Problems when creating a custom plugin

[caio-ra]

I’ve been trying to create a custom plugin following the official tutorial (https://docs.nocobase.com/development/your-fisrt-plugin) and i’m stuck at this point.

Every time i run “yarn pm create @my-project/plugin-hello” i get the following output:

{"level":"error",
"message":"Cannot find plugin '@my-project/plugin-hello'",
"stack":"Error: Cannot find plugin '@my-project/plugin-hello\n    
at PluginManager.getPackageJson (/app/nocobase/node_modules/@nocobase/server/lib/plugin-manager/plugin-manager.js:134:13)\n    
at async _PluginManager.create (/app/nocobase/node_modules/@nocobase/server/lib/plugin-manager/plugin-manager.js:292:18)\n    
at async _AppCommand.<anonymous> (/app/nocobase/node_modules/@nocobase/server/lib/commands/pm.js:39:5)\n    
at async _AppCommand.parseAsync (/app/nocobase/node_modules/@nocobase/server/node_modules/commander/lib/command.js:935:5)\n    
at async _AsyncEmitter.runAsCLI (/app/nocobase/node_modules/@nocobase/server/lib/application.js:541:23)",
"meta":{},"module":"application","submodule":"","method":"","app":"main","reqId":"fffa994e-9f37-4360-bed9-1b2cc94d6157","dataSourceKey":"main","timestamp":"2025-01-19 01:33:45"}

So i’ve looked into “/app/nocobase/node_modules/@nocobase/server/lib/plugin-manager/plugin-manager.js:134” and it looks like the code is expecting the plugin to be inside the “node_modules” folder instead of “packages/plugin”, that is the path where yarn places the new plugin folder.

I tried hard coding the path to “packages/plugin” in plugin-manager.js but it was unsuccessful.
Also tried older releases of Nocobase, nothing changed.

[imantung]

Try yarn build before yarn start.

Or you can use yarn dev.

The documentation mentioned you can use yarn pm add @my-project/plugin-hello if plugin not shown in plugin manager

[ZGAGUA]

@caio-ra
I’m facing the exact same issue when trying to create a custom plugin following the tutorial. I get the same error about the plugin not being found in node_modules.

@imantung
I tried your suggestion to run yarn build before yarn start, and even used yarn dev, but unfortunately, the issue persists.

[leandro-jm]

Hello,

Here i works normaly, i type “yarn pm create @leandrojm/test-forum” and nocobase maked the plugin structure as show below.

Try check if you be in the root directory app, update yarn or nocobase.

Environment:
Nocobase: 1.4.16
Node: 20.14
Yarn 1.22
System: MacOS

leandromartins@Xly3 my-nocobase-plugin % yarn pm create @leandrojm/test-forum 
yarn run v1.22.22
$ nocobase pm create @leandrojm/test-forum
WAIT: TypeScript compiling...
Debugger listening on ws://127.0.0.1:65283/f4f69162-42e9-4c40-b98a-bc68cad0d474
For help, see: https://nodejs.org/en/docs/inspector
Debugger attached.
2025-01-28 01:14:41 [debug] create database instance: {"sync":{"alter":{"drop":false},"force":false},"logging":false,"dialect":"postgres","username":"nocobase","database":"nocobase","port":"5432","timezone":"+08:00","underscored":false,"migrator":{"context":{"app":{"appName":"main","name":"main"}}},"logger":{},"rawTimezone":"+08:00"} meta={"databaseInstanceId":"334WUyf27DbWKS3zizKk2"} module=database app=main reqId=51cd82ab-4d33-4fd7-a8b7-29f70a04911b dataSourceKey=main
2025-01-28 01:14:41 [info]  add app main into supervisor                 module=application submodule=supervisor method=addApp app=main reqId=51cd82ab-4d33-4fd7-a8b7-29f70a04911b dataSourceKey=main
Creating plugin
Write: packages/plugins/@leandrojm/test-forum/.npmignore
Copy:  client.d.ts
Copy:  client.js
Write: packages/plugins/@leandrojm/test-forum/package.json
Write: packages/plugins/@leandrojm/test-forum/README.md
Copy:  server.d.ts
Copy:  server.js
Copy:  src/client/client.d.ts
Write: packages/plugins/@leandrojm/test-forum/src/client/index.tsx
Copy:  src/client/locale.ts
Copy:  src/index.ts
Copy:  src/locale/en-US.json
Copy:  src/locale/zh-CN.json
Copy:  src/server/collections/.gitkeep
Write: packages/plugins/@leandrojm/test-forum/src/server/index.ts
Write: packages/plugins/@leandrojm/test-forum/src/server/plugin.ts

$ nocobase postinstall
VERSION:  1.4.16
The plugin folder is in packages/plugins/@leandrojm/test-forum
2025-01-28 01:14:44 [info]  attempt to add the plugin to the app         module=application app=main reqId=51cd82ab-4d33-4fd7-a8b7-29f70a04911b dataSourceKey=main
2025-01-28 01:14:44 [info]  add plugin [@leandrojm/test-forum]           meta={"name":"@leandrojm/test-forum","packageName":"@leandrojm/test-forum","version":"0.1.0"} module=application app=main reqId=51cd82ab-4d33-4fd7-a8b7-29f70a04911b dataSourceKey=main
Waiting for the debugger to disconnect...
✨  Done in 9.77s.

[Raymond]

Hi there, I encountered the same problem when using the Docker-installed version of NocoBase. And I guess you use this version too. Here is my solution.

1. Check why it cannot find the plugin.
   I looked into the plugin-manager.js file and found the getPackageJson function. I added an output for the packageFile parameter when it encountered an error. I discovered that NocoBase was looking for the plugin in /app/nocobase/node_modules/@my-project/plugin-hello, but the created folder was actually in /app/nocobase/packages/plugins/@my-project/plugin-hello.
   

   

2. Move file to node_modules
   Because of the wrong folder, NocoBase could not find the new plugin. One way to solve this problem is to copy /app/nocobase/packages/plugins/@my-project/plugin-hello to /app/nocobase/node_modules/@my-project/plugin-hello. Alternatively, you can create a symbolic link:

ln -s /app/nocobase/packages/plugins/@my-project /app/nocobase/node_modules

Then try to create a new plugin; it should work now.

I guess this is a problem that only appears in the Docker installation version. @leandro-jm might be using the source code or Git installation, which is why they did not reproduce the issue.

[leandro-jm]

Hello @Raymond,

I have two environment of nocobase, both are same versions: Developer (local) and Test (docker).

• Developer(Local), i use for developing, tests, debugging and build the plugin. For this version i use the command install (yarn create nocobase-app)

• Test (Docker), i use for final test, in this case i export plugin version Local in file .tar and import in Nocobase Docker version. For this version i use the docker compose.

• My Docker version 27.3.1