---
title: How to Develop System Plugins
description: FastGPT system plugin development guide (Tools)
---

## Introduction

Starting from version 4.10.0, the FastGPT system plugin project moved to the standalone `fastgpt-plugin` repository, using a pure code approach for tool development.
After the plugin marketplace update in version 4.14.0, the system tool development process changed — please follow the latest documentation when contributing code.

You can develop and debug plugins independently in the `fastgpt-plugin` project, then submit a PR directly to FastGPT without needing to run the main FastGPT service.

Currently, system plugins only support the "Tool" type.

## Concepts

- Tool: The smallest execution unit. Each tool has a unique ID with specific inputs and outputs.
- Toolset: A collection of tools that can contain multiple tools.

In `fastgpt-plugin`, you can create one tool or toolset at a time. Each submission accepts only one tool/toolset. To develop multiple, create separate PRs.

## 1. Prepare the Development Environment

### 1.1 Install Bun

- Install [Bun](https://bun.sh/). FastGPT-plugin uses Bun as its package manager.

### 1.2 Fork the FastGPT-plugin Repository

Fork the repository at `https://github.com/labring/fastgpt-plugin`

### 1.3 Set Up the Development Scaffold

<Tabs items={['One-Click Setup via Bunx','Manual Setup']}>
<Tab value="One-Click Setup via Bunx">
Note: Due to Bun-specific APIs, you must use bunx for installation. Using npx or pnpm will cause errors.

Create a new directory and run:
```bash
bunx @fastgpt-sdk/plugin-cli
```

This creates a fastgpt-plugin directory and adds two remotes:
- upstream pointing to the official repository
- origin pointing to your fork

Uses sparse-checkout by default to avoid pulling all official plugin code.

</Tab>
<Tab value="Manual Setup">
- Initialize a `git` repository in a new local directory:

```bash
git init
```

If you have a Git SSH key configured:
```bash
git remote add origin git@github.com:[your-name]/fastgpt-plugin.git
git remote add upstream git@github.com:labring/fastgpt-plugin.git
```

Otherwise use HTTPS:
```bash
git remote add origin https://github.com/[your-name]/fastgpt-plugin.git
git remote add upstream https://github.com/labring/fastgpt-plugin.git
```

- (Optional) Use sparse-checkout to avoid pulling all plugin code. Without this, all official plugins will be pulled:
```bash
git sparse-checkout init --no-cone
git sparse-checkout add "/*" "!/modules/tool/packages/*"
git pull
```

Create a new tool:
```bash
bun i
bun run new:tool
```

</Tab>
</Tabs>

## 2. Write Tool Code

### 2.1 Tool Code Structure

Follow the prompts to choose between creating a tool or toolset, and enter a directory name (use camelCase).

System tool file structure:

```plaintext
src // Source code and processing logic
└── index.ts
test // Test cases
└── index.test.ts
config.ts // Configuration: tool name, description, type, icon, etc.
index.ts // Entry point — do not modify this file
logo.svg // Logo — replace with your tool's logo
README.md // (Optional) README with usage instructions and examples
assets/ // (Optional) Resource files such as images, audio, etc.
package.json // npm package
```

Toolset file structure:

```plaintext
children
└── tool // Same structure as a tool above, but without README and assets
config.ts
index.ts
logo.svg
README.md
assets/
package.json
```

### 2.2 Modify config.ts

- **name** and **description** fields support both Chinese and English
- **courseUrl** (optional) — Link for obtaining keys, official website, tutorial, etc. If you provide a README.md, you can include it there instead
- **author** — Developer name
- **tags** — Default tags for the tool. Available tags (enum):
	- tools: Tools
	- search: Search
	- multimodal: Multimodal
	- communication: Communication
	- finance: Finance
	- design: Design
	- productivity: Productivity
	- news: News
	- entertainment: Entertainment
	- social: Social
	- scientific: Scientific
	- other: Other
- **secretInputList** — Secret input list for configuring tool `activation information`, typically including `keys`, `Endpoint`, `Port`, etc. (see secretInputList format below)
- **versionList** (configured per tool) — For version management. Each element has:
	- value: Version number (semver recommended)
	- description: Description
	- inputs: Input parameters (see inputs format below)
	- outputs: Return values (see outputs format below)

For tools within a Toolset, `type`, `courseUrl`, and `author` are inherited from the Toolset configuration and don't need to be specified.

#### secretInputList Format

General format:
```ts
{
  key: 'key', // Unique key
  label: 'Frontend display label',
  description: 'Frontend display description', // Optional
  inputType: 'input' | 'secret' | 'switch' | 'select' | 'numberInput', // Frontend input type
  // secret: Encrypted input — the value is symmetrically encrypted when saved
  // switch: Toggle switch
  // select: Dropdown select
  // numberInput: Number input
  // input: Plain text input
}
```

Here's an example from the dalle3 configuration. See [dalle3's config.ts](https://github.com/labring/fastgpt-plugin/blob/main/modules/tool/packages/dalle3/config.ts) for the full file.

```ts
{
  // Other configuration
  secretInputConfig: [
    {
      key: 'url',
      label: 'Dalle3 API Base URL',
      description: 'e.g., https://api.openai.com',
      inputType: 'input',
      required: true
    },
    {
      key: 'authorization',
      label: 'API Credential (without Bearer prefix)',
      description: 'sk-xxxx',
      required: true,
      inputType: 'secret'
    }
  ]
}
```

