# Plugins

Use the Plugin Manager to install useful plugins from the FormIt Team, or learn how to [**build your own FormIt plugins**](https://formit3d.github.io/FormItExamplePlugins/docs/HowToBuild.html)**.**

## The FormIt Plugin Manager

The FormIt Plugin Manager works as a hub for discovering and managing Formit plugins.

The Plugin Manager is loaded automatically when FormIt starts, as long as FormIt has access to the internet.

You can access the Plug-In Manager by clicking its tab icon on the right side of the application window:

![](https://formit3d.github.io/FormItExamplePlugins/docs/images/PluginManagerTab.PNG)

## The Plugin Manager categorizes different types of plugins:

* **Installed plugins**
* **Recommended plugins**
  * Plugins that the FormIt team recommends to expand FormIt's core functionality and unlock new workflows.
  * Community-developed plugins will appear here after being approved by the FormIt team. More details to come on this in the future.
* **Public plugins**
  * Plugins built by the community, but which have not been reviewed or approved by the FormIt team.

## The Plugin Manager is designed using a series of expandable and collapsible interfaces, which makes managing plugins and their repositories easy:

* **Managing Plugins:**
  * Click on a plugin name to see its description.
  * Toggle the switch to install or uninstall it.
    * The plugin will manifest as a toolbar at the top of the application, a panel on the right side, or a dialog in the middle, depending on the plugin type.
* If you're [developing your own plugin](https://formit3d.github.io/FormItExamplePlugins/docs/HowToBuild.html), you can add its private URL into the field at the bottom and hit (+):

![The FormIt Plugin Manager](https://formit3d.github.io/FormItExamplePlugins/docs/images/addNew.png)

## How Plugins Work

* Plugins are web-based and available in FormIt for Windows and FormIt for Web.
* Plugins are comprised of a series of files and folders hosted on GitHub, or on a local server when building your own.
* External plugins (plugins not hosted locally) require an internet connection to initially load, which means:
  * External plugins will not load if no internet connection is detected when FormIt starts.
  * Once loaded, some external plugins can continue to work in offline mode for that session, but others might break until connectivity is restored.
  * External plugins load the latest code on the server at every run, so their functionality will update whenever the author pushes a change.
* Plugins are loaded asynchronously, which means the order of the plugins in the FormIt interface may change with each new session.
* The Plugin Manager uses registry keys on Windows to store your installed repositories and plugins.
  * If you need to reset your Plugin Manager to its defaults, delete the following registry key:
    * Computer\HKEY\_CURRENT\_USER\Software\Autodesk\FormIt 360\Plugins
    * Note this will uninstall all user-added repos and plugins, resetting the Plugin Manager to include only the built-in repos and plugins.