example Plugins

• example-button-plugin/ - Simple examples showing basic usage patterns
• example-showcase-plugin/ - Complete demonstration of ALL 11 locations ⭐

UI Locations

Buttons render in two visual styles depending on location — nav list rows (icon + label, full width) or icon buttons (compact, toolbar/header style).

Nav List Rows

These render as full-width list entries matching the style of built-in items like "Create Room" and "Message Search":

Location	Where it appears
channel-list	Space channel list, below Lobby and Message Search
home-section	Home panel, inside the Rooms category above the room list
direct-messages	Direct Messages panel, below "Create Chat" and above the CHATS dropdown

Icon Buttons

These render as compact icon buttons inline with other toolbar/header controls:

Location	Where it appears
text-composer-toolbar	Message composer toolbar (alongside emoji, sticker buttons)
composer-actions	Left side of the composer, beside the + attach button
room-header	Top room header bar, before the ⋮ menu button
room-menu	Room ⋮ dropdown menu
message-actions	Message hover action bar
user-menu	Right-click popup on the user avatar
search-notification-section	Notifications page header (right side)
sidebar-actions	Left sidebar — appears in two places: above the Explore Servers icon, and above the Search icon in the sticky bottom section

💡 Tip: Install the example-showcase-plugin to see exactly where each location appears in the UI!

Basic Usage

Simple Button

module.exports = {
  name: 'my-plugin',
  version: '1.0.0',
  
  onLoad: (context) => {
    context.ui.registerButton({
      id: 'my-button',
      location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
      label: 'My Action',
      icon: '🎨',
      onClick: () => {
        context.log('Button clicked!');
      }
    });
  },
  
  onUnload: () => {
    // Buttons are automatically cleaned up on plugin unload
  }
};

Positioning

Before/After Positioning

Place your button before or after existing buttons:

context.ui.registerButton({
  id: 'my-button',
  location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
  label: 'My Action',
  icon: '✨',
  position: {
    before: 'emoji-picker-button', // Place before emoji picker
    // OR
    after: 'sticker-button' // Place after sticker button
  }
});

Grouping Buttons

Group related buttons together:

context.ui.registerButton({
  id: 'action-1',
  location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
  label: 'Action 1',
  icon: '1️⃣',
  position: {
    group: 'my-plugin-tools',
    order: 1 // Lower numbers appear first
  }
});

context.ui.registerButton({
  id: 'action-2',
  location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
  label: 'Action 2',
  icon: '2️⃣',
  position: {
    group: 'my-plugin-tools',
    order: 2
  }
});

Combined Positioning and Grouping

Place a group before/after other elements:

context.ui.registerButton({
  id: 'tool-1',
  location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
  label: 'Tool 1',
  icon: '🔧',
  position: {
    group: 'my-tools',
    after: 'emoji-picker-button',
    order: 1
  }
});

context.ui.registerButton({
  id: 'tool-2',
  location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
  label: 'Tool 2',
  icon: '🔨',
  position: {
    group: 'my-tools',
    order: 2
  }
});

Complete Example

module.exports = {
  name: 'custom-tools',
  version: '1.0.0',
  
  onLoad: (context) => {
    // Nav list row — appears below "Create Chat" in the DMs panel
    context.ui.registerButton({
      id: 'dm-favorites',
      location: 'direct-messages',
      label: 'Favourites',
      icon: '⭐',
      onClick: () => context.log('Favourites clicked!')
    });

    // Nav list row — appears in the space channel list
    context.ui.registerButton({
      id: 'quick-access',
      location: 'channel-list',
      label: 'Quick Access',
      icon: '⚡',
      onClick: () => context.log('Quick access clicked!')
    });

    // Icon button — appears in the message composer toolbar
    context.ui.registerButton({
      id: 'format-bold',
      location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
      label: 'Bold',
      icon: '𝐁',
      position: {
        group: 'custom-formatting',
        order: 1
      },
      onClick: () => context.log('Bold clicked!')
    });

    // Icon button — appears in the room header
    context.ui.registerButton({
      id: 'special-search',
      location: 'room-header',
      label: 'Special Search',
      icon: '🔍',
      position: { after: 'search-button' },
      onClick: () => context.log('Special search clicked!')
    });

    // Sidebar icon — appears above Explore and above Search
    context.ui.registerButton({
      id: 'plugin-panel',
      location: 'sidebar-actions',
      label: 'Plugin Panel',
      icon: '🧩',
      onClick: () => context.log('Plugin panel clicked!')
    });
  },
  
  onUnload: () => {
    // All registered buttons are automatically cleaned up
  }
};

