LEDMatrix/docs/MULTI_ROOT_WORKSPACE_SETUP.md

Multi-Root Workspace Setup Guide

This document explains how to work on LEDMatrix and the official plugins side by side, with one editor workspace and the plugins loaded straight from your plugin checkout.

Overview

Official plugins live in a single repository, ledmatrix-plugins, with one directory per plugin under plugins/. There are no separate per-plugin repositories. For development you clone that monorepo next to LEDMatrix and symlink the plugin directories you are working on into LEDMatrix's plugins/ directory with scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh.

• ✅ Plugin code stays in the monorepo checkout, with its own git history
• ✅ LEDMatrix discovers the plugins through symlinks in plugins/ (git-ignored), so the production plugin-repos/ directory is untouched
• ✅ LEDMatrix.code-workspace opens both repositories in VS Code/Cursor

Directory Structure

~/Github/
├── LEDMatrix/                        # Main project
│   ├── plugins/                      # Dev plugin directory (git-ignored)
│   │   ├── clock-simple -> ~/Github/ledmatrix-plugins/plugins/clock-simple
│   │   ├── ledmatrix-weather -> ~/Github/ledmatrix-plugins/plugins/ledmatrix-weather
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── plugin-repos/                 # Default (Plugin Store) plugin directory
│   ├── LEDMatrix.code-workspace      # Opens LEDMatrix and ../ledmatrix-plugins
│   └── ...
└── ledmatrix-plugins/                # Plugin monorepo (git repo)
    ├── plugins/
    │   ├── clock-simple/
    │   ├── ledmatrix-weather/
    │   └── ...
    ├── plugins.json                  # Store registry
    └── update_registry.py

How It Works

1. The plugin monorepo

Clone ledmatrix-plugins into the same parent directory as LEDMatrix (the workspace file looks for ../ledmatrix-plugins relative to the LEDMatrix root):

cd ~/Github
git clone https://github.com/ChuckBuilds/ledmatrix-plugins.git

2. Symlinks in plugins/

scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh link <name> <path> creates LEDMatrix/plugins/<name> as a symlink to a plugin directory. Use the plugin's manifest id as the name: that is the name the loader and config.json use, and the script warns when the two differ.

3. Multi-root workspace

LEDMatrix.code-workspace has two roots: LEDMatrix itself and ../ledmatrix-plugins.

Setup

Link plugins

cd ~/Github/LEDMatrix
./scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh link clock-simple ../ledmatrix-plugins/plugins/clock-simple
./scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh list      # show what is linked

If a real (non-symlink) directory of the same name already exists in plugins/, the script offers to back it up and replace it.

Without a sibling checkout, ./scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh link-github <name> clones the monorepo into ~/.ledmatrix-dev-plugins/ instead and links the plugin from there. See the Plugin Development Guide.

Updating Plugins

cd ~/Github/LEDMatrix
git -C ../ledmatrix-plugins pull            # the sibling monorepo checkout
# or
./scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh update    # git pull in every linked checkout

The symlinks pick up the new code; restart the display to load it.

Configuration

The loader scans only plugin_system.plugins_directory in config/config.json (default plugin-repos). Point it at plugins so it finds the links:

{
  "plugin_system": {
    "plugins_directory": "plugins"
  }
}

Workflow

Daily Development

1. Open Workspace: Open LEDMatrix.code-workspace in VS Code/Cursor
2. Edit Plugins: Edit code under ledmatrix-plugins/plugins/<plugin>/
3. Test: python3 run.py -e (emulator) or python3 scripts/check_plugin.py --plugin <id> from LEDMatrix
4. Ship: Bump version in the plugin's manifest.json, run python update_registry.py in ledmatrix-plugins, commit there

Adding New Plugins

1. Create plugins/<your-plugin-id>/ in the monorepo checkout
2. Link it: ./scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh link <your-plugin-id> ../ledmatrix-plugins/plugins/<your-plugin-id>

Troubleshooting

Plugins not discovered

cd ~/Github/LEDMatrix
ls -la plugins/                           # links present and not broken?
./scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh status  # link targets and git state

Also check that plugin_system.plugins_directory is plugins.

Plugin updates not showing

1. Verify the link target: ls -la plugins/<id>
2. Check that you're editing the monorepo checkout, not a store-installed copy
3. Restart the LEDMatrix service (or run.py)

Notes

• plugins/ is git-ignored (except plugins/.gitkeep); the symlinks are never committed.
• When changing a plugin in the monorepo, bump its manifest version and run python update_registry.py, or users won't receive the update.