Plugins

Plugins

A3DB supports three ways to extend its functionality, from simple SQF functions to full native C/Rust plugins.

1. SQF Functions (Lightest)

Register an SQF function callable from SQL as fn_<name>():

// Register
["register_function", ["my_func", 2]] call a3db_fnc_execute;

// Use in SQL
_result = ["SELECT fn_my_func('a', 'b') FROM t"] call a3db_fnc_execute;

SQF functions are tracked by name only — the actual evaluation is handled by your SQF code before calling fn_execute.sqf.

2. Rust Trait Plugins

For built-in extensions compiled into the DLL:

use a3db::engine::plugin::{PluginFunction, register_plugin};

register_plugin(
    "my_plugin",
    vec![PluginFunction {
        name: "hello".into(),
        min_args: 1,
        max_args: 1,
        func: |args| {
            let name = args[0].to_string();
            Ok(DbValue::String(format!("Hello, {}!", name)))
        },
    }],
    vec![],
);

Registered at startup via init_builtin_plugins() in engine/plugin.rs. Callable from SQL: SELECT fn_hello('World') FROM t → "Hello, World!"

3. C ABI Dynamic Plugins (Full Power)

Shared libraries (.so / .dll) placed in the plugin directory are loaded at runtime.

Writing a plugin

// my_plugin.c
#include "a3db_plugin.h"

A3DB_PLUGIN_INIT {
    a3db_plugin_register_function("my_plugin", "echo", 1, 1);
    return "my_plugin";
}

Building

gcc -shared -o my_plugin.so my_plugin.c -fPIC

Loading

Drop the compiled .so/.dll into a directory and load from SQF:

["plugin_dir @a3db/plugins"] call a3db_fnc_execute;

Or load via TCP:

plugin_dir /path/to/plugins

Listing Plugins

_result = ["plugins"] call a3db_fnc_execute;
// → [0, "OK", [["builtin_echo", ["echo"], []], ["sqf_user", ["my_func"], ["sqf_called"]]]]
//         plugin_name    functions    hooks

C API Reference

See include/a3db_plugin.h in the repository for the full header.

Function	Purpose
a3db_plugin_init()	Required. Entry point, called at load. Returns plugin name.
a3db_plugin_register_function(name, fn_name, min_args, max_args)	Register a SQL function (callable as fn_<name>)

Example

A complete example plugin is at plugins/example/plugin.c in the repository.

Security Note

C ABI plugins have full access to the game process. Only load plugins from trusted sources.