electric-cherry/docs/guides/plugin-releases.md

Plugin releases from GitHub

On Plugins, paste a public GitHub repository or release URL into Import from GitHub. Repository and /releases/latest URLs preview the latest stable release. Specific /releases/tag/v3.1.0 links and /releases#release-v3.1.0 links select that exact release, including prereleases.

Review the notes, select a DLL, give the plugin a name, and choose an optional T5/T6 game scope. Map scopes can be set on the plugin detail page. Import only saves the binary; Import and test opens the beta builder with that exact plugin version selected. Select servers and a test plan to start testing. Imports alone never change server files or promote versions.

Each import stores the publisher's tag, release notes, GitHub repository, release URL, release and asset IDs, asset filename, publication date and a SHA-256 checksum. If GitHub supplies a SHA-256 asset digest, the download must match it. The existing upload number still distinguishes different builds. Version history links back to each imported release.

Discovering updates

The plugins page and each plugin's GitHub panel check for the latest stable release. Lookups are cached per repository for five minutes, including when using Check for updates. No background upgrades or automatic promotions occur. Failed checks are shown per plugin so one unavailable repository does not hide other updates.

Review update opens release notes and a DLL picker. The previously imported asset filename is selected when available. Multiple unfamiliar DLLs require a selection. Importing into an existing plugin keeps its scope and deployment filename. An active beta must be completed before another release is imported.

Update tracking follows the most recently imported version's repository and asset name. An imported release is distinguished from a promoted release; importing the same release asset and binary into that plugin again reuses the existing version. An older stable release is not offered as an upgrade over a newer imported prerelease. A plugin uploaded manually starts tracking once a GitHub release is imported from its detail page.

Limits

• Public repositories on github.com only; no GitHub credentials are needed.
• Direct .dll release assets up to 32 MiB; archives and source-code downloads are not extracted. Other formats can still use the manual upload workflow.
• Release tags have the same 80-character limit as manually entered versions.
• GitHub rate limits, missing releases, download failures and checksum failures produce errors without saving a partial import.
• Downloads follow only HTTPS redirects to GitHub's release asset hosts and have a size limit and timeout.

API

• GET /api/plugins/github/release?url=... previews a release and its DLL assets.
• POST /api/plugins/github/import accepts JSON { url, assetId, name, scopeType?, scopeValue? } for a new plugin, or { url, assetId, pluginId } for an existing plugin. Use the preview's exact release URL, not a mutable latest URL. Returns plugin/version IDs, checksum and the beta builder URL.
• GET /api/plugins/updates checks all plugins; ?pluginId=123 checks one.

The server resolves release metadata again during import. Client-supplied notes, tags and download URLs are not used as provenance or download instructions.