Plugins

Plugins add features to Betelgeuse: new screens, panels on pages, settings, commands and search results. The core app stays small and focused; you add only what you need.

Plugins from Betelgeuse

Plugin	What it does	Where
Finance	Accounts and credit cards, transactions, monthly budgets, investments, assets and liabilities, and your net worth, with charts. Your money stays in databases you own.	Desktop, phone and web
Media Library	Browse and search your footage, audio, photos and project files where they already are, and link project folders to pages.	Desktop

Where plugins live

• Installed per device. A plugin's code goes in the app's data folder, never in your workspace, so it never ends up in your notes' git history.
• Turned on per workspace. Each workspace remembers which plugins it uses (in .betelgeuse/plugins.json). Sync the workspace to another computer or your phone and it knows which plugins to offer.
• Their data stays with you. Settings a plugin saves for a workspace go in .betelgeuse/plugins/<plugin>/, inside the workspace, synced with your notes. Things that only make sense on one computer (folder paths, keys) stay on that computer.

Manage plugins

Open Settings → Plugins. For each plugin you'll see its version, what it does, its permissions and a switch to turn it on or off for this workspace. Turning a plugin off removes everything it added, right away, with no restart.

Plugins with their own settings get their own entry in the Settings sidebar.

Install from the plugin store

1. Open Settings → Plugins → Browse.
2. Each plugin shows what it does and what it may do. Click Install, and confirm.
3. It's downloaded, checked and turned on for this workspace straight away.

Store plugins are built from source by Betelgeuse's release pipeline and signed; the app checks the signature and refuses anything that doesn't match, so what you install is exactly what was published.

Updates install automatically when a new version works with your Betelgeuse (switch this off with Update automatically under the Installed tab, then use Update to … on each plugin). Check for updates looks right away.

If you open a workspace that uses a plugin this computer doesn't have (say, after syncing it from another machine), Settings → Plugins offers to install it.

On your phone

The phone app runs plugins made for phones, such as Finance. Open Settings → Plugins in the app: it lists what's installed, plugins your workspace uses that this phone doesn't have yet, and the store. Plugins that only work on a computer, such as Media Library, are listed as Desktop only. New plugins come from the store, so you don't need to update the app to get them.

In the web app

The web app runs plugins made for it, such as Finance, from the same signed store. Plugins are installed in your browser, and which ones a workspace uses still syncs with the repository. Plugins that need your computer's files or connect to other websites are listed as unavailable.

Install a plugin from a folder

For plugins that aren't in the store, such as one you're building or one a friend shared:

1. Get the plugin's built folder: the one with betelgeuse-plugin.json, main.js and maybe styles.css.
2. In Settings → Plugins, click Install from folder… and choose it.
3. The plugin is copied into Betelgeuse, turned on for this workspace, and starts immediately.

To update, install the newer folder the same way. To remove a plugin, click Uninstall: its code and cached data are deleted; what it saved in your workspace stays, in case you install it again.

Permissions

Every plugin lists what it may do, and Betelgeuse holds it to that:

Permission	Means
Read your pages and databases	It can list and read pages and database rows.
Create and change pages	It can create pages and edit their content and properties.
Open links and files in other apps	It can open web links in your browser and files in their apps.
Connect to a website	It can talk to that website (only that one), for example to search photos.
Index the folders you choose and preview their files	It can use the media library: folders you add, their files' details and thumbnails.

A plugin without a permission doesn't get the part of the API that needs it. Click N permissions under a plugin in Settings to see its list.

When a plugin can't run

Settings → Plugins explains why: it needs a newer Betelgeuse, it was made for a different plugin API version, it's for a different app, or it ran into an error (with the message). A plugin that crashes only takes down its own panel or view, which shows the error and a Try again button; the rest of the app keeps working.

Make your own

Plugins are written in TypeScript and React. Start with Build a plugin.