Friendica Addon development

Please see the sample addon ‘randplace’ for a working example of using some of these features. Addons work by intercepting event hooks - which must be registered. Modules work by intercepting specific page requests (by URL path).

Addon names are used in file paths and functions names, and as such: - Can’t contain spaces or punctuation. - Can’t start with a number.

You can provide human-readable information about your addon in the first multi-line comment of your addon file.

Here’s the structure:

/**
 * Name: {Human-readable name}
 * Description: {Short description}
 * Version: 1.0
 * Author: {Author1 Name}
 * Author: {Author2 Name} <{Author profile link}>
 * Maintainer: {Maintainer1 Name}
 * Maintainer: {Maintainer2 Name} <{Maintainer profile link}>
 * Status: {Unsupported|Arbitrary status}
 */

You can also provide a longer documentation in a README or README.md file. The latter will be converted from Markdown to HTML in the addon detail page.

If your addon uses hooks, they have to be registered in a <addon>_install() function. This function also allows to perform arbitrary actions your addon needs to function properly.

Uninstalling an addon automatically unregisters any hook it registered, but if you need to provide specific uninstallation steps, you can add them in a <addon>_uninstall() function.

The install and uninstall functions will be called (i.e. re-installed) if the addon changes after installation. Therefore your uninstall should not destroy data and install should consider that data may already exist. Future extensions may provide for “setup” amd “remove”.

Register your addon hooks during installation.

\Friendica\Core\Hook::register($hookname, $file, $function);

$hookname is a string and corresponds to a known Friendica PHP hook.

$file is a pathname relative to the top-level Friendica directory. This should be ‘addon/addon_name/addon_name.php’ in most cases and can be shortened to __FILE__.

$function is a string and is the name of the function which will be executed when the hook is called.

Your hook callback functions will be called with at least one and possibly two arguments

function <addon>_<hookname>(App $a, &$b) {

}

If you wish to make changes to the calling data, you must declare them as reference variables (with &) during function declaration.

$a is the Friendica App class. It contains a wealth of information about the current state of Friendica:

• which module has been called,
• configuration information,
• the page contents at the point the hook was invoked,
• profile and user information, etc.

It is recommeded you call this $a to match its usage elsewhere.

$b can be called anything you like. This is information specific to the hook currently being processed, and generally contains information that is being immediately processed or acted on that you can use, display, or alter. Remember to declare it with & if you wish to alter it.

Your addon can provide user-specific settings via the addon_settings PHP hook, but it can also provide node-wide settings in the administration page of your addon.

Simply declare a <addon>_addon_admin(App $a) function to display the form and a <addon>_addon_admin_post(App $a) function to process the data from the form.

If your addon requires adding a stylesheet on all pages of Friendica, add the following hook:

function <addon>_install()
{
    \Friendica\Core\Hook::register('head', __FILE__, '<addon>_head');
    ...
}
 
 
function <addon>_head(App $a)
{
    \Friendica\DI::page()->registerStylesheet(__DIR__ . '/relative/path/to/addon/stylesheet.css');
}

__DIR__ is the folder path of your addon.

If your addon requires adding a script on all pages of Friendica, add the following hook:

function <addon>_install()
{
    \Friendica\Core\Hook::register('footer', __FILE__, '<addon>_footer');
    ...
}
 
function <addon>_footer(App $a)
{
    \Friendica\DI::page()->registerFooterScript(__DIR__ . '/relative/path/to/addon/script.js');
}

__DIR__ is the folder path of your addon.

The main Friendica script provides hooks via events dispatched on the document property. In your Javascript file included as described above, add your event listener like this:

document.addEventListener(name, callback);

• name is the name of the hook and corresponds to a known Friendica JavaScript hook.
• callback is a JavaScript anonymous function to execute.

More info about Javascript event listeners: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/EventTarget/addEventListener

Called at the end of the live update process (XmlHttpRequest) and on a post preview. No additional data is provided.

Addons may also act as “modules” and intercept all page requests for a given URL path. In order for a addon to act as a module it needs to declare an empty function <addon>_module().

If this function exists, you will now receive all page requests for https://my.web.site/<addon> - with any number of URL components as additional arguments. These are parsed into the App\Arguments object. So https://my.web.site/addon/arg1/arg2 would give this:

DI::args()->getArgc(); // = 3
DI::args()->get(0); // = 'addon'
DI::args()->get(1); // = 'arg1'
DI::args()->get(2); // = 'arg2'

To display a module page, you need to declare the function <addon>_content(App $a), which defines and returns the page body content. They may also contain <addon>_post(App $a) which is called before the <addon>_content function and typically handles the results of POST forms. You may also have <addon>_init(App $a) which is called before <addon>_content and should include common logic to your module.

