How to Enable and Load External Plugins in draw.io Desktop v26.2.2?

[BoysheO]

Hello, I’m a game developer. I’m looking for a tool that makes it easy to define node graphs, and I’ve ultimately chosen draw.io as part of my toolchain. I really need to create a custom interface (with preset nodes, a unified data structure, etc.), and I believe this should be achievable through draw.io’s plugin system (though I’m still a beginner with draw.io development).

I’m currently looking for plugin development examples to learn from. However, there’s a major issue standing in my way: how do I load a plugin?

In version 26.2.2, the desktop version of draw.io has a “Plugins” menu, but it displays:

External Plugins: External plugins disabled.

And in the Docker version, that menu doesn’t even show the External Plugins: External plugins disabled line—there’s only the Built-in Plugins option.

I have no idea where to start. How can I write a simple “Hello World” plugin and load it into the application? Documentation would be incredibly helpful too.

[hangriver]

You can enable external plugins by run draw.io with --enable-plugins . However, there's no official cookbook for external plugin development, it will be very difficult to start building your own plugin.