Develop FiftyOne Plugins

Overview

Create custom FiftyOne plugins with full lifecycle support: requirements gathering, code generation, local testing, and iterative refinement.

Use this skill when:

User asks to create/build/develop a FiftyOne plugin
User wants to add custom functionality to FiftyOne App
User needs to integrate an external API or service

Prerequisites

FiftyOne installed (pip install fiftyone)
Python 3.8+ (for Python plugins)
Node.js 16+ (only for JavaScript panels)

Key Directives

ALWAYS follow these rules:

1. Understand before coding

Ask clarifying questions. Never assume what the plugin should do.

2. Plan before implementing

Present file structure and design. Get user approval before generating code.

3. Search existing plugins for patterns

list_plugins(enabled=True)
list_operators(builtin_only=False)
get_operator_schema(operator_uri="@voxel51/brain/compute_similarity")

4. Test locally before done

Install plugin and verify it works in FiftyOne App.

5. Iterate on feedback

Refine until the plugin works as expected.

Workflow

Phase 1: Requirements

Ask these questions:

"What should your plugin do?" (one sentence)
"Operator (action) or Panel (interactive UI)?"
"What inputs from the user?"
"What outputs/results?"
"External APIs or secrets needed?"
"Background execution for long tasks?"

Phase 2: Design

Search existing plugins for similar patterns
Create plan with:
- Plugin name (@org/plugin-name)
- File structure
- Operator/panel specs
- Input/output definitions
Get user approval before coding

See PLUGIN-STRUCTURE.md for file formats.

Phase 3: Generate Code

Create these files:

| File | Required | Purpose | |------|----------|---------| | fiftyone.yml | Yes | Plugin manifest | | __init__.py | Yes | Python operators/panels | | requirements.txt | If deps | Python dependencies | | package.json | JS only | Node.js metadata | | src/index.tsx | JS only | React components |

Reference docs:

Phase 4: Install & Test

# Find plugins directory
python -c "import fiftyone as fo; print(fo.config.plugins_dir)"

# Copy plugin
cp -r ./my-plugin ~/.fiftyone/plugins/

# Verify detection
python -c "import fiftyone as fo; print(fo.plugins.list_plugins())"

Test in App:

launch_app(dataset_name="test-dataset")
# Press Cmd/Ctrl + ` to open operator browser
# Search for your operator

Phase 5: Iterate

Get user feedback
Fix issues
Re-copy to plugins directory
Restart App if needed
Repeat until working

Quick Reference

Plugin Types

| Type | Language | Use Case | |------|----------|----------| | Operator | Python | Data processing, computations | | Panel | Python | Simple interactive UI | | Panel | JavaScript | Rich React-based UI |

Operator Config Options

| Option | Effect | |--------|--------| | dynamic=True | Recalculate inputs on change | | execute_as_generator=True | Stream progress | | allow_delegated_execution=True | Background execution | | unlisted=True | Hide from browser |

Input Types

| Type | Method | |------|--------| | Text | inputs.str() | | Number | inputs.int() / inputs.float() | | Boolean | inputs.bool() | | Dropdown | inputs.enum() | | File | inputs.file() | | View | inputs.view_target() |

Minimal Example

fiftyone.yml:

name: "@myorg/hello-world"
type: plugin
operators:
  - hello_world

init.py:

import fiftyone.operators as foo
import fiftyone.operators.types as types

class HelloWorld(foo.Operator):
    @property
    def config(self):
        return foo.OperatorConfig(
            name="hello_world",
            label="Hello World"
        )

    def resolve_input(self, ctx):
        inputs = types.Object()
        inputs.str("message", label="Message", default="Hello!")
        return types.Property(inputs)

    def execute(self, ctx):
        print(ctx.params["message"])
        return {"status": "done"}

def register(p):
    p.register(HelloWorld)

Troubleshooting

Plugin not appearing:

Check fiftyone.yml exists in plugin root
Verify location: ~/.fiftyone/plugins/
Check for Python syntax errors
Restart FiftyOne App

Operator not found:

Verify operator listed in fiftyone.yml
Check register() function
Run list_operators() to debug

Secrets not available:

Add to fiftyone.yml under secrets:
Set environment variables before starting FiftyOne

fiftyone-develop-plugin