If your addon needs some template, you can use the Friendica template system. Friendica uses smarty3 as a template engine.

Put your tpl files in the templates/ subfolder of your addon.

In your code, like in the function addon_name_content(), load the template file and execute it passing needed values:

use Friendica\Core\Renderer;
 
# load template file. first argument is the template name,
# second is the addon path relative to friendica top folder
$tpl = Renderer::getMarkupTemplate('mytemplate.tpl', __DIR__);
 
# apply template. first argument is the loaded template,
# second an array of 'name' => 'values' to pass to template
$output = Renderer::replaceMacros($tpl, array(
    'title' => 'My beautiful addon',
));

See also the wiki page Friendica Templating Documentation.

Called when a user attempts to login. $b is an array containing:

• username: the supplied username
• password: the supplied password
• authenticated: set this to non-zero to authenticate the user.
• user_record: successful authentication must also return a valid user record from the database

Called after a user has successfully logged in. $b contains the $a->user array.

Called when formatting a post for display. $b is an array:

• item: The item (array) details pulled from the database
• output: the (string) HTML representation of this item prior to adding it to the page

Called when a status post or comment is entered on the local system. $b is the item array of the information to be stored in the database. Please note: body contents are bbcode - not HTML.

Called when a local status post or comment has been stored on the local system. $b is the item array of the information which has just been stored in the database. Please note: body contents are bbcode - not HTML

Called when receiving a post from another source. This may also be used to post local activity or system generated messages. $b is the item array of information to be stored in the database and the item body is bbcode.

Called when generating the HTML for the addon settings page. $data is an array containing:

• addon (output): Required. The addon folder name.
• title (output): Required. The addon settings panel title.
• href (output): Optional. If set, will reduce the panel to a link pointing to this URL, can be relative. Incompatible with the following keys.
• html (output): Optional. Raw HTML of the addon form elements. Both the <form> tags and the submit buttons are taken care of elsewhere.
• submit (output): Optional. If unset, a default submit button with name="<addon name>-submit" will be generated. Can take different value types:
  • string: The label to replace the default one.
  • associative array: A list of submit button, the key is the value of the name attribute, the value is the displayed label. The first submit button in this list is considered the main one and themes might emphasize its display.

$data = [
    'addon' => 'advancedcontentfilter',
    'title' => DI::l10n()->t('Advanced Content Filter'),
    'href'  => 'advancedcontentfilter',
];

$data = [
    'addon' => 'fromapp',
    'title' => DI::l10n()->t('FromApp Settings'),
    'html'  => $html,
];

$data = [
    'addon'  => 'opmlexport',
    'title'  => DI::l10n()->t('OPML Export'),
    'submit' => DI::l10n()->t('Export RSS/Atom contacts'),
];

$data = [
    'addon'  => 'catavar',
    'title'  => DI::l10n()->t('Cat Avatar Settings'),
    'html'   => $html,
    'submit' => [
        'catavatar-usecat'   => DI::l10n()->t('Use Cat as Avatar'),
        'catavatar-morecat'  => DI::l10n()->t('Another random Cat!'),
        'catavatar-emailcat' => DI::pConfig()->get(local_user(), 'catavatar', 'seed', false) ? DI::l10n()->t('Reset to email Cat') : null,
    ],
];

Called when the Addon Settings pages are submitted. $b is the $_POST array.

Called when generating the HTML for a connector addon settings page. $data is an array containing:

• connector (output): Required. The addon folder name.
• title (output): Required. The addon settings panel title.
• image (output): Required. The relative path of the logo image of the platform/protocol this addon is connecting to, max size 48x48px.
• enabled (output): Optional. If set to a falsy value, the connector image will be dimmed.
• html (output): Optional. Raw HTML of the addon form elements. Both the <form> tags and the submit buttons are taken care of elsewhere.
• submit (output): Optional. If unset, a default submit button with name="<addon name>-submit" will be generated. Can take different value types:
  • string: The label to replace the default one.
    • associative array: A list of submit button, the key is the value of the name attribute, the value is the displayed label. The first submit button in this list is considered the main one and themes might emphasize its display.

$data = [
    'connector' => 'diaspora',
    'title'     => DI::l10n()->t('Diaspora Export'),
    'image'     => 'images/diaspora-logo.png',
    'enabled'   => $enabled,
    'html'      => $html,
];

$data = [
    'connector' => 'ifttt',
    'title'     => DI::l10n()->t('IFTTT Mirror'),
    'image'     => 'addon/ifttt/ifttt.png',
    'html'      => $html,
    'submit'    => DI::l10n()->t('Generate new key'),
];

$submit = ['pumpio-submit' => DI::l10n()->t('Save Settings')];
if ($oauth_token && $oauth_token_secret) {
    $submit['pumpio-delete'] = DI::l10n()->t('Delete this preset');
}
 
$data = [
    'connector' => 'pumpio',
    'title'     => DI::l10n()->t('Pump.io Import/Export/Mirror'),
    'image'     => 'images/pumpio.png',
    'enabled'   => $enabled,
    'html'      => $html,
    'submit'    => $submit,
];

Called when posting a profile page. $b is the $_POST array.

