Understand plugins and Plugin Manager

Plugins supply bounded Scribe capabilities such as processors, exporters, editor panels, inspectors, scene tools, and timeline surfaces. Plugin Manager is the user-facing place to inspect those capabilities and, where product policy allows, enable or disable them.

This guide documents the supported editor workflow. It does not describe Scribe's private repository layout or promise a general third-party plugin SDK.

Activecreatordesktop12 minutes

Verified against frontend@2.0.0

When to use Plugin Manager

Open Plugin Manager when:

• an import, export, inspector, or timeline feature reports that a required capability is disabled;
• a plugin row reports a fault, warning, or unavailable state;
• you need to inspect a capability's current version, status, or requested permissions;
• you want to retry a failed capability through a supported Repair or Reload action; or
• support asks you to review the Diagnostics tab.

Do not toggle plugins during an active import or export. Disabling a capability can remove the product surface currently serving that operation.

Open Plugin Manager

On Desktop:

1. Open Tools in the application header.
2. Choose Plugin Manager.
3. Use Installed for status and enablement.
4. Use Diagnostics only when investigating a problem.

Availability can vary by build. If the menu item is absent, use the current editor release or contact support rather than attempting an undocumented workaround.

Read the Installed view

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Plugin Manager exposes user-visible capability state. A switch changes the real editor capability; it is not a documentation simulation.

Screenshot callouts

1. 1
   Installed

   Shows the capabilities available in this build and their current status.
2. 2
   Diagnostics

   Opens product health information used to troubleshoot a capability.
3. 3
   Identity and health

   Read the name, type, version, status, size, and last-used value before changing state.
4. 4
   Capability rows

   Select a row to inspect the user-visible details and available recovery actions.
5. 5
   Enabled switches

   Enable or disable an available, optional capability. Required or unavailable rows cannot be toggled.

Column meanings

Column	Meaning	What to check
Name	Human-readable capability	Match it to the feature or error you are investigating
Type	Product area such as exporter, processor, animator, or UI	Understand which workflow can change
Version	Version supplied by the current build	Useful when reporting a problem
Status	Current availability and health	Resolve a fault or unavailable state before toggling
Size	Approximate package metadata where supplied	Diagnostic only, not total memory usage
Last Used	Most recent tracked use	Helps identify whether the capability is active
Enabled	Effective activation state	Some required capabilities are policy-locked

Rows can also show user-visible state such as Missing, Revoked, Faulted, Pending, or a warning. Read the row details instead of guessing from the switch alone.

Enable a capability safely

1. Pause playback and finish active imports or exports.
2. Open Tools → Plugin Manager → Installed.
3. Find the capability named by the feature or error.
4. Read its status and select the row for details.
5. Review any permission prompt in context.
6. Turn Enabled on if the row is optional and available.
7. Wait for the pending state to finish.
8. Close Plugin Manager and retry the original action.

Enabling a capability may initialize isolated processing or reconnect an editor surface. The product handles that lifecycle; users should not need to know its private loading topology.

Disable a capability safely

1. Save the project.
2. Finish any operation using the capability.
3. Identify which product surface depends on it.
4. Turn Enabled off.
5. Confirm the dependent feature becomes unavailable as expected.
6. Re-enable it if another workflow needs it.

Disabling a capability does not convert or repair project content created with that feature. Re-enable it and preview the project before export.

Inspect details and permissions

Select a row, not its switch. Depending on the current build, the details view can show identity, version, type, description, status, declared permissions, health, and supported recovery actions.

When Scribe asks for permission:

1. Confirm which capability is asking.
2. Read the user-visible purpose.
3. Deny access that is unrelated to the action you started.
4. Allow only the minimum access needed for the documented workflow.

A feature failure is not a reason to grant broader permissions. If a decision can be revoked in the current UI, revoke only that permission, retry the action, and read the prompt again.

Repair, reload, and Diagnostics

Action	Use it for	It does not do
Repair	A capability with a recorded recoverable fault	Install a missing package or bypass product policy
Reload	A stale or unresponsive managed capability	Migrate project data or grant denied permissions
Diagnostics	Health and warning information requested during troubleshooting	Prove that the visual result is correct

After Repair or Reload, retry one small operation and inspect its real output. For an importer, check the canvas. For an exporter, inspect the exported file.

Public contract boundary

Plugin Manager is a supported product surface for managing capabilities included in the current Scribe build. The current public documentation does not promise a general plugin marketplace, unrestricted editor access, or stable private capability identifiers.

Plugins are subject to capability and permission boundaries. Scribe may isolate execution according to the capability type and requested access. Those security boundaries are product policy; external users do not need private source locations, service topology, resource thresholds, or security-log implementation details to use Plugin Manager safely.

Limitations and security guidance

• Plugin Manager can control only capabilities present in the current build.
• A toggle cannot install a missing package.
• Required, unavailable, faulted, pending, or policy-locked rows may not be toggleable.
• Repair is recovery, not reinstallation.
• Diagnostics may help support a bug report, but they do not replace visual verification of imported or exported content.
• Grant only permissions that match the feature you intentionally started.
• Do not paste account credentials, API keys, private project data, or secrets into diagnostics or support notes.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Recovery
Plugin Manager is absent from Tools	The current build does not expose it	Update Scribe or contact support
Switch is disabled	The row is required, unavailable, faulted, pending, or policy-locked	Read its status and details
Switch returns to its old state	Activation failed and rolled back	Read the inline error, then try Repair once if available
An importer or exporter remains unavailable	Its capability did not initialize or is not included in the build	Recheck status and report the visible error to support
A permission prompt keeps returning	The decision was not retained or was revoked	Review and answer the prompt again
Repair does not help	The package is missing or the fault is not recoverable in place	Update the app or contact support

Related workflows

• Choose a supported import, processing, or export workflow
• Import SVG and vector artwork
• Choose and verify an export

Verification note

This guide was checked against the current Tools menu, Plugin Manager Installed view, user-visible details and recovery actions, permission prompts, Diagnostics surface, and the real application screenshot. Private repository paths and implementation-only security internals are intentionally outside the public contract.