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Plugin Test Catalogue

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Bobby Comet edited this page Aug 4, 2026 · 4 revisions

Plugin Test Catalogue

Experimental/pre-release plugins for Conky Studio

This repository holds plugins that are still being tested before they are promoted into the official plugins.json catalogue used by Conky Studio.

Anyone running Conky Studio can try these plugins by pointing the in-app plugin fetcher at this test manifest instead of the official one.

Test manifest URL
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bobbycomet/Conky-Studio-test-plugins/main/plugin-test.json

(or the GitHub tree: Conky-Studio-test-plugins)

All plugins must be MIT or GPLv3.

Why a separate test catalogue exists

The official plugins.json is the curated, stable catalogue that ships with Conky Studio. It is meant to contain only plugins that have been reviewed, tested across supported Studio versions, and are considered ready for general use.

The plugin-test.json catalogue is deliberately separate so that:

  • Broken, incomplete, or experimental plugins never reach the main catalogue.
  • Plugin authors can iterate quickly without risking the experience of regular users.
  • Testers and early adopters can try new nodes before they are promoted.
  • The official catalogue stays clean and trustworthy.

In short: the test catalogue is a staging area. Nothing moves into the main plugins.json until it has been validated.

How to try the test plugins

  1. Open Tools → Plugins inside Conky Studio.
  2. Change the manifest/fetch URL to the test catalogue:
    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bobbycomet/Conky-Studio-test-plugins/main/plugin-test.json
  3. Click Fetch.
  4. Select the plugins you want and click Install Checked.
  5. Close the dialog (or restart Studio). The new nodes appear in the palette under Logic or Visuals (usually in the Plugins subcategory).

You can switch back to the official catalogue at any time by restoring the default URL and fetching again. Installed plugins remain available until you uninstall them.

Note: Only locally installed packs are auto-loaded on startup. Fetching a remote catalogue never silently installs everything.

Who this is for

Audience Use case
Plugin authors Develop and share work-in-progress nodes without polluting the official catalogue.
Curious users/testers Try new visuals and logic nodes early and give feedback.
Contributors Validate that a plugin behaves correctly under Live Preview and Build before requesting promotion.

If you are creating your own plugins, see the full authoring guide:
Custom Plugins

Becoming an Official/Featured Plugin

If you want your plugin moved from the test catalogue into the official plugins.json, the following is required:

Mandatory proof of functionality

You must provide a short GIF or video that clearly shows the plugin working inside Conky Studio (Live Preview and/or a built theme). This is non-negotiable.

Once accepted, the plugin is listed as a Featured Plugin and the author retains full credit and rights to the work.

When a Featured Plugin may be pulled

A featured plugin is only removed for specific, documented reasons:

  1. API breakage – Conky or Lua changed in a way that breaks the plugin. In this case, a fix is being prepared in the application, and all plugins (including official ones) may be temporarily halted until the issue is resolved.
  2. Exploit – Extremely unlikely, but if a plugin is found to contain or enable an exploit, it will be removed immediately.
  3. Author request – The original author asks for the plugin to be withdrawn.
  4. Absorption into Studio – The functionality is taken into the core application, done only with the author’s explicit permission.

This may change over time depending on any edge cases.

Payment/monetisation

There are no paid tiers or revenue shares for authors at this time. Plugin creation and inclusion remain free.

You are always free to maintain your own testing JSON (or entire catalogues) independently of the official or test repositories.

Future Community Store

When the Community Store is implemented, the same rule will apply: you must still show clear proof (GIF or video) that the plugin works as intended before it can be listed.

Relationship to the official system

Catalogue Purpose Stability
plugins.json (official) Curated, reviewed nodes distributed with Conky Studio Stable – intended for production use
plugin-test.json (this repo) Staging/experimental nodes Unstable – may change, break, or disappear

Plugins follow the same declarative JSON format and the same trust rules in both catalogues. The only difference is the review and promotion process.

For the security model and what plugins can (and cannot) do, see:
Plugin Trust Model

For how plugins are installed, loaded, and used in graphs, see:
Plugin System

For the full node list (built-in + official plugins), see:
Node Reference

Promoting a plugin from test → official/Featured

When a plugin is ready:

  1. It has been exercised under Live Preview and Build.
  2. Property schemas, Lua generation, and edge cases have been checked.
  3. Documentation/description is clear.
  4. It does not collide with existing official or built-in IDs.
  5. A working GIF or video has been supplied.

It can then be moved into the main plugins.json and listed as a Featured Plugin with author credit. Until that happens, it stays in the test catalogue only.

Quick links

Repository
github.com/bobbycomet/Conky-Studio-test-plugins

This catalogue exists so the main plugin ecosystem can stay reliable while still giving creators and testers a safe place to experiment.

Clone this wiki locally