Admin Panel API for plugins

A Strapi plugin can interact with both the back end and the front end of a Strapi application. The Admin Panel API is about the front end part, i.e. it allows a plugin to customize Strapi's admin panel.

The admin panel is a React application that can embed other React applications. These other React applications are the admin parts of each Strapi plugin.

☑️ Prerequisites

You have created a Strapi plugin.

The Admin Panel API includes:

an entry file which exports the required interface,
lifecycle functions and the registerTrad() async function,
and several specific APIs for your plugin to interact with the admin panel.

✏️ Note

The whole code for the admin panel part of your plugin could live in the /strapi-admin.js|ts or /admin/src/index.js|ts file. However, it's recommended to split the code into different folders, just like the structure created by the strapi generate plugin CLI generator command.

Entry file

The entry file for the Admin Panel API is [plugin-name]/admin/src/index.js. This file exports the required interface, with the following functions available:

Function type	Available functions
Lifecycle functions	register bootstrap
Async function	registerTrads

Lifecycle functions

register()

Type: Function

This function is called to load the plugin, even before the app is actually bootstrapped. It takes the running Strapi application as an argument (app).

Within the register function, a plugin can:

register itself so it's available to the admin panel
add a new link to the main navigation (see Menu API)
create a new settings section
define injection zones
add reducers

registerPlugin()

Type: Function

Registers the plugin to make it available in the admin panel.

This function returns an object with the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`id`	String	Plugin id
`name`	String	Plugin name
`injectionZones`	Object	Declaration of available injection zones

✏️ Note

Some parameters can be imported from the package.json file.

Example:

my-plugin/admin/src/index.js

// Auto-generated component
import PluginIcon from './components/PluginIcon';
import pluginId from './pluginId'

export default {
  register(app) {
    app.addMenuLink({
      to: `/plugins/${pluginId}`,
      icon: PluginIcon,
      intlLabel: {
        id: `${pluginId}.plugin.name`,
        defaultMessage: 'My plugin',
      },
      Component: async () => {
        const component = await import(/* webpackChunkName: "my-plugin" */ './pages/App');

        return component;
      },
      permissions: [], // array of permissions (object), allow a user to access a plugin depending on its permissions
    });
    app.registerPlugin({
      id: pluginId,
      name,
    });
  },
};

bootstrap()

Type: Function

Exposes the bootstrap function, executed after all the plugins are registered.

Within the bootstrap function, a plugin can, for instance:

extend another plugin, using getPlugin('plugin-name'),
register hooks (see Hooks API),
add links to a settings section,
add actions and options to the Content Manager's List view and Edit view (see details on the Content Manager APIs page).

Example:

module.exports = () => {
  return {
    // ...
    bootstrap(app) {
      // execute some bootstrap code
      app.getPlugin('content-manager').injectComponent('editView', 'right-links', { name: 'my-compo', Component: () => 'my-compo' })
    },
  };
};

Async function

While register() and bootstrap() are lifecycle functions, registerTrads() is an async function.

registerTrads()

Type: Function

To reduce the build size, the admin panel is only shipped with 2 locales by default (en and fr). The registerTrads() function is used to register a plugin's translations files and to create separate chunks for the application translations. It does not need to be modified.

Example: Register a plugin's translation files

export default {
  async registerTrads({ locales }) {
    const importedTrads = await Promise.all(
      locales.map(locale => {
        return import(
          /* webpackChunkName: "[pluginId]-[request]" */ `./translations/${locale}.json`
        )
          .then(({ default: data }) => {
            return {
              data: prefixPluginTranslations(data, pluginId),
              locale,
            };
          })
          .catch(() => {
            return {
              data: {},
              locale,
            };
          });
      })
    );

    return Promise.resolve(importedTrads);
  },
};

Available actions

The Admin Panel API allows a plugin to take advantage of several small APIs to perform actions. Use this table as a reference:

