Plugin System

Introduction

Filament’s plugin system allows you to package and distribute reusable functionality. Plugins can register resources, pages, widgets, themes, and more. They provide a clean way to extend Filament panels with custom features.

Understanding the Plugin interface

All Filament plugins implement the Filament\Contracts\Plugin interface:

namespace Filament\Contracts;

use Filament\Panel;

interface Plugin
{
    public function getId(): string;

    public function register(Panel $panel): void;

    public function boot(Panel $panel): void;
}

getId() - Returns a unique identifier for the plugin
register() - Called when the plugin is registered with a panel
boot() - Called after all plugins are registered

Creating a basic plugin

Step 1: Create the plugin class

Create a new class implementing the Plugin interface:

namespace App\Filament\Plugins;

use Filament\Contracts\Plugin;
use Filament\Panel;

class CustomDashboardPlugin implements Plugin
{
    public function getId(): string
    {
        return 'custom-dashboard';
    }

    public function register(Panel $panel): void
    {
        $panel
            ->pages([
                \App\Filament\Pages\CustomDashboard::class,
            ])
            ->widgets([
                \App\Filament\Widgets\StatsOverview::class,
                \App\Filament\Widgets\RecentActivity::class,
            ]);
    }

    public function boot(Panel $panel): void
    {
        // Boot logic here
    }
}

Step 2: Register the plugin

use App\Filament\Plugins\CustomDashboardPlugin;

public function panel(Panel $panel): Panel
{
    return $panel
        ->default()
        ->id('admin')
        ->plugin(new CustomDashboardPlugin())
        // ... other configuration
}

Plugin configuration

Make your plugins configurable with a fluent API:

namespace App\Filament\Plugins;

use Filament\Contracts\Plugin;
use Filament\Panel;

class AnalyticsPlugin implements Plugin
{
    protected string | null $trackingId = null;

    protected bool $enablePageViews = true;

    protected bool $enableEventTracking = false;

    public function trackingId(string | null $id): static
    {
        $this->trackingId = $id;

        return $this;
    }

    public function enablePageViews(bool $condition = true): static
    {
        $this->enablePageViews = $condition;

        return $this;
    }

    public function enableEventTracking(bool $condition = true): static
    {
        $this->enableEventTracking = $condition;

        return $this;
    }

    public function getId(): string
    {
        return 'analytics';
    }

    public function register(Panel $panel): void
    {
        if ($this->trackingId) {
            $panel->renderHook(
                'panels::body.end',
                fn (): string => view('analytics::tracking-script', [
                    'trackingId' => $this->trackingId,
                    'enablePageViews' => $this->enablePageViews,
                    'enableEventTracking' => $this->enableEventTracking,
                ])->render()
            );
        }
    }

    public function boot(Panel $panel): void
    {
        //
    }
}

Usage:

use App\Filament\Plugins\AnalyticsPlugin;

$panel->plugin(
    AnalyticsPlugin::make()
        ->trackingId('UA-XXXXX-Y')
        ->enablePageViews()
        ->enableEventTracking()
)

Static make() method

Add a static make() method for convenience:

namespace App\Filament\Plugins;

use Filament\Contracts\Plugin;
use Filament\Panel;

class MyPlugin implements Plugin
{
    public static function make(): static
    {
        return app(static::class);
    }

    public static function get(): static
    {
        return filament(static::class);
    }

    public function getId(): string
    {
        return 'my-plugin';
    }

    public function register(Panel $panel): void
    {
        //
    }

    public function boot(Panel $panel): void
    {
        //
    }
}

Registering resources and pages

Plugins can register complete CRUD interfaces:

public function register(Panel $panel): void
{
    $panel
        ->resources([
            \App\Filament\Resources\DocumentResource::class,
            \App\Filament\Resources\TemplateResource::class,
        ])
        ->pages([
            \App\Filament\Pages\DocumentSettings::class,
        ])
        ->widgets([
            \App\Filament\Widgets\DocumentStats::class,
        ]);
}

Customize panel navigation from your plugin:

public function register(Panel $panel): void
{
    $panel->navigationItems([
        NavigationItem::make('External Link')
            ->url('https://example.com', shouldOpenInNewTab: true)
            ->icon('heroicon-o-link')
            ->group('External')
            ->sort(3),

        NavigationItem::make('Analytics')
            ->url('/analytics')
            ->icon('heroicon-o-chart-bar')
            ->activeIcon('heroicon-s-chart-bar')
            ->isActiveWhen(fn (): bool => request()->is('admin/analytics*'))
            ->badge('New', color: 'success'),
    ]);
}

