Plugin UI Notifications and Themes

Plugin UI, Notifications, Controls, and Themes

Notifications

await context.UiManager.ShowNotificationAsync(
    Info.PluginIdentifier,
    new PluginNotificationRequest("Schedule refreshed", "42 events were loaded.", PluginNotificationSeverity.Success),
    cancellationToken);

Use Information for neutral state, Success for completed user actions, and Error for actionable failures. Avoid showing a notification for high-frequency background events; log those instead.

Confirmation

bool confirmed = await context.UiManager.ShowConfirmationAsync(
    Info.PluginIdentifier,
    "Clear cached schedule?",
    "The schedule will be downloaded again the next time it is needed.",
    cancellationToken);

Use confirmation only for destructive or difficult-to-reverse actions.

Plugin dialog

UserControl content = new ScheduleDetailsView { DataContext = viewModel };
await context.UiManager.ShowDialogAsync(
    Info.PluginIdentifier,
    new PluginDialogRequest("Schedule Details", content, Width: 760, Height: 560),
    cancellationToken);

Plugin dialogs are owned, modeless windows. The main window remains interactive. The host closes registered plugin dialogs during plugin cleanup.

Find and extend the application UI

Named main-page elements currently include:

Name	Type/purpose
MainViewRoot	Main view root grid
ApplicationToolbar	Top application toolbar
ApplicationToolbarActions	Toolbar button host
ReceiverList	Receiver list
ReceiverWorkspace	Workspace scroll viewer
ReceiverWorkspaceGrid	Main receiver content grid
ReceiverInformationCard	Receiver information card
NowPlayingCard	Now-playing card
NowPlayingEventName	Event title text
NowPlayingEventTime	Event time text
NowPlayingProgressBar	Live event progress
NowPlayingOptionsHost	Preferred host for compact now-playing options
ChannelControlCard	Channel-control card
ReceiverActionsCard	Receiver-actions card

Named elements are extension points, not permanent child-index contracts. Handle null and application upgrades gracefully.

StackPanel? host = await context.UiManager.FindElementAsync<StackPanel>(
    Info.PluginIdentifier,
    "NowPlayingOptionsHost",
    cancellationToken);

if (host is not null)
{
    CheckBox option = new() { Content = "Use plugin schedule for now playing" };
    option.SetResourceReference(FrameworkElement.StyleProperty, "ModernCheckBoxStyle");
    host.Children.Add(option);
    context.UiManager.RegisterCleanup(Info.PluginIdentifier, () => host.Children.Remove(option));
}

For arbitrary main-window work:

await context.UiManager.InvokeOnMainWindowAsync(Info.PluginIdentifier, window =>
{
    window.Activate();
}, cancellationToken);

Cleanup pattern

Register cleanup immediately after insertion, not later:

panel.Children.Add(card);
context.UiManager.RegisterCleanup(Info.PluginIdentifier, () =>
{
    card.DataContext = null;
    panel.Children.Remove(card);
});

Also unsubscribe events owned by the control or view model. Host removal from the visual tree does not automatically detach external event subscriptions.

Available control styles

Apply styles with dynamic lookup:

button.SetResourceReference(FrameworkElement.StyleProperty, "PrimaryButtonStyle");

Resource	Target/use
CardBorderStyle	Standard card Border
PrimaryButtonStyle	Accent primary action
SecondaryButtonStyle	Neutral secondary action
SuccessButtonStyle	Positive action
DangerButtonStyle	Destructive action
IconButtonStyle	Compact icon-only button
TransparentButtonStyle	Low-emphasis action
ModernTextBoxStyle	Text input
ModernComboBoxStyle	Single-choice input
ModernCheckBoxStyle	Checkbox
ModernToggleSwitchStyle	Toggle represented by a CheckBox
ModernContextMenuStyle	Context menu
ModernMenuItemStyle	Context-menu item
ModernMenuSeparatorStyle	Menu separator
PluginDataGridStyle	Themed schedule/data grid
ReceiverListBoxStyle / ReceiverListBoxItemStyle	Receiver-like lists
PageTitleTextStyle	Page title
SectionTitleTextStyle	Card/section title
LabelTextStyle	Uppercase field label
ValueTextStyle	Display value

Styles used internally for plugin-manager cards, notifications, or discovery state may exist but are less stable extension points. Prefer the general-purpose resources above.

Use dynamic resources in XAML

<Border Style="{DynamicResource CardBorderStyle}">
  <StackPanel>
    <TextBlock Text="Plugin Schedule" Style="{DynamicResource SectionTitleTextStyle}" />
    <TextBlock Text="Current program" Foreground="{DynamicResource SecondaryTextBrush}" />
    <Button Content="Refresh" Style="{DynamicResource SecondaryButtonStyle}" />
  </StackPanel>
</Border>

Use DynamicResource, not StaticResource, for theme colors and styles that should update while the application is running.