Action	API to use	Function to use	Related lifecycle function
Add a new link to the main navigation	Menu API	`addMenuLink()`	`register()`
Create a new settings section	Settings API	`createSettingSection()`	`register()`
Declare an injection zone	Injection Zones API	`registerPlugin()`	`register()`
Add a reducer	Reducers API	`addReducers()`	`register()`
Create a hook	Hooks API	`createHook()`	`register()`
Add a single link to a settings section	Settings API	`addSettingsLink()`	`bootstrap()`
Add multiple links to a settings section	Settings API	`addSettingsLinks()`	`bootstrap()`
Inject a Component in an injection zone	Injection Zones API	`injectComponent()`	`bootstrap()`
Add options and actions to the Content Manager's Edit view and List view	Content Manager APIs	`addEditViewSidePanel()` `addDocumentAction` `addDocumentHeaderAction` `addBulkAction`	`bootstrap()`
Register a hook	Hooks API	`registerHook()`	`bootstrap()`

💡 Replacing the WYSIWYG

The WYSIWYG editor can be replaced by taking advantage of custom fields, for instance using the CKEditor custom field plugin.

👀 Info

The admin panel supports dotenv variables.

All variables defined in a .env file and prefixed by STRAPI_ADMIN_ are available while customizing the admin panel through process.env.

The Menu API allows a plugin to add a new link to the main navigation through the addMenuLink() function with the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`to`	String	Path the link should point to
`icon`	React Component	Icon to display in the main navigation
`intlLabel`	Object	Label for the link, following the React Int'l convention, with: `id`: id used to insert the localized label `defaultMessage`: default label for the link
`Component`	Async function	Returns a dynamic import of the plugin entry point
`permissions`	Array of Objects	Permissions declared in the `permissions.js` file of the plugin
`position`	Integer	Position in the menu
`licenseOnly`	Boolean	If set to `true`, adds a lightning ⚡️ icon next to the icon or menu entry to indicate that the feature or plugin requires a paid license. (Defaults to `false`)

✏️ Note

intlLabel.id are ids used in translation files ([plugin-name]/admin/src/translations/[language].json)

Example:

my-plugin/admin/src/index.js
import PluginIcon from './components/PluginIcon';

export default {
  register(app) {
    app.addMenuLink({
      to: '/plugins/my-plugin',
      icon: PluginIcon,
      intlLabel: {
        id: 'my-plugin.plugin.name',
        defaultMessage: 'My plugin',
      },
      Component: () => 'My plugin',
      permissions: [], // permissions to apply to the link
      position: 3, // position in the menu
      licenseOnly: true, // mark the feature as a paid one not available in your license
    });
    app.registerPlugin({ ... });
  },
  bootstrap() {},
};

Settings API

The Settings API allows:

creating a new setting section
adding a single link or multiple links at once to existing settings sections

✏️ Note

Adding a new section happens in the register lifecycle while adding links happens during the bootstrap lifecycle.

All functions accept links as objects with the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`id`	String	React id
`to`	String	Path the link should point to
`intlLabel`	Object	Label for the link, following the React Int'l convention, with: `id`: id used to insert the localized label `defaultMessage`: default label for the link
`Component`	Async function	Returns a dynamic import of the plugin entry point
`permissions`	Array of Objects	Permissions declared in the `permissions.js` file of the plugin
`licenseOnly`	Boolean	If set to `true`, adds a lightning ⚡️ icon next to the icon or menu entry to indicate that the feature or plugin requires a paid license. (Defaults to `false`)

createSettingSection()

Type: Function

Create a new settings section.

