Plugins for RepoBee (the plugin category)

RepoBee defines a fairly simple but powerful plugin system that allows programmers to hook into certain execution points. To read more about the details of these hooks (and how to write your own plugins), see the repobee-plug Developer Documentation.

Listing available plugins (the list action)

The plugin list command allows you to list available plugins for RepoBee. At the time of writing, the list is as follows:

$ repobee plugin list
╒═══════════╤════════════════════════════════════════╤═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╤════════════════╤══════════════════════════╕
│ Name      │ Description                            │ URL                                                   │ Latest         │ Installed (= active)   │
╞═══════════╪════════════════════════════════════════╪═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╪════════════════╪══════════════════════════╡
│ junit4    │ Plugin for RepoBee that runs JUnit4 on │ https://github.com/repobee/repobee-junit4             │ v1.0.0-alpha.1 │ -                        │
│           │ cloned repos                           │                                                       │                │                          │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ feedback  │ A RepoBee plugin for opening feedback  │ https://github.com/repobee/repobee-feedback           │ v0.5.0         │ -                        │
│           │ issues in on student issue trackers    │                                                       │                │                          │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ csvgrades │ A plugin for RepoBee that parses the   │ https://github.com/repobee/repobee-csvgrades          │ v0.1.0         │ -                        │
│           │ JSON file produced by list-issues to   │                                                       │                │                          │
│           │ report grades into a CSV file          │                                                       │                │                          │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ sanitizer │ A plugin for sanitizing master         │ https://github.com/repobee/repobee-sanitizer          │ bcab711        │ -                        │
│           │ repositories before distribution to    │                                                       │                │                          │
│           │ students                               │                                                       │                │                          │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ gitlab    │ Makes RepoBee compatible with GitLab   │ https://repobee.readthedocs.io/en/stable/plugins.html │ N/A            │ 3.0.0-beta.1             │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ javac     │ Runs javac on student repos after      │ https://repobee.readthedocs.io/en/stable/plugins.html │ N/A            │ 3.0.0-beta.1             │
│           │ cloning                                │                                                       │                │                          │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ pairwise  │ Makes peer review allocation pairwise  │ https://repobee.readthedocs.io/en/stable/plugins.html │ N/A            │ 3.0.0-beta.1             │
│           │ (if student A reviews student B, then  │                                                       │                │                          │
│           │ student B reviews student A)           │                                                       │                │                          │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ pylint    │ Runs pylint on student repos after     │ https://repobee.readthedocs.io/en/stable/plugins.html │ N/A            │ 3.0.0-beta.1             │
│           │ cloning                                │                                                       │                │                          │
├───────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ query     │ An experimental query command for      │ https://repobee.readthedocs.io/en/stable/plugins.html │ N/A            │ 3.0.0-beta.1             │
│           │ querying the hooks results file (NOTE: │                                                       │                │                          │
│           │ This plugin is not stable)             │                                                       │                │                          │
╘═══════════╧════════════════════════════════════════╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╧════════════════╧══════════════════════════╛

Note that the list action also shows you what version is installed, and if it’s active. More on that later.

Installing and uninstalling plugins (the install and uninstall actions)

The install action allows a user to install one of our curated plugins, or user-made plugins. To install a curated plugin, simply run repobee plugin install, and a menu system much like the config wizard will guide you through the install process. To upgrade a plugin, simply run the install action again and select a newer version.

To uninstall a plugin, simply run repobee plugin uninstall. This will guide you through the process of installing any installed plugin that you do not wish to have anymore.

Managing installed plugins (the activate action)

A plugin being installed is not enough for it to actually do anything (otherwise, all of the plugins that ship with RepoBee would always do things). There are two ways to activate plugins: temporarily and persistently.

Temporary plugin activation

You can activate plugins temporarily for one invocation by specifying them with the --plug|-p option to the preparser. For example, if I want to run repos clone with the javac plugin active, I would do something like this:

$ repobee -p javac repos clone [...]

We recommend using the -p preparser option for plugins that you only want to activate from time to time, but you don’t necessarily want them active all the time.

Hint

You can specify the -p option multiple times to temporarily activate multiple plugins. That is to say, type repobee -p javac -p pylint [...] to activate both the javac and pylint plugins.

Persistent plugin activation

To persistently activate or deactivate a plugin, RepoBee provides an activate action. Run repobee plugin activate, and follow the prompts to activate your desired plugin(s). We recommend activating plugins in this fashion if they are to be used indefinitely, such as plugins that add commands.

Note

If you use GitLab, you should most definitely run plugin activate to activate the gitlab plugin permanently!

Plugin configuration

Some plugins are configurable, meaning that they read values from the configuration file. To be able to configure a plugin with the config wizard command, the plugin must be active. It doesn’t matter if the plugin is temporarily or persistently activated. As an example, I can configure the javac plugin by running the config wizard like so.

$ repobee -p javac config wizard

Plugins typically use sections other than the repobee section of the configuration file, and you’ll find that new sections pop up in the config wizard when certain plugins are active.