Redis Insight Plugin

Redis Insight Workbench Plugin

Build, deploy, and validate Redis Insight Workbench visualization plugins. Plugins render inside an iframe in Workbench and visualize the result of a Redis command. Trigger this skill for plugin manifests, package.json visualizations, activationMethod functions, redisinsight-plugin-sdk usage, Parcel/Vite plugin builds, iframe rendering, Redis command parsing, Docker RedisInsight deployment, /api/plugins verification, and Playwright plugin tests.

Use the redis-ui-components skill for every visual plugin UI. RedisInsight plugins use the RedisInsight product theme pair: light / dark, not light2 / dark2.

Official source-of-truth references:

• In-repo canonical docs: docs/plugins/development.md, docs/plugins/installation.md, docs/plugins/introduction.md
• Upstream: https://github.com/redis/RedisInsight/tree/main/docs/plugins

See references/official-docs-summary.md for a condensed summary.

Repo Code Conventions (internal plugins)

You are inside the RedisInsight repo. An internal plugin lives in the redisinsight/ui/ tree, so its code must follow the same styleguides as the rest of the UI — not ad hoc plugin code. These rules are mandatory for any plugin code written here and override generic external-plugin guidance below where they conflict:

• frontend — component folder structure (ComponentName/ComponentName.tsx + .styles.ts + .types.ts + .spec.tsx), functional components with hooks, named exports, barrel files, layout components (Row / Col / FlexGroup) instead of raw div, and theme usage.
• redis-ui-components — build all plugin UI from Redis UI components. Import the internal uiSrc/components/ui wrappers; never import raw @redis-ui/*. (This skill is a symlink into the installed @redis-ui/components package, so it resolves after npm install; if it is missing, run install — the canonical source is node_modules/@redis-ui/components/skills/redis-ui-components/.)
• code-quality — TypeScript everywhere (no any), naming (PascalCase / camelCase / UPPER_SNAKE_CASE), import order, no magic numbers, no !important in styles, semantic theme colors over CSS variables.
• testing — Jest + Testing Library, the renderComponent helper, faker for test data, waitFor instead of fixed time waits.
• e2e-testing — any Playwright/E2E test follows this skill (tests in tests/e2e-playwright/, page objects, fixtures, UI navigation; never page.goto() directly, no CSS selectors or fixed waits).

External standalone plugins (below) are bundled in isolation and cannot import these internals; they emulate the conventions with local code instead.

First Decision: Plugin Type

Decide before scaffolding anything else.

• Internal monorepo plugin — lives inside redisinsight/ui/src/packages/<plugin-name>/ and ships with Redis Insight itself. Build with Vite (shared config). Follow the repo styleguides above. This is the default for any contribution to this repo — copy a sibling package such as geodata or redisearch rather than diverging.
• External standalone plugin — installed by a user into ~/.redis-insight/plugins/<name>/. Build with Parcel. Bundle all dependencies. Do not import from uiSrc/ or any RedisInsight monorepo internal. Use this only for customer/field/demo plugins that ship outside this repo.

See references/internal-vite-plugin.md and references/external-parcel-plugin.md.

External Plugin Structure

<plugin-name>/
  package.json              # manifest + build scripts
  src/
    index.html              # iframe entry, has #app
    main.tsx                # activation functions, default export
    components/
    styles/
      styles.scss
  dist/
    index.js                # built bundle (referenced by manifest "main")
    styles.css              # built styles (referenced by manifest "styles")

Required Manifest

Top-level package.json fields:

• name
• version
• description
• main — path to built JS (e.g. ./dist/index.js).
• styles — path to built CSS (e.g. ./dist/styles.css).
• visualizations — array of visualization descriptors.

Each visualization descriptor must include:

• id
• name
• activationMethod
• matchCommands
• description
• default

Set default: false unless the user explicitly asks for it to be the default visualization.

The activationMethod value must exactly match an exported function name in the bundle. The plugin entry must export that function via the default export:

export default { renderMyView };

Multiple visualizations:

export default {
  renderTableView,
  renderChartView,
};

See references/plugin-manifest.md for full examples and how to strip dev-only fields from the deployed manifest.

Activation Function Contract

Every activation function must:

1. Get the host element: const root = document.getElementById('app');
2. Defensively validate props (command, data, modules, theme).
3. Wrap render logic in try/catch and render an error state on failure.
4. Render an empty state when data is missing or empty.
5. Log with a plugin-specific prefix, e.g. [MY_PLUGIN], never bare console.log.

See references/error-handling.md.

