beam68

PLUGINS / THEMES / EXTENSIONS

Build something
of your own.

Create a plugin or share a theme. The SDK, examples and file formats live alongside the code on GitHub.

01 / PLUGIN SDK

A small API. Useful extensions.

The SDK is part of the GitHub source tree. It includes the C API, its implementation, HelloWorld and ARexx examples, build rules and a package validator.

Plugin SDK documentation ↗ · AmigaGuide manual ↗ · Example plugins ↗

  • Protocol 1 is the first public protocol. All bundled native plugins return up to eight selectable text, path or query rows in one message.
  • Use the SDK to validate hex input and deliver replies to the launcher. ARexx scripts use the documented atomic text transport. Keep previews quick and free of side effects.
  • Ship one drawer with an executable and one manifest, including a stable ID, version, trigger and drawer-relative command.
  • Run the SDK packaging tool to validate the package. Users install it through Preferences → Plugins.

Plugins run as native code. Capability labels describe behavior; they do not restrict access. Document dependencies and test on supported AmigaOS systems.

PREVIEW BEHAVIOR IN 0.2

Be a good background guest.

Users can disable automatic previews per plugin or set an exact delay in Preferences. Beam68 bounds outstanding requests, reserves capacity for manual actions and discards replies belonging to older queries.

Keep previews quick and free of side effects. Downloads, file changes and other actions should require an explicit user choice. Use Aminet Browser as a bundled example of package details and confirmed downloads.

Aminet Browser source ↗ · Automation and request diagnostics ↗

02 / THEME DEVELOPMENT

Five colors. Your atmosphere.

Themes use a portable text format rather than a compiled SDK. Start with a bundled file or export a theme from Preferences, edit its colors and import it again.

#NAME=My Theme
#AUTHOR=Your Name
BEAM68THEME=1
COLORS=FFB000,6B4A00,FFB000,1A1200,140E00

Each color is a six-digit RGB value. The order is text, shadow, selection fill, selection text and background. Comment metadata can describe the author, name and version. Keep foregrounds readable against both backgrounds.

Bundled theme examples ↗ · Theme file reader and writer ↗