Making extension package

Note

It's recommended to use the ext-template repository for extension development.

Extensions allow you to add extra functionality to EspoCRM. They can be installed at Administrator panel.

The file structure of the package:

• manifest.json – a file that contains extension properties;
• files/ – a directory that contains extension files;
• scripts/ – a directory that contains extension scripts.

Manifest

{
  "name": "Extension Name",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "acceptableVersions": [
     ">=7.4.0"
  ],
  "php": [
     ">=8.1"
  ],
  "releaseDate": "2019-10-22",
  "author": "Your name",
  "description": "Description of your extension"
}

Syntax of version is described by the v2.0.0 the SemVer specification. It's possible to define ranges in acceptableVersions.

Files

All extension files should be placed in files directory. They will be copied to EspoCRM core directory.

Scripts

For different purposes EspoCRM supports the following types of scripts. All of them should be placed in scripts directory.

• BeforeInstall.php – a script executed before an installation process;
• AfterInstall.php – executed once the installation process is finished;
• BeforeUninstall.php – executed before uninstallation process;
• AfterUninstall.php – executed once the uninstallation process is finished.

Example:

<?php
use Espo\Core\Container;
use Espo\Core\InjectableFactory;
use Espo\Core\Utils\Config;
use Espo\Core\Utils\Config\ConfigWriter;

class AfterInstall
{
    public function run(Container $container): void
    {
        $config = $container->getByClass(Config::class);

        $configWriter = $container->getByClass(InjectableFactory::class)
            ->create(ConfigWriter::class)

        $tabList = $config->get('tabList') ?? [];

        if (!in_array('MyCustomEntity', $tabList)) {
            $tabList[] = 'MyCustomEntity';

            $configWriter->set('tabList', $tabList);
        }

        $configWriter->save();
    }
}

Package

In the end, we need to pack all these files into a ZIP archive.

Template repository

You can use this template repository to create a git repository for your extension.

Recommendations

Note

It's recommended to give some prefix to names of your custom entity types. E.g. MyPrefixMyEntityTypeName, this prefix can be the name of your company. It will prevent possible conflicts with other extensions.