> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.parable.work/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Plugins Primer

> Understand the Provider and Plot Plugin families and choose the right extension point.

Plugins extend what a Workspace can connect to and what its Plots can do.
A Plugin is published as a Parable: Pages, Panes, Plots, Perceptions,
Preferences, Policies, Palettes, and Packages are authored truth; mappings are
structural; and releases, exports, Apps, and artifacts are deterministic derived
snapshots. Preference now supplies Perception-satisfying data/config. Policy is
addressable governance identity, while its typed payload and mappings remain deferred.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Provider Plugins" icon="plug" href="/plugins/provider-plugins">
    Browse the Plugins that connect Providers and make their data available to
    a Workspace.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Plot Plugins" icon="chart-line" href="/plugins/plot-plugins">
    Use reusable operations inside Plots, including Ponder and the internal
    Embed Plugin.
  </Card>
</Columns>

Provider Plugins and Plot Plugins have separate contracts because they extend
different boundaries. A Provider Plugin defines how data enters or is exposed
to the Workspace. A Plot Plugin defines an operation that runs while a Plot is
evaluated.

The portable model layer keeps four concerns separate:

1. an immutable `PluginReleaseManifest` pins the Plugin Parable version, exact
   Piece and implementation revisions, derived exports and artifacts, Processor
   compatibility, trust inputs, and digest;
2. a `PluginInstallationBinding` holds mutable Workspace configuration,
   secret references, permission grants, dependency locks, selected limits,
   negotiated host capabilities, trust decision, and health;
3. protocol aliases such as MCP Tool names or SQL function names exist only for
   compatibility and never replace Piece identity; and
4. generated Go, TypeScript, Python, and Rust contracts describe these shapes
   without claiming an exporter, installer, or runtime implementation.

Internal platform authors use the separate
[Custom Plugins](/plugins/custom-plugins) section to implement new Provider or
Plot Plugins.