Install & Manage Plugins

Use Settings > Plugins to install new plugins and manage both built-in and installed plugins from one place.

Before you start

In most RealTimeX deployments, plugin management is an admin task. If you do not see Settings > Plugins, ask your instance administrator.

Install a new plugin

RealTimeX currently installs new plugins from a .zip package.

1. Open Settings > Plugins.
2. Click Install Plugin.
3. Drag a .zip file into the upload area, or click to browse.
4. Confirm the installation.
5. Wait for the new plugin card to appear in the list.

If the upload succeeds, the plugin is added to the installed plugin list. From there you can enable it, configure it, reload it, or uninstall it later.

Understand the plugin card

Each plugin card shows the operational information you need first.

• Name: the plugin display name
• Version: the currently installed version
• Description: the plugin's short purpose
• Author: who published or shipped the plugin
• Built-in: whether the plugin ships with RealTimeX
• Status dot: whether the plugin is active, loaded, disabled, or in error

Some plugins also show error text directly on the card when something failed during load or runtime.

Some plugins also show capability badges, including:

• Built-in
• Workspace provision

Available actions

Enable / Disable

Use this to turn a plugin on or off without removing it.

• Enable activates the plugin for use.
• Disable keeps it installed but inactive.

This is the safest way to pause a plugin while keeping its configuration.

Configure

If a plugin exposes settings, a Configure button appears.

Use this to add API keys, select behavior presets, set provider-specific values, or assign LLM slots depending on the plugin.

See Configure Plugin Settings for details.

Reload

Reload asks RealTimeX to reinitialize the plugin.

Use this after:

• changing plugin settings
• fixing missing credentials
• updating provider values
• recovering from a plugin runtime error

Publish

Some non-built-in plugins show a Publish action.

This is used for marketplace publishing workflows. Built-in plugins do not show this action.

Deploy / Redeploy

Some plugins provision one or more RealTimeX workspaces directly.

• Deploy creates the plugin-defined workspace content the first time.
• Redeploy applies the provisioning flow again after the workspace-provision source has already been deployed once.

These actions appear on plugins with workspace-provision capability.

New Instance

Some workspace-provision plugins expose reusable templates instead of a single static workspace package.

Use New instance when you want RealTimeX to create a fresh workspace from one of those templates.

The modal can ask you to:

• choose a template
• fill in required instance fields
• confirm deployment

Each deployment creates an independent workspace instance.

Uninstall

Installed plugins can be removed from the instance.

• Uninstall is available only for non-built-in plugins.
• Built-in plugins cannot be removed from the UI.

If you only want to stop using a plugin temporarily, disable it instead of uninstalling it.

Manage built-in plugins

Built-in plugins are managed from the same page.

• They may already be enabled when RealTimeX starts.
• They can often be disabled if you do not want them active.
• They cannot be uninstalled.
• Some may expose deploy or instance actions if they provision workspace content.

See Built-In Plugins for the shipped set and what each one does.

Good operational workflow

When you add a new plugin, use this order:

1. Install the plugin zip.
2. Enable the plugin.
3. Open Configure if it requires setup.
4. Save the configuration.
5. Use Deploy, Redeploy, or New instance if the plugin provisions workspace content.
6. Reload the plugin when the plugin uses runtime code rather than pure provisioning.
7. Test the RealTimeX feature that depends on it.

Workspace-provision plugins

Plugins with a Workspace provision badge are a special case.

They can ship:

• one or more static workspaces
• one or more reusable workspace templates

That changes the lifecycle slightly:

• Deploy or Redeploy manages static provisioned content
• New instance creates a new workspace from a template
• the plugin may not show a normal enable or reload flow in the same way as a pure runtime plugin

If your goal is to create end-user workspaces from a plugin source, focus on the provision actions first rather than treating it like a normal background runtime extension.

Notes for shared instances

If you run RealTimeX for a team:

• keep only necessary plugins enabled
• document which plugin powers which user-facing feature
• reload plugins during a low-risk period if they affect active workflows