#### inputs Format

General format:

```ts
{
  key: 'Unique key within this tool, matching the InputType definition in src/index.ts',
  label: 'Frontend display label',
  renderTypeList: [FlowNodeInputTypeEnum.input, FlowNodeInputTypeEnum.reference], // Frontend input type
  valueType: WorkflowIOValueTypeEnum.string, // Data type
  toolDescription: 'Description used during tool invocation' // Required if this is a tool call parameter
}
```

dalle3 inputs example:
```ts
{
//...
  versionList: [
    {
      // Other configuration
      inputs: [
        {
          key: 'prompt',
          label: 'Drawing Prompt',
          valueType: WorkflowIOValueTypeEnum.string,
          renderTypeList: [FlowNodeInputTypeEnum.reference, FlowNodeInputTypeEnum.input],
          toolDescription: 'Drawing prompt'
        }
      ],
    }
    // ...
  ]
}
```

#### outputs Format
```ts
{
  key: 'link', // Unique key
  valueType: WorkflowIOValueTypeEnum.string, // See the Enum type definition for options
  label: 'Image Access Link', // Display name
  description: 'Image access link' // Description (optional)
}
```

dalle3 outputs example:

```ts
{
  // ...
  versionList: [
    {
      // ...
      outputs: [
        {
          valueType: WorkflowIOValueTypeEnum.string,
          key: 'link',
          label: 'Image Access Link',
          description: 'Image access link'
        },
        {
          type: FlowNodeOutputTypeEnum.error,
          valueType: WorkflowIOValueTypeEnum.string,
          key: 'system_error',
          label: 'Error Message'
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
}
```

### 2.3 Write the Processing Logic

Write your processing logic in `[your-tool-name]/src/index.ts` as the entry point. Key requirements:

1. Use zod for type definitions, exported as `InputType` and `OutputType` schemas.
2. The entry function must be named `tool`. You can define additional helper functions.

```ts
import { format } from 'date-fns';
import { z } from 'zod';

export const InputType = z.object({
  formatStr: z.string().optional()
});

export const OutputType = z.object({
  time: z.string()
});

export async function tool(props: z.infer<typeof InputType>): Promise<z.infer<typeof OutputType>> {
  const formatStr = props.formatStr || 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss';

  return {
    time: format(new Date(), formatStr)
  };
}
```

The example above takes a `formatStr` (format string) and returns the current time. To install packages, run `bun install PACKAGE` from the `/modules/tools/packages/[your-tool-name]` directory.

## 4. Build / Package

Starting from FastGPT v4.14.0, system plugins are packaged as `.pkg` files. Run:
```bash
bun run build:pkg
```
This builds and packages all local plugins as `.pkg` files in the `dist/pkgs` directory.

## 5. Unit Testing

FastGPT-plugin uses Vitest as its testing framework.

### 5.1 Write Test Cases

Write test cases in `test/index.test.ts`. Run them with `bun run test index.test.ts <full-path>`.

> Note: Never include secret keys in test cases.
>
> When using AI agent tools to write test cases, the agent may modify your processing logic or even the testing framework itself.

### 5.2 View Test Coverage

Open `coverage/index.html` in a browser to view coverage for each plugin module.

To submit plugins to the official repository, you must write unit tests that achieve:
- 90%+ code coverage
- 100% function coverage
- 100% branch condition coverage

## 6. E2E (End-to-End) Testing

Simple tools may not need E2E testing. For complex tools, the review team may require it.

### 6.1 Deploy the E2E Test Environment

1. Follow [Quick Start Local Development](/docs/self-host/dev) to set up a local FastGPT development environment
2. Run `cd runtime && cp .env.template .env.local` to copy the environment variable template, then connect to the Minio, Mongo, and Redis instances from step 1
3. Run `bun run dev` to start the development environment, then update FastGPT's environment variables to connect to your fastgpt-plugin instance

### 6.2 Test via Scalar

Start the fastgpt-plugin development environment.

Open `http://localhost:PORT/openapi` in a browser to access the `fastgpt-plugin` OpenAPI page for API debugging. Replace PORT with your fastgpt-plugin port number.

![](/imgs/plugin-openapi.png)

First, use the `/tool/list` endpoint to get the tool list and find the `toolId` of the tool you want to debug. Then use `/tool/runStream` to run the tool and get results.

![](/imgs/plugin-openapi2.png)

### 6.3 E2E Testing in Dev Mode (with Hot Reload)

By default, fastgpt-plugin automatically loads all tools under `modules/tool/packages/` and watches for file changes with hot reload. You can use these tools directly in FastGPT.

### 6.4 Upload Tools for E2E Testing in Dev Mode (without Hot Reload)

Set the FastGPT-plugin environment variable `DISABLE_DEV_TOOLS=true` to disable automatic loading of development tools, allowing you to test tool uploads instead.

## 7. Submit Your Tool to the Official Repository

After completing all the steps above, submit a PR to the official repository at `https://github.com/labring/fastgpt-plugin`. Once reviewed and approved, your tool will be included as an official FastGPT plugin.

If you don't need official inclusion, refer to [Upload System Tool](upload_system_tool) to use it in your own FastGPT deployment.