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Plugin governance
Every plugin on every RustyThrones server comes from the catalog, and only platform staff decide what is in it. This page explains the whole path from a plugin file to a running server, and who may do what. The detail pages are Plugin catalog, Approvals and Rollouts.
The principle
- Communities install approved catalog plugins only (see Plugins). They cannot upload
.csfiles, adopt files, or approve updates. - Platform staff with the operations capability (operator and platform admin) can do all of that, on any server.
- Every install is verified and rolled back automatically if the plugin does not load.
- Plugin code never reaches a server any other way: the community file browser cannot write into the plugins folder, and
.csfiles are refused elsewhere. - Attached servers are out of scope: they are managed on their own host.
End to end
| Step | Who | Where | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. A plugin version appears | Staff upload, or the uMod checker finds a new upstream version | Plugin catalog / Approvals | An upload is approved at once as the latest platform release. An upstream version waits for approval. |
| 2. Review | Staff | Approvals | Read the source diff and the scan warnings (hints, never blocking), then Approve or Reject (with a reason). Nothing is installed before approval. |
| 3. Listing | Staff | Plugin detail, Catalog listing | Set Approval (Draft, Approved, Rejected), Listed in the community catalog, the description, tags, requirements and changelog. |
| 4. Rollout | Staff, or automatic | Rollouts | The release goes to a canary server, soaks, then reaches the other servers one by one. |
| 5. Install on a server | Community admin | Server > Plugins > Browse catalog | The community installs the latest approved release; dependencies and conflicts are checked. |
| 6. Verification | The agent | The server | The file is installed, the plugin reloaded and checked within 60 seconds. A failure restores the previous version and blocks the bad release. |
Listing states
| Approval | Listed | What communities see |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | any | Hidden. |
| Rejected | any | Hidden. |
| Approved | off | Unlisted: not browsable, installable only as a dependency of another plugin (libraries, core plugins). |
| Approved | on | Listed: browsable and installable. |
"Listed plugins are shown only once approved."
Core plugins
The RustyThrones plugins (for example Wipe, Stats, Catalog and ItemDataDump) are approved but not listed: the platform installs them on hosted servers, communities do not browse them.
Adopting files already on a server
A hosted server can contain a plugin file the catalog does not manage. On the server's Plugins tab such a row says "This file is on the server but the catalog doesn't manage it". Platform staff see Adopt into catalog: the file becomes a platform plugin (draft, unlisted) and an install pinned to that exact version unless it equals the latest release; nothing changes on the server. Communities get only Reload, Unload, Load for such files.
Staff can also install any catalog plugin on a server (Add), including unlisted and retired ones, and can open a plugin from a server's row with the link to the catalog.
Pinned installs
A community or staff member can hold an install on an older release (Version, or Previous version). That install is Pinned: platform rollouts skip it ("skipped: pinned"). Choosing the latest release unpins it. Adopted files of a different version also start pinned.
Who can do what
| Action | Community admin | Platform staff (operations) |
|---|---|---|
| Browse and install listed plugins | yes | yes (also unlisted, retired) |
| Pick a version, pin, roll back, enable, disable | yes | yes |
| Edit plugin settings (config layers) | yes | yes |
| Upload a release, adopt a file | no | yes |
| Approve or reject a release | no | yes |
| Edit the catalog listing, retire, delete | no | yes |
| Start, halt, resume, cancel a rollout | no | yes |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| A community cannot find a plugin | It is Draft/Rejected/Unlisted/Retired. Open it in Plugin catalog and list it. |
| Install shows Rolled back | Read the compiler output on the server's Plugins tab, upload a fixed release, roll it out. |
| A new release did not reach a server | The install is Pinned, disabled, or the rollout is halted. |