Called prior to output of profile edit page. $b is an array containing:

• profile: profile (array) record from the database
• entry: the (string) HTML of the generated entry

Called when the HTML is generated for the Advanced profile, corresponding to the Profile tab within a person’s profile page. $b is the HTML string representation of the generated profile. The profile array details are in $a->profile.

Called from the Directory page when formatting an item for display. $b is an array:

• contact: contact record array for the person from the database
• entry: the HTML string of the generated entry

Called prior to generating the sidebar “short” profile for a page. $b is the person’s profile array

Called when generating the sidebar “short” profile for a page. $b is an array:

• profile: profile record array for the person from the database
• entry: the HTML string of the generated entry

Called when formatting the block of contacts/friends on a profile sidebar has completed. $b is an array:

• contacts: array of contacts
• output: the generated HTML string of the contact block

Called after conversion of bbcode to HTML. $b is an HTML string converted text.

Called after tag conversion of HTML to bbcode (e.g. remote message posting) $b is a string converted text

Called when building the <head> sections. Stylesheets should be registered using this hook. $b is an HTML string of the <head> tag.

Called after building the page navigation section. $b is a string HTML of nav region.

Called prior to output of personal XRD file. $b is an array:

• user: the user record array for the person
• xml: the complete XML string to be output

Called prior to output home page content, shown to unlogged users. $b is the HTML sring of section region.

Called when editing contact details on an individual from the Contacts page. $b is an array:

• contact: contact record (array) of target contact
• output: the (string) generated HTML of the contact edit page

Called when posting the contact edit page. $b is the $_POST array

Called just after DB has been opened and before session start. No hook data.

Called after HTML content functions have completed. $b is (string) HTML of content div.

Called after HTML content functions have completed. Deferred Javascript files should be registered using this hook. $b is (string) HTML of footer div/element.

Called when looking up the avatar. $b is an array:

• size: the size of the avatar that will be looked up
• email: email to look up the avatar for
• url: the (string) generated URL of the avatar

Called from Emailer::send() before building the mime message. $b is an array of params to Emailer::send().

• fromName: name of the sender
• fromEmail: email fo the sender
• replyTo: replyTo address to direct responses
• toEmail: destination email address
• messageSubject: subject of the message
• htmlVersion: html version of the message
• textVersion: text only version of the message
• additionalMailHeader: additions to the smtp mail header
• sent: default false, if set to true in the hook, the default mailer will be skipped.

Called before calling PHP’s mail(). $b is an array of params to mail().

• to
• subject
• body
• headers
• sent: default false, if set to true in the hook, the default mailer will be skipped.

Called during App initialization to allow addons to load their own configuration file(s) with App::loadConfigFile().

Called after the navigational menu is build in include/nav.php. $b is an array containing $nav from include/nav.php.

Called before vars are passed to the template engine to render the page. The registered function can add,change or remove variables passed to template. $b is an array with:

• template: filename of template
• vars: array of vars passed to the template

Called after the other queries have passed. The registered function can add, change or remove the acl_lookup() variables.

• results: array of the acl_lookup() vars

Called at the start of prepare_body Hook data:

• item (input/output): item array

Called before the HTML conversion in prepare_body. If the item matches a content filter rule set by an addon, it should just add the reason to the filter_reasons element of the hook data. Hook data:

• item: item array (input)
• filter_reasons (input/output): reasons array

Called after the HTML conversion in prepare_body(). Hook data:

• item (input): item array
• html (input/output): converted item body
• is_preview (input): post preview flag
• filter_reasons (input): reasons array

Called at the end of prepare_body(). Hook data:

• item: item array (input)
• html: converted item body (input/output)

Called after prepare_text() in put_item_in_cache(). Hook data:

• item (input): item array
• rendered-html (input/output): final item body HTML
• rendered-hash (input/output): original item body hash

Called when a magic-auth was successful. Hook data:

visitor => array with the contact record of the visitor
url => the query string

Called when displaying the post permission screen. Hook data is a list of form fields that need to be displayed along the ACL. Form field array structure is:

• type: checkbox or select.
• field: Standard field data structure to be used by field_checkbox.tpl and field_select.tpl.

For checkbox, field is: - [0] (String): Form field name; Mandatory. - [1]