First Simple Plugin

Now that we have set up the project, it's time to create and implement a simple plugin.

Configuration File (JSON)

Every plugin requires a configuration file. Create a new file named mobro_plugin_config.json in the project directory. Note: The file name must be exactly as specified.

Add the following minimal configuration to the file:

Plugin.Example/mobro_plugin_config.json

{
  "name": "example_plugin",
  "displayName": "Example Plugin",
  "author": "Me",
  "description": "My first MoBro plugin",
  "assembly": "Plugin.Example.dll",
  "settings": []
}

• name is the unique identifier of the plugin. It's not shown to users.
• displayName is the name shown to users.
• assembly is the .dll file MoBro loads. It's named after the project.

For a detailed explanation of all configuration options, check out In-depth: Plugin Configuration.

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Creating Plugin.cs

To create the actual plugin, add a new Plugin class to the project. Plugins must implement the IMoBroPlugin interface from the SDK:

Plugin.Example/Plugin.cs

using MoBro.Plugin.SDK;

namespace Plugin.Example;

public class Plugin : IMoBroPlugin
{
}

Congratulations! You now have a valid plugin — although it doesn't do anything yet. Let's proceed by creating a metric.

---

Creating a Metric

Metrics are the key components of a plugin. Each metric represents a single value, e.g. a temperature or the name of the operating system.

Metrics are created using the builder provided by the SDK. We'll create our metric in the Init() function, which MoBro calls once right after creating the plugin:

Plugin.Example/Plugin.cs

using MoBro.Plugin.SDK;
using MoBro.Plugin.SDK.Builders;
using MoBro.Plugin.SDK.Enums;

namespace Plugin.Example;

public class Plugin : IMoBroPlugin
{
  public void Init()
  {
    // Create a new metric
    var metric = MoBroItem
      .CreateMetric()
      .WithId("first_metric")
      .WithLabel("Metric", "My first metric")
      .OfType(CoreMetricType.Text)
      .OfCategory(CoreCategory.Miscellaneous)
      .OfNoGroup()
      .Build();
  }
}

This creates a metric with the following details:

• ID: first_metric (must be unique within the plugin)
• Label: Metric
• Description: My first metric
• Type: Text — the metric's value is a text
• Category: Miscellaneous
• Group: none

Learn more about metrics, types and categories in the Metric Reference, MetricType Reference and Category Reference.

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Registering the Metric

After creating a metric, it needs to be registered with MoBro. This is done using the IMoBroService provided by the SDK. MoBro automatically injects the service at runtime, so we only need to add it as a constructor parameter:

Plugin.Example/Plugin.cs

using MoBro.Plugin.SDK;
using MoBro.Plugin.SDK.Builders;
using MoBro.Plugin.SDK.Enums;
using MoBro.Plugin.SDK.Services;

namespace Plugin.Example;

public class Plugin : IMoBroPlugin
{
  private readonly IMoBroService _mobro;

  public Plugin(IMoBroService mobro)
  {
    _mobro = mobro;
  }

  public void Init()
  {
    // Create a new metric
    var metric = MoBroItem
      .CreateMetric()
      .WithId("first_metric")
      .WithLabel("Metric", "My first metric")
      .OfType(CoreMetricType.Text)
      .OfCategory(CoreCategory.Miscellaneous)
      .OfNoGroup()
      .Build();

    // Register the metric with MoBro
    _mobro.Register(metric);
  }
}

Awesome! Your metric is now registered with MoBro. However, it doesn't have a value yet. Let's fix that.

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Updating the Metric

To update the metric's value, we'll use the IMoBroService again. A metric must be registered before its value can be updated:

Plugin.Example/Plugin.cs

using MoBro.Plugin.SDK;
using MoBro.Plugin.SDK.Builders;
using MoBro.Plugin.SDK.Enums;
using MoBro.Plugin.SDK.Services;

namespace Plugin.Example;

public class Plugin : IMoBroPlugin
{
  private readonly IMoBroService _mobro;

  public Plugin(IMoBroService mobro)
  {
    _mobro = mobro;
  }

  public void Init()
  {
    // Create a new metric
    var metric = MoBroItem
      .CreateMetric()
      .WithId("first_metric")
      .WithLabel("Metric", "My first metric")
      .OfType(CoreMetricType.Text)
      .OfCategory(CoreCategory.Miscellaneous)
      .OfNoGroup()
      .Build();

    // Register the metric with MoBro
    _mobro.Register(metric);

    // Update the metric's value
    _mobro.UpdateMetricValue(metric.Id, "Hello World");
  }
}

The value of the metric is now set to "Hello World".

note

The metric's value must match its type. In this case, the type is CoreMetricType.Text, so the value must be a string.

For more details on updating values and type restrictions, visit In-depth: Updating Metric Values.

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Project Structure

After adding all the files mentioned above, your project structure should look like this:

Plugin.Example
├── mobro_plugin_config.json
├── Plugin.cs
├── Plugin.Example.csproj
└── Program.cs

And that's it! You've successfully created your first plugin! 🎉
Next, let's run it.