Using render hooks

Inject custom content into the panel:

public function register(Panel $panel): void
{
    // Add content to the head
    $panel->renderHook(
        'panels::head.end',
        fn (): string => '<script>console.log("Plugin loaded")</script>'
    );

    // Add content to the body
    $panel->renderHook(
        'panels::body.start',
        fn (): string => view('my-plugin::banner')->render()
    );

    // Add content to specific pages
    $panel->renderHook(
        'panels::page.start',
        fn (): string => view('my-plugin::page-header')->render(),
        scopes: [\App\Filament\Resources\UserResource\Pages\ListUsers::class]
    );
}

Available render hooks:

panels::head.start - Start of <head>
panels::head.end - End of <head>
panels::body.start - Start of <body>
panels::body.end - End of <body>
panels::page.start - Start of page content
panels::page.end - End of page content
panels::sidebar.nav.start - Start of sidebar navigation
panels::sidebar.nav.end - End of sidebar navigation

Registering theme customizations

Plugins can customize the panel theme:

public function register(Panel $panel): void
{
    $panel
        ->colors([
            'primary' => '#3b82f6',
            'secondary' => '#64748b',
        ])
        ->viteTheme('resources/css/my-plugin.css');
}

Middleware and authentication

Plugins can register middleware:

public function register(Panel $panel): void
{
    $panel
        ->middleware([
            \App\Http\Middleware\TrackAnalytics::class,
        ])
        ->authMiddleware([
            \App\Http\Middleware\EnsureSubscribed::class,
        ]);
}

Using the boot() method

The boot() method is called after all plugins are registered:

public function boot(Panel $panel): void
{
    // Access other plugins
    if ($panel->hasPlugin('analytics')) {
        $analyticsPlugin = $panel->getPlugin('analytics');
        // Configure based on another plugin
    }

    // Register event listeners
    Event::listen(
        ResourceCreated::class,
        [ResourceCreatedListener::class, 'handle']
    );

    // Register custom Blade components
    Blade::component('my-plugin::components.alert', 'plugin-alert');
}

Service provider integration

Create a Laravel service provider for your plugin package:

namespace MyVendor\FilamentPlugin;

use Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider;
use Filament\Support\Assets\Css;
use Filament\Support\Assets\Js;
use Filament\Support\Facades\FilamentAsset;

class PluginServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
    public function boot(): void
    {
        // Load views
        $this->loadViewsFrom(__DIR__.'/../resources/views', 'my-plugin');

        // Load translations
        $this->loadTranslationsFrom(__DIR__.'/../resources/lang', 'my-plugin');

        // Load migrations
        $this->loadMigrationsFrom(__DIR__.'/../database/migrations');

        // Register assets
        FilamentAsset::register([
            Css::make('my-plugin-styles', __DIR__.'/../resources/dist/my-plugin.css'),
            Js::make('my-plugin-scripts', __DIR__.'/../resources/dist/my-plugin.js'),
        ], package: 'my-vendor/my-plugin');

        // Publish configuration
        $this->publishes([
            __DIR__.'/../config/my-plugin.php' => config_path('my-plugin.php'),
        ], 'my-plugin-config');

        // Publish views
        $this->publishes([
            __DIR__.'/../resources/views' => resource_path('views/vendor/my-plugin'),
        ], 'my-plugin-views');
    }

    public function register(): void
    {
        $this->mergeConfigFrom(
            __DIR__.'/../config/my-plugin.php',
            'my-plugin'
        );
    }
}

Complete plugin example

Here’s a comprehensive example of a feature-rich plugin:

namespace MyVendor\FilamentBlog;

use Filament\Contracts\Plugin as PluginContract;
use Filament\Panel;
use Filament\Navigation\NavigationGroup;

class BlogPlugin implements PluginContract
{
    protected bool $hasComments = true;

    protected bool $hasTags = true;

    protected bool $hasCategories = true;

    protected string | null $urlPrefix = 'blog';

    public static function make(): static
    {
        return app(static::class);
    }

    public static function get(): static
    {
        return filament(static::class);
    }

    public function withComments(bool $condition = true): static
    {
        $this->hasComments = $condition;

        return $this;
    }

    public function withTags(bool $condition = true): static
    {
        $this->hasTags = $condition;

        return $this;
    }

    public function withCategories(bool $condition = true): static
    {
        $this->hasCategories = $condition;

        return $this;
    }

    public function urlPrefix(string | null $prefix): static
    {
        $this->urlPrefix = $prefix;

        return $this;
    }

    public function getId(): string
    {
        return 'blog';
    }

    public function register(Panel $panel): void
    {
        $resources = [
            Resources\PostResource::class,
        ];

        if ($this->hasCategories) {
            $resources[] = Resources\CategoryResource::class;
        }

        if ($this->hasTags) {
            $resources[] = Resources\TagResource::class;
        }