RedisInsight Product UI Contract

Every plugin UI must follow RedisInsight product styling:

• For internal plugins, build the UI from the redis-ui-components skill and the uiSrc/components/ui wrappers, following the frontend styleguide.
• For external plugins, mirror the same Redis UI look with local code (you cannot import the internals).
• Use RedisInsight light / dark product themes.
• For standalone external plugins, emulate the RedisInsight product tokens with local CSS variables; do not import RedisInsight monorepo internals or @redis-ui/*.
• Detect iframe theme through theme_LIGHT / theme_DARK body classes or SDK theme helpers.
• Use compact product components: table, toolbar, segmented states, empty/error/loading panels, badges, and inspector-style details.
• Keep Redis brand red for brand moments only; do not use it as the default plugin CTA, heading, error, or status color.

See references/redisinsight-product-ui.md and use templates/external-styles.scss as the baseline src/styles/styles.scss.

Mandatory Phased Workflow

Build every new plugin in three phases. Do not skip phases — the failure mode in each phase tells you exactly what is wrong.

• Phase 1 — Vanilla wiring. No React, no third-party libraries. Render plain DOM that proves activation, props, and iframe rendering work end-to-end.
• Phase 2 — React rendering. Add React + ReactDOM. Render a typed component that displays command, status, and the raw response.
• Phase 3 — Full feature. Add the actual visualization library (charting, mapping, grid, etc.) and the real UX.

See references/iterative-development.md and the templates in templates/.

Review Hardening Loop

Before asking for review, run a small adversarial pass against the exact surfaces the plugin touches:

• Manifest matching/defaults: exact command boundaries, no default visualization conflicts, no regex backtracking traps.
• Redis command parsing: token-aware option handling, raw-unit preservation, malformed rows, empty rows, keyword-like key/member names.
• Visualization state: stale closures, safe library bounds/inputs, large result sets, mode-specific empty/error copy.
• Tests: red regression first, then the smallest package/component/parser test set that proves the fix.

See references/review-hardening.md.

Build and Verify

npm run build
test -f dist/index.js
test -f dist/styles.css                       # if "styles" is declared
grep -c "process.env" dist/index.js           # must be 0 in a Parcel build

Confirm each activationMethod name appears in the bundle:

grep -o "renderMyView" dist/index.js | head

Deploy

External plugin → user plugins folder:

mkdir -p ~/.redis-insight/plugins/<plugin-name>
cp package.json ~/.redis-insight/plugins/<plugin-name>/
cp -R dist ~/.redis-insight/plugins/<plugin-name>/dist

Restart Redis Insight, then verify:

curl -s http://localhost:5540/api/plugins

The response must include the plugin name and its visualizations. See references/testing-and-deployment.md for Docker workarounds, Playwright smoke tests, and the static-plugin path inside the Docker image.

Security Rules

• Plugins execute code in the Insight UI process. Only ship code you control or trust.
• Never embed secrets, tokens, or credentials in the bundle.
• No hidden network calls. Document any outbound HTTP and prefer none.
• Default to read-only Redis commands (HGETALL, LRANGE, XRANGE, INFO, FT.SEARCH). Never run destructive commands (FLUSHDB, DEL, UNLINK, XTRIM, CLUSTER RESET, CONFIG SET) without explicit user request and confirmation.

DO NOT

• DO NOT skip Phase 1 or Phase 2; each catches a different class of failure.
• DO NOT deploy index.js / styles.css at the plugin root. They live in dist/ and the manifest points at ./dist/....
• DO NOT set default: true on a visualization unless the user asked for it.
• DO NOT include scripts or devDependencies in the deployed manifest. Strip them before copying.
• DO NOT use Vite for standalone external plugins. Use Parcel.
• DO NOT import from uiSrc/, @redis-ui/*, or any RedisInsight monorepo internal in a standalone plugin.
• DO NOT externalize React in a standalone plugin bundle. Bundle React and ReactDOM.
• DO NOT style plugin UI with ad hoc inline brand colors. Use RedisInsight product UI variables/classes.
• DO NOT use light2 / dark2 for RedisInsight plugins; those are for other Redis product UIs.
• DO NOT skip /api/plugins verification after deploying.
• DO NOT ship process.env.* references in the bundle. Replace at build time.
• DO NOT assume one Redis response shape — different commands, and even the same command with different flags (e.g. a WITH... modifier), return very different structures. See references/redis-command-parsing.md.

Final Checklist

• Plugin type chosen and matches build tool (Parcel = external, Vite = internal).
• package.json declares main, styles, and visualizations with required fields.
• Every activationMethod matches a default-exported function.
• Phases 1, 2, 3 each rendered successfully before moving on.
• RedisInsight product UI applied via the redis-ui-components skill (internal plugins) or emulated locally (external plugins), with light / dark theme handling.
• Review hardening pass completed for manifest matching, command parsing, visualization state, and scoped tests.
• Bundle verified: dist/index.js, dist/styles.css, no process.env.
• Plugin deployed to ~/.redis-insight/plugins/<name>/ (or via the Docker workaround).
• curl http://localhost:5540/api/plugins lists the plugin.
• Workbench runs a matching command and renders the visualization.
• Defensive empty/error states verified.
• Optional Playwright smoke test passes (written per the e2e-testing skill).

Reference Index