SecRandom

English

简体中文

English

简体中文

Appearance

Star on GitHubCreate IssuesDonate

Set Up a Plugin Environment

Copy page

About 424 wordsAbout 1 min

2026-08-14

This page explains how to prepare a SecRandom plugin development environment and create a minimal plugin project.

Prerequisites

  • .NET 10 SDK or later.
  • An IDE that supports .NET, such as JetBrains Rider or Visual Studio.
  • Basic knowledge of C# and Avalonia (plugin pages are built with Avalonia controls).

Reference the SDK

SecRandom plugins reference the host API through the NuGet package SecRandom.PluginSdk. Add the following to your plugin project:

<PackageReference Include="SecRandom.PluginSdk" Version="3.1.0">
  <ExcludeAssets>runtime;native</ExcludeAssets>
</PackageReference>
  • ExcludeAssets="runtime;native" keeps the SDK package compile-time only; the runtime assemblies your plugin needs (such as SecRandom.Core) are supplied in-process by the host.
  • Package versions follow the main application; use the version that matches your app (the latest published package is 3.1.0, and plugin API 3.1.5 corresponds to v3.1.5). Only the major version of apiVersion is compared, and the current plugin API major is 3.
  • Plugins use the host-exposed capabilities through the SDK, which are the Core contracts the SDK references.

Template built with the main application

The SecRandom.ExamplePlugin inside the main application repository builds with the solution, making it handy for validating the SDK before a release exists. Plugins you distribute should reference the NuGet package as shown above.

Get the Minimal Template

SECTL/SecRandom-ExamplePlugins is the standalone example plugin repository: it registers a single settings page that displays the plugin's own information. Use it as a starting point:

git clone https://github.com/SECTL/SecRandom-ExamplePlugins.git
cd SecRandom-ExamplePlugins
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\build.ps1

The build produces ExamplePlugin\srpx\SecRandom.ExamplePlugin.srpx. The SecRandom.ExamplePlugin inside the main application repository is the same template kept in-tree, useful for reading alongside.

Local Debugging

During development you don't need to repeatedly package and install:

  • Use the startup argument --epp <directory> (or --externalPluginPath <directory>, repeatable) to add a development plugin directory: point it at the parent directory that contains your plugin directories, since the host only enumerates its subdirectories. Plugins there are loaded in place; the host never moves or deletes them. Restart the application after changing code.
  • Alternatively, place a packaged .srpx in data/cache/plugin-packages and restart the desktop application to install it.

Next Steps

Read Create a Plugin to learn the plugin project structure, or jump straight to the Plugin Entry Class and Capabilities.

Contributors

陈晋瑭

Changelog

10/31/26, 12:21 AM
View All Changelog
  • c13ca-Update start.md and add MacOS guideson

Copyright Ownership:SECTL

License under:CC BY-NC-SA 4.0