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+# Phase 2: Plugin System - Context
+
+**Gathered:** 2026-02-04
+**Status:** Ready for planning
+
+
+## Phase Boundary
+
+Establish the plugin architecture that all other features build upon. This includes plugin discovery, manifest parsing, lifecycle management (register, boot, shutdown), dependency resolution, and a type-safe extension API for plugins to extend each other. Components, themes, auth, admin, content, and core plugins all depend on this foundation.
+
+
+
+
+## Implementation Decisions
+
+### Manifest Format
+- **Hybrid approach:** YAML for metadata, Scala trait for code contracts
+- YAML contains: vendor, name, version, description, author, homepage, license, tags, min Scala version, dependencies
+- Scala trait contains: lifecycle hooks only (register, boot, shutdown)
+- **Dependencies:** Semver ranges (e.g., `golem15.blog:^1.2.0`)
+- **Soft dependencies:** Supported via `optionalDeps` — loads after if present, ignored if not
+- **Vendor namespace:** Explicitly declared in YAML (`vendor: golem15, name: blog`)
+- **Versioning:** Standard semver — MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, major bump = breaking change
+- **No conflict declarations** — handle incompatibilities via dependency constraints
+
+### Lifecycle Hooks
+- **Three phases:** register, boot, shutdown (like WinterCMS)
+- **Execution model:** Hybrid — register is sync (pure data), boot/shutdown are async (ZIO effects)
+- **Boot failures:** Graceful degradation — failed plugin disabled, dependents disabled, rest of app runs
+- **Boot ordering:** Sequential by dependency order, then by numeric priority (higher boots first among peers)
+- **Circular dependencies:** Error at discovery time (fail early)
+- **Enabled flag:** Plugins can be disabled via config without removing from directory
+- **Migrations:** Separate CLI command only, not during boot
+- **Hot reload:** Supported in dev mode — file changes trigger plugin reload
+- **Logging:** Minimal by default (errors/warnings only)
+- **Plugin context:** Both PluginContext (simple access) and ZIO environment (advanced DI)
+- **Health checks:** Optional health trait plugins can implement for /health endpoint
+- **State tracking:** Full state machine (registered, booting, running, failed, disabled)
+- **Enable/disable control:** Admin API only, plugins cannot control each other
+
+### Extension Mechanics
+- **Multi-pattern approach** (like WinterCMS):
+ - Events for loose coupling (pub/sub)
+ - Traits for type-safe contracts
+ - Registration system for UI extensions (forms, navigation)
+- **Form/list extensions:** Hybrid — simple extensions in YAML, complex logic in code
+- **Type safety:** Compile-time where possible using Scala's type system
+- **Admin navigation:** Both YAML for standard items, code for dynamic/conditional items
+- **Model extensions:** Full API — plugins can add columns and relations to other plugins' models
+- **Route/controller interception:** Middleware-style wrapping (before/after logic)
+- **Multiple extensions merge:** Additive (like WinterCMS) — Plugin A and B can both extend Plugin C, extensions accumulate
+- **Extension conflicts:** Actual conflicts (same field name) error, otherwise merge
+- **Granularity:** Plugin-level only — disable plugin = disable all its extensions
+
+### Developer Experience
+- **Dependency errors:** Console message with suggested fix (e.g., "try: install golem15.blog ^1.2.0")
+- **Plugin doctor:** Full diagnostic command — manifests, dependencies, conflicts, health
+- **Dev mode debugging:** Full tracing — verbose logs, timing, dependency graph visualization, event flow tracing
+- **API documentation:** Auto-generated from traits, events, extension points
+
+### Claude's Discretion
+- Shutdown timeout policy
+- Event listener priority ordering
+- Runtime error handling patterns (isolated vs propagated)
+- Asset injection targeting (global vs page-specific)
+
+
+
+
+## Specific Ideas
+
+- "Make it similar to WinterCMS" — multiple plugins extending the same target, extensions merge additively
+- Events, traits, AND registration system — all three patterns available like WinterCMS
+- Plugin B can extend Plugin A's backend forms and navigation
+- Example: Golem15.Golem extending Blog with AI image generation AND Golem15.SEO extending Blog with SEO fields — both work simultaneously
+
+
+
+
+## Deferred Ideas
+
+None — discussion stayed within phase scope
+
+
+
+---
+
+*Phase: 02-plugin-system*
+*Context gathered: 2026-02-04*