Plugins
Proposed extension points for BSIS developers.
Design discussion. No public plugin SDK or extension API is available yet.
What should be extensible?
BSIS may support plugins for additional build languages, UI components, archive encoders, software prerequisites, Windows integrations and custom installer screens.
A good plugin system should work for a simple single-project installer without requiring a large ecosystem of packages.
Two kinds of plugins
Build-time plugins run while the developer is compiling an installer. They may transform assets, generate manifests or integrate with build tooling.
Runtime extensions ship in the installer and run on the target Windows machine. They must use narrowly scoped operations and have a deliberate trust model, particularly if any step can request administrator elevation.
We should not treat these two categories as interchangeable.
Package ecosystems
TypeScript/JavaScript package workflows are the initial candidates. Python and other languages may be supported through isolated build-time adapters later, subject to repeatable builds and portability.
First extension milestone
Define one documented interface for a custom installation step and test it in graphical, interactive console and silent modes before designing a marketplace or public plugin registry.