Developer Manual

SwiftList ships an open plugin SDK (SwiftList.PluginSdk) that third-party assemblies can target to extend search behavior, add context-menu actions, integrate with other windows, and customize the UI. This manual documents that surface.

• Architecture — how the App, background Service, and plugins fit together.
• Getting Started — scaffolding a plugin project and loading it.
• Plugin SDK Reference:
  • Core Search & Actions — contributing search results and result actions.
  • System & Dialog Adapters — integrating with File Explorer, native file dialogs, and other foreground windows.
  • UI & Preview Extensions — sidebar filters, result columns, file previews, thumbnails, themes, and translations.
  • Shared Abstractions — the read-only models plugins receive (ISearchResult, IPluginSearchWindow) and configuration schema (IConfigurable).
  • Host Services — static services the host exposes back to plugins (icons, favorites, history, file metadata, directory indexing, per-plugin settings, logging).
• Example Plugins — two real, shipped plugins as case studies.
• Packaging & Deployment — how a built plugin DLL gets discovered and loaded.

All interface signatures here were verified directly against the current PluginSdk source — if you find a discrepancy, the code is authoritative.