Unregistering Buttons

Buttons are automatically unregistered when the plugin is unloaded. To manually unregister:

context.ui.unregisterButton('my-button-id');

TypeScript Types

import type { UIButtonDefinition, UIButtonPosition, UILocation } from '@paarrot/plugin-manager';

const button: UIButtonDefinition = {
  id: 'my-button',
  location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
  label: 'My Action',
  icon: '🎨',
  position: {
    group: 'my-tools',
    after: 'emoji-picker',
    order: 1
  },
  onClick: () => console.log('Clicked!')
};

Basic Usage

Simple Button

module.exports = {
  name: 'my-plugin',
  version: '1.0.0',
  
  onLoad: (context) => {
    context.ui.registerButton({
      id: 'my-button',
      location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
      label: 'My Action',
      icon: '🎨',
      onClick: () => {
        context.log('Button clicked!');
      }
    });
  },
  
  onUnload: () => {
    // Buttons are automatically cleaned up on plugin unload
  }
};

Positioning

Before/After Positioning

Place your button before or after existing buttons:

context.ui.registerButton({
  id: 'my-button',
  location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
  label: 'My Action',
  icon: '✨',
  position: {
    before: 'emoji-picker-button', // Place before emoji picker
    // OR
    after: 'sticker-button' // Place after sticker button
  }
});

Grouping Buttons

Group related buttons together:

context.ui.registerButton({
  id: 'action-1',
  location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
  label: 'Action 1',
  icon: '1️⃣',
  position: {
    group: 'my-plugin-tools',
    order: 1 // Lower numbers appear first
  }
});

context.ui.registerButton({
  id: 'action-2',
  location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
  label: 'Action 2',
  icon: '2️⃣',
  position: {
    group: 'my-plugin-tools',
    order: 2
  }
});

Combined Positioning and Grouping

Place a group before/after other elements:

context.ui.registerButton({
  id: 'tool-1',
  location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
  label: 'Tool 1',
  icon: '🔧',
  position: {
    group: 'my-tools',
    after: 'emoji-picker-button',
    order: 1
  }
});

context.ui.registerButton({
  id: 'tool-2',
  location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
  label: 'Tool 2',
  icon: '🔨',
  position: {
    group: 'my-tools',
    order: 2
  }
});

Complete Example

module.exports = {
  name: 'custom-tools',
  version: '1.0.0',
  
  onLoad: (context) => {
    // Nav list row — appears below "Create Chat" in the DMs panel
    context.ui.registerButton({
      id: 'dm-favorites',
      location: 'direct-messages',
      label: 'Favourites',
      icon: '⭐',
      onClick: () => context.log('Favourites clicked!')
    });

    // Nav list row — appears in the space channel list
    context.ui.registerButton({
      id: 'quick-access',
      location: 'channel-list',
      label: 'Quick Access',
      icon: '⚡',
      onClick: () => context.log('Quick access clicked!')
    });

    // Icon button — appears in the message composer toolbar
    context.ui.registerButton({
      id: 'format-bold',
      location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
      label: 'Bold',
      icon: '𝐁',
      position: {
        group: 'custom-formatting',
        order: 1
      },
      onClick: () => context.log('Bold clicked!')
    });

    // Icon button — appears in the room header
    context.ui.registerButton({
      id: 'special-search',
      location: 'room-header',
      label: 'Special Search',
      icon: '🔍',
      position: { after: 'search-button' },
      onClick: () => context.log('Special search clicked!')
    });

    // Sidebar icon — appears above Explore and above Search
    context.ui.registerButton({
      id: 'plugin-panel',
      location: 'sidebar-actions',
      label: 'Plugin Panel',
      icon: '🧩',
      onClick: () => context.log('Plugin panel clicked!')
    });
  },
  
  onUnload: () => {
    // All registered buttons are automatically cleaned up
  }
};

Unregistering Buttons

Buttons are automatically unregistered when the plugin is unloaded. To manually unregister:

context.ui.unregisterButton('my-button-id');

TypeScript Types

import type { UIButtonDefinition, UIButtonPosition, UILocation } from '@paarrot/plugin-manager';

const button: UIButtonDefinition = {
  id: 'my-button',
  location: 'text-composer-toolbar',
  label: 'My Action',
  icon: '🎨',
  position: {
    group: 'my-tools',
    after: 'emoji-picker',
    order: 1
  },
  onClick: () => console.log('Clicked!')
};