Hi, it's Grace from Dify. I'm glad to share we're launching Plugins in beta.
Plugins are modular components that extend AI applications with plug-and-play simplicity. Now you can assemble external services and custom functionalities with your Dify apps effortlessly.
Explore the Dify Marketplace for ready-to-use Plugins, or develop your own solutions. You define the scope of your AI applications.
Overview
Today, building AI apps with Dify is like crafting an intelligent mind. You can carefully design how information is processed and decisions are made. To further expand the capabilities of your AI creations, we're introducing Plugins.
Imagine Plugins as augmented senses and abilities that bring an AI to life. With Plugins, your AI apps can better "see" (image processing), "hear" (audio analysis), "speak" (text-to-speech), "draw" (text-to-image generation), "calculate" (data analysis), "reason" (logical processing), "act" (external integrations & interactions), and much more.
Plugins unlock a new world of possibilities. They empower AI apps across multimodal scenarios and reimagine RAG workflows through flexible orchestration, powered by specialized tools like OCR and data processors. This is just the beginning — Plugins will enable AI applications to execute real-world actions, from purchase transactions to travel bookings, bridging the gap between AI and everyday life.
Plugin System Architecture
The Dify Plugin system features a decoupled architecture where each Plugin functions as an independent package. This design allows Plugins to be developed, deployed, and maintained separately while ensuring standardized structure for version control and security.
Dify's Plugin system comprises five core components:
Models transform AI model management in Dify. Now you can configure, update and use models as plugins across chatbots, agents, chatflows and workflows.
Tools add specialized capabilities to Dify apps. Enhance your agents and workflows with domain-specific features for data analysis, content translation, custom integrations and more.
Agent Strategies provide reasoning strategies for the new Agent Nodes in Dify chatflows / workflows, supporting autonomous tool selection and execution for multi-step reasoning. Create custom reasoning strategies like Chain-of-Thoughts, Tree-of-Thoughts, Function call and ReAct to enhance the problem-solving abilities of your chatflows / workflows.
Extensions facilitate external integrations through HTTP webhooks. Build custom APIs to handle complex workflows, process data, or connect with external services, making your applications more versatile and powerful.
Bundles streamline deployment by combining multiple plugins into single packages. Deploy pre-configured plugin collections efficiently with one-click installation.
Endpoint Integration
The Plugin system creates seamless connections through custom endpoints and APIs. Developers can establish communication channels to handle complex business logic and respond to external events. Plugin endpoints power bidirectional communication between external services and Dify's core features — from models and apps to tools, knowledge bases, and workflow nodes.
These integrations enable advanced use cases. For example, a Slack bot can process messages while dynamically accessing Dify's models and knowledge bases for context-aware responses. The potential is limitless.
Dify Marketplace
The Plugin system combines a curated Marketplace with open community development. The Marketplace hosts official Plugins, partner solutions, and verified community contributions, while developers can freely share Plugins and collaborate through GitHub. The system also supports local deployment, especially for enterprises, creating a flexible and vibrant ecosystem for Plugin distribution.
Security and Storage
Security, stability, and transparency are core principles of the Plugin system. Every Marketplace plugin undergoes rigorous code review and runs in isolation with clearly defined permissions. Explicit data handling declarations ensure full visibility and control for users. Now we provide persistent storage at both Plugin and workspace levels, enabling secure data management across different scenarios.
Plugin Development
For Plugin developers, we offer robust development support. Remote debugging works seamlessly with popular IDEs, requiring only minimal environment setup. Developers can connect to Dify's SaaS service while forwarding all Plugin operations to their local environment for testing. This developer-friendly approach aims to empower Plugin creators and accelerate innovation in the Dify ecosystem. Dive into our Plugin documentation and discover what you can build!
Getting Started
We've ensured a smooth transition to the Plugin system, with all existing models and tools automatically converted while maintaining their configurations. During this beta phase, we're opening up a beta test cloud environment for exploration — please note that it should not be used for production, and all test data will be reset before the official release in coming weeks.
To participate in the beta test cloud environment trial, please join the waitlist. Upon approval, you will receive an email with access instructions.
Dify is actively growing the Plugin ecosystem and partner program. We welcome organizations interested in becoming a Plugin provider, joining our Marketplace as a solution partner, or contributing to the Dify Plugin ecosystem, please contact us at hello@dify.ai.