        $panel
            ->resources($resources)
            ->pages([
                Pages\BlogSettings::class,
            ])
            ->widgets([
                Widgets\BlogStatsWidget::class,
            ])
            ->navigationGroups([
                NavigationGroup::make('Blog')
                    ->icon('heroicon-o-newspaper')
                    ->collapsed(false),
            ]);

        // Register render hooks
        $panel->renderHook(
            'panels::head.end',
            fn (): string => view('filament-blog::head')->render()
        );
    }

    public function boot(Panel $panel): void
    {
        // Register routes
        Route::prefix($this->urlPrefix ?? 'blog')
            ->middleware(['web'])
            ->group(__DIR__.'/../routes/web.php');
    }

    public function hasComments(): bool
    {
        return $this->hasComments;
    }

    public function hasTags(): bool
    {
        return $this->hasTags;
    }

    public function hasCategories(): bool
    {
        return $this->hasCategories;
    }
}

Testing plugins

Test your plugins to ensure they work correctly:

use function Pest\Livewire\livewire;

it('registers the plugin', function () {
    $panel = Panel::make()->id('admin');
    $plugin = BlogPlugin::make();

    $plugin->register($panel);

    expect($panel->hasPlugin('blog'))->toBeTrue();
});

it('can configure plugin features', function () {
    $plugin = BlogPlugin::make()
        ->withComments()
        ->withTags(false)
        ->withCategories();

    expect($plugin->hasComments())->toBeTrue()
        ->and($plugin->hasTags())->toBeFalse()
        ->and($plugin->hasCategories())->toBeTrue();
});

it('registers resources when enabled', function () {
    $panel = Panel::make()->id('admin');

    $plugin = BlogPlugin::make()
        ->withCategories()
        ->withTags();

    $plugin->register($panel);

    expect($panel->getResources())
        ->toContain(PostResource::class)
        ->toContain(CategoryResource::class)
        ->toContain(TagResource::class);
});

Publishing your plugin

When distributing your plugin:

Create a comprehensive README.md with installation instructions
Add proper versioning following semantic versioning
Include a LICENSE file
Provide migration files if your plugin needs database tables
Document all configuration options
Include screenshots or demos
Add tests for core functionality
Publish to Packagist for easy installation

Best practices

Use descriptive plugin IDs that won’t conflict with others
Make plugins configurable rather than hard-coding values
Provide sensible defaults for all configuration options
Use the register() method for panel configuration
Use the boot() method for initialization that needs all plugins loaded
Version your plugin assets to prevent caching issues
Follow PSR-4 autoloading standards
Namespace your views, translations, and config files
Document all public methods and configuration options
Provide migration files for database changes
Test your plugin with multiple Filament versions
Use dependency injection via app() instead of new
Never use abbreviated variable names

Getting Started

Panel Builder

Core Concepts

Building Blocks

Advanced

Introduction

Understanding the Plugin interface

Creating a basic plugin

Plugin configuration

Static make() method

Registering resources and pages

Adding navigation items

Using render hooks

Registering theme customizations

Middleware and authentication

Using the boot() method

Service provider integration

Complete plugin example

Testing plugins

Publishing your plugin

Best practices

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Getting Started

Panel Builder

Core Concepts

Building Blocks

Advanced

​Introduction

​Understanding the Plugin interface

​Creating a basic plugin

​Plugin configuration

​Static make() method

​Registering resources and pages

​Adding navigation items

​Using render hooks

​Registering theme customizations

​Middleware and authentication

​Using the boot() method

​Service provider integration

​Complete plugin example

​Testing plugins

​Publishing your plugin

​Best practices

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Introduction

Understanding the Plugin interface

Creating a basic plugin

Plugin configuration

Static make() method

Registering resources and pages

Adding navigation items

Using render hooks

Registering theme customizations

Middleware and authentication

Using the boot() method

Service provider integration

Complete plugin example

Testing plugins

Publishing your plugin

Best practices