confluent plugin

Description

Brief description:

Plugins are standalone executable files that allow users to extend the functionality of the confluent CLI. Plugins can be called from the confluent CLI as if they were built-in commands.

Making plugins discoverable by the CLI:

The filename of a plugin makes it discoverable by the confluent CLI and determines its command syntax. The filename must begin with confluent-. It must be executable and located in a directory on the user’s $PATH. Each dash (-) in a plugin filename delimits a subcommand in the callable syntax. For example, the plugin file /User/me/plugins/confluent-demo-env-create would be executed with the confluent CLI command confluent demo env create. Additionally, the parent directory must be on the user’s $PATH. For example, by adding export PATH=$PATH:/User/me/plugins to the user’s .zshrc file.

Arguments and flags with plugins:

Arguments and flags can be passed with plugin commands. It is the plugin’s responsibility to validate and parse them. For example, if you run confluent demo env create arg0 --flag0 true, the confluent CLI will first look for a plugin with the longest possible name: confluent-demo-env-create-arg0 in this case. If that is not found, it will look for a plugin with the next longest possible name: confluent-demo-env-create in this case. If it finds that, it will invoke the confluent-demo-env-create plugin, passing along arg0 --flag true for the plugin’s code to parse.

Naming collisions with existing CLI commands and other plugins:

Built-in confluent CLI commands take precedence over plugins if they share the same name. For example, there is a built-in confluent kafka cluster list command. A plugin named confluent-kafka-cluster-list on the user’s $PATH will therefore not run. The built-in command will be run, along with a warning that the plugin has been ignored. Partial overlap between a plugin’s name and a built-in command, however, is allowed. For example, a plugin named confluent-kafka-cluster-rebuild would be callable with the command confluent kafka cluster rebuild, since the name does not exactly match a built-in command. If two or more plugins with the same name are found in the user’s $PATH, the first one found in the $PATH is given precedence. Any subsequent plugin files with the same name will be ignored.

Subcommands

Command	Description
confluent plugin install	Install or update official Confluent CLI plugins.
confluent plugin list	List Confluent CLI plugins in $PATH.
confluent plugin search	Search for Confluent CLI plugins.