The function takes 2 arguments:

Argument	Type	Description
first argument	Object	Section label: `id` (String): section id `intlLabel` (Object): localized label for the section, following the React Int'l convention, with: `id`: id used to insert the localized label `defaultMessage`: default label for the section
second argument	Array of Objects	Links included in the section

✏️ Note

intlLabel.id are ids used in translation files ([plugin-name]/admin/src/translations/[language].json)

Example:

my-plugin/admin/src/index.js

const myComponent = async () => {
  const component = await import(
    /* webpackChunkName: "users-providers-settings-page" */ './pages/Providers'
  );

  return component;
};

export default {
  register(app) {
    app.createSettingSection(
      { id: String, intlLabel: { id: String, defaultMessage: String } }, // Section to create
      [
        // links
        {
          intlLabel: { id: String, defaultMessage: String },
          id: String,
          to: String,
          Component: myComponent,
          permissions: Object[],
        },
      ]
    );
  },
};

addSettingsLink()

Type: Function

Add a unique link to an existing settings section.

Example:

my-plugin/admin/src/index.js

const myComponent = async () => {
  const component = await import(
    /* webpackChunkName: "users-providers-settings-page" */ './pages/Providers'
  );

  return component;
};

export default {
  bootstrap(app) {
        // Adding a single link
        app.addSettingsLink(
         'global', // id of the section to add the link to
            {
                intlLabel: { id: String, defaultMessage: String },
                id: String,
                to: String,
                Component: myComponent,
                permissions: Object[],
        licenseOnly: true, // mark the feature as a paid one not available in your license
            }
    )
  }
}

addSettingsLinks()

Type: Function

Add multiple links to an existing settings section.

Example:

my-plugin/admin/src/index.js

const myComponent = async () => {
  const component = await import(
    /* webpackChunkName: "users-providers-settings-page" */ './pages/Providers'
  );

  return component;
};

export default {
  bootstrap(app) {
    // Adding several links at once
    app.addSettingsLinks(
      'global', // id of the section to add the link in
        [{
          intlLabel: { id: String, defaultMessage: String },
          id: String,
          to: String,
          Component: myComponent,
          permissions: Object[],
          licenseOnly: true, // mark the feature as a paid one not available in your license
        }]
    )
  }
}

Injection Zones API

Injection zones refer to areas of a view's layout where a plugin allows another to inject a custom React component (e.g. a UI element like a button).

Plugins can use:

Strapi's predefined injection zones for the Content Manager,
or custom injection zones, created by a plugin

✏️ Note

Injection zones are defined in the register() lifecycle but components are injected in the bootstrap() lifecycle.

Using predefined injection zones

Strapi admin panel comes with predefined injection zones so components can be added to the UI of the Content Manager:

View	Injection zone name & Location
List view	`actions`: sits between Filters and the cogs icon
Edit view	`right-links`: sits between "Configure the view" and "Edit" buttons

Creating a custom injection zone

To create a custom injection zone, declare it as a <InjectionZone /> React component with an area prop that takes a string with the following naming convention: plugin-name.viewName.injectionZoneName.

Injecting components

A plugin has 2 different ways of injecting a component:

to inject a component from a plugin into another plugin's injection zones, use the injectComponent() function
to specifically inject a component into one of the Content Manager's predefined injection zones, use the getPlugin('content-manager').injectComponent() function instead

Both the injectComponent() and getPlugin('content-manager').injectComponent() methods accept the following arguments:

Argument	Type	Description
first argument	String	The view where the component is injected
second argument	String	The zone where the component is injected
third argument	Object	An object with the following keys: `name` (string): the name of the component `Component` (function or class): the React component to be injected

Example: Inject a component in the informations box of the Edit View of the Content Manager:

my-plugin/admin/src/index.js

export default {
  bootstrap(app) {
    app.getPlugin('content-manager').injectComponent()('editView', 'informations', {
      name: 'my-plugin-my-compo',
      Component: () => 'my-compo',
    });
  }
}

