pluginConfig.json Reference

platform/app/pluginConfig.json declares which extensions, modes, and third-party public assets are compiled into the viewer build. The build step (writePluginImportsFile.js) reads it, resolves each entry to a source directory, generates the (untracked) pluginImports.js, and copies each plugin's static assets into dist.

note

You can edit pluginConfig.json directly to add, remove, or configure plugins using the fields documented below. The OHIF CLI can also manage entries, but it is being phased out in favour of generating extensions and modes with an agent.

Top-level shape

platform/app/pluginConfig.json

{
  "extensions": [ /* extension entries */ ],
  "modes":      [ /* mode entries */ ],
  "public":     [ /* third-party public-asset entries */ ]
}

Key	Required	Description
extensions	yes	Extensions to make available to the build.
modes	yes	Modes (workflows) to make available to the build.
public	no	Third-party packages whose prebuilt assets are copied/loaded at runtime (e.g. dicom-microscopy-viewer). Not registered as extensions or modes.

Extension / mode entry fields

An entry may be a bare string (the package name) or an object. The object form supports the following fields:

Field	Type	Default	Description
packageName	string	—	The package's real name (matches its package.json name). Required unless directory alone identifies the plugin.
version	string	—	Informational / used by the CLI for install bookkeeping. It does not affect build resolution.
default	boolean	true	When false, the plugin is not added to the auto-registered set loaded at startup (defaultExtensions / defaultModes). It is still resolvable and can be loaded on demand — e.g. when a registered mode declares it as a required extension.
directory	string	—	An explicit source directory for an out-of-tree plugin. See Plugin locations.

{
  "extensions": [
    // bare string form
    "@ohif/extension-default",

    // object form, registered by default
    { "packageName": "@ohif/extension-cornerstone", "version": "3.0.0" },

    // present in the build but NOT auto-registered; loaded only when a
    // registered mode requires it
    {
      "packageName": "@ohif/extension-cornerstone-dicom-seg",
      "version": "3.0.0",
      "default": false
    }
  ],
  "modes": [
    { "packageName": "@ohif/mode-longitudinal" }
  ]
}

public entry fields

public entries are not extensions or modes — they describe third-party assets that are copied into dist and (optionally) imported at runtime via a global.

Field	Type	Description
packageName	string	Package name, used to resolve the asset directory from node_modules when directory is not given.
directory	string	Source directory of the assets to copy. Resolved like the extension directory field (absolute, ~-relative, or .-relative to the repo root).
importPath	string	Path/URL the runtime loader import()s. Absolute (http… or /…) paths are used as-is; otherwise it is prefixed with PUBLIC_URL.
globalName	string	If set, after importing importPath the loader returns window[globalName] (for UMD/global bundles).
importName	string	Named export to return from the imported module. Defaults to default. Ignored when globalName is set.
to	string	Destination subpath under dist for the copied assets.

{
  "public": [
    { "directory": "./platform/public" },
    {
      "packageName": "dicom-microscopy-viewer",
      "importPath": "dicom-microscopy-viewer/dicomMicroscopyViewer.min.js",
      "globalName": "dicomMicroscopyViewer",
      "directory": "./node_modules/dicom-microscopy-viewer/dist/dynamic-import",
      "to": "/dicom-microscopy-viewer/"
    }
  ]
}

Plugin locations

Under pnpm, extensions and modes are not dependencies of platform/app. Every entry in pluginConfig.json is located one of three ways — only entries listed here are compiled in; workspace packages that are not listed are ignored.

1. In-tree workspace — a package under extensions/ or modes/. Declare it by packageName; the build scans those workspaces and maps the declared name to its source directory. This is the common case the CLI sets up.

2. External, out-of-tree source — a checkout outside this repo (e.g. an extension generated by the OHIF CLI). Add a directory field. The path may be absolute, ~-relative to the home directory, or .-relative to the repo root.

   { "packageName": "@acme/extension-foo", "directory": "~/dev/extension-foo" }

3. Installed dependency — add the package to the root package.json as a normal dependency and declare it by packageName (no directory). It then resolves from node_modules like any other installed package, and its public/ and dist/ assets are copied from there. This is the path used for third-party packages such as dicom-microscopy-viewer.

   { "packageName": "@acme/extension-foo", "version": "1.2.3" }

For the build internals behind these (alias generation, asset copying, the pnpm + Rspack migration), see the build tooling migration guide.