Example: Creating a new injection zone and injecting it from a plugin to another one:

my-plugin/admin/src/injectionZones.js
// Use the injection zone in a view

import { InjectionZone } from '@strapi/helper-plugin';

const HomePage = () => {
  return (
    <main>
      <h1>This is the homepage</h1>
        <InjectionZone area="my-plugin.homePage.right" />
    </main>
  );
};

my-plugin/admin/src/index.js
// Declare this injection zone in the register lifecycle of the plugin

export default {
  register() {
    app.registerPlugin({
      // ...
      injectionZones: {
        homePage: {
          right: []
        }
      }
    });
  },
}

my-other-plugin/admin/src/index.js
// Inject the component from a plugin in another plugin

export default {
  register() {
    // ...
  },
  bootstrap(app) {
    app.getPlugin('my-plugin').injectComponent('homePage', 'right', {
      name: 'my-other-plugin-component',
      Component: () => 'This component is injected',
    });
  }
};

Accessing data with the `useCMEditViewDataManager` React hook

Once an injection zone is defined, the component to be injected in the Content Manager can have access to all the data of the Edit View through the useCMEditViewDataManager React hook.

Example of a basic component using the 'useCMEditViewDataManager' hook

import { useCMEditViewDataManager } from '@strapi/helper-plugin';

const MyCompo = () => {
  const {
    createActionAllowedFields: [], // Array of fields that the user is allowed to edit
    formErrors: {}, // Object errors
    readActionAllowedFields: [], // Array of field that the user is allowed to edit
    slug: 'api::address.address', // Slug of the content-type
    updateActionAllowedFields: [],
    allLayoutData: {
      components: {}, // components layout
      contentType: {}, // content-type layout
    },
    initialData: {},
    isCreatingEntry: true,
    isSingleType: true,
    status: 'resolved',
    layout: {}, // Current content-type layout
    hasDraftAndPublish: true,
    modifiedData: {},
    onPublish: () => {},
    onUnpublish: () => {},
    addComponentToDynamicZone: () => {},
    addNonRepeatableComponentToField: () => {},
    addRelation: () => {},
    addRepeatableComponentToField: () => {},
    moveComponentDown: () => {},
    moveComponentField: () => {},
    moveComponentUp: () => {},
    moveRelation: () => {},
    onChange: () => {},
    onRemoveRelation: () => {},
    removeComponentFromDynamicZone: () => {},
    removeComponentFromField: () => {},
    removeRepeatableField: () => {},
  } = useCMEditViewDataManager()

  return null
}

Reducers API

Reducers are Redux reducers that can be used to share state between components. Reducers can be useful when:

Large amounts of application state are needed in many places in the application.
The application state is updated frequently.
The logic to update that state may be complex.

Reducers can be added to a plugin interface with the addReducers() function during the register lifecycle.

A reducer is declared as an object with this syntax:

Example:

my-plugin/admin/src/index.js
import { exampleReducer } from './reducers'

const reducers = {
  // Reducer Syntax
  [`${pluginId}_exampleReducer`]: exampleReducer
}

export default {
  register(app) {
    app.addReducers(reducers)
  },
  bootstrap() {},
};

Hooks API

The Hooks API allows a plugin to create and register hooks, i.e. places in the application where plugins can add personalized behavior.

Hooks should be registered during the bootstrap lifecycle of a plugin.

Hooks can then be run in series, in waterfall or in parallel:

runHookSeries returns an array corresponding to the result of each function executed, ordered
runHookParallel returns an array corresponding to the result of the promise resolved by the function executed, ordered
runHookWaterfall returns a single value corresponding to all the transformations applied by the different functions starting with the initial value args.

Example: Create a hook in a plugin and use it in another plugin

my-plugin/admin/src/index.js
// Create a hook in a plugin
export default {
  register(app) {
    app.createHook('My-PLUGIN/MY_HOOK');
  }
}

my-other-plugin/admin/src/index.js
// Use the hook in another plugin
export default {
  bootstrap(app) {
    app.registerHook('My-PLUGIN/MY_HOOK', (...args) => {
      console.log(args)

      // important: return the mutated data
      return args
    });

    app.registerPlugin({...})
  }
}

Predefined hooks

Strapi includes a predefined Admin/CM/pages/ListView/inject-column-in-table hook that can be used to add or mutate a column of the List View of the Content Manager:

runHookWaterfall(INJECT_COLUMN_IN_TABLE, {
    displayedHeaders: ListFieldLayout[],
    layout: ListFieldLayout,
});

interface ListFieldLayout {
  /**
   * The attribute data from the content-type's schema for the field
   */
  attribute: Attribute.Any | { type: 'custom' };
  /**
   * Typically used by plugins to render a custom cell
   */
  cellFormatter?: (
    data: Document,
    header: Omit<ListFieldLayout, 'cellFormatter'>,
    { collectionType, model }: { collectionType: string; model: string }
  ) => React.ReactNode;
  label: string | MessageDescriptor;
  /**
   * the name of the attribute we use to display the actual name e.g. relations
   * are just ids, so we use the mainField to display something meaninginful by
   * looking at the target's schema
   */
  mainField?: string;
  name: string;
  searchable?: boolean;
  sortable?: boolean;
}

interface ListLayout {
  layout: ListFieldLayout[];
  components?: never;
  metadatas: {
    [K in keyof Contracts.ContentTypes.Metadatas]: Contracts.ContentTypes.Metadatas[K]['list'];
  };
  options: LayoutOptions;
  settings: LayoutSettings;
}

type LayoutOptions = Schema['options'] & Schema['pluginOptions'] & object;

interface LayoutSettings extends Contracts.ContentTypes.Settings {
  displayName?: string;
  icon?: never;
}

Strapi also includes a Admin/CM/pages/EditView/mutate-edit-view-layout hook that can be used to mutate the Edit View of the Content Manager:

interface EditLayout {
  layout: Array<Array<EditFieldLayout[]>>;
  components: {
    [uid: string]: {
      layout: Array<EditFieldLayout[]>;
      settings: Contracts.Components.ComponentConfiguration['settings'] & {
        displayName?: string;
        icon?: string;
      };
    };
  };
  metadatas: {
    [K in keyof Contracts.ContentTypes.Metadatas]: Contracts.ContentTypes.Metadatas[K]['edit'];
  };
  options: LayoutOptions;
  settings: LayoutSettings;
}

interface EditFieldSharedProps extends Omit<InputProps, 'hint' | 'type'> {
  hint?: string;
  mainField?: string;
  size: number;
  unique?: boolean;
  visible?: boolean;
}

/**
 * Map over all the types in Attribute Types and use that to create a union of new types where the attribute type
 * is under the property attribute and the type is under the property type.
 */
type EditFieldLayout = {
  [K in Attribute.Kind]: EditFieldSharedProps & {
    attribute: Extract<Attribute.Any, { type: K }>;
    type: K;
  };
}[Attribute.Kind];

type LayoutOptions = Schema['options'] & Schema['pluginOptions'] & object;

interface LayoutSettings extends Contracts.ContentTypes.Settings {
  displayName?: string;
  icon?: never;
}

✏️ Note

EditViewLayout and ListViewLayout are parts of the useDocumentLayout hook (see source code).

Admin Panel API for plugins

Entry file​

Lifecycle functions​

register()​

registerPlugin()​

bootstrap()​

Async function​

registerTrads()​

Available actions​

Menu API​

Settings API​

createSettingSection()​

addSettingsLink()​

addSettingsLinks()​

Injection Zones API​

Using predefined injection zones​

Creating a custom injection zone​

Injecting components​

Accessing data with the useCMEditViewDataManager React hook​

Reducers API​

Hooks API​

Predefined hooks​

Entry file

Lifecycle functions

register()

registerPlugin()

bootstrap()

Async function

registerTrads()

Available actions

Menu API

Settings API

createSettingSection()

addSettingsLink()

addSettingsLinks()

Injection Zones API

Using predefined injection zones

Creating a custom injection zone

Injecting components

Accessing data with the `useCMEditViewDataManager` React hook

Reducers API

Hooks API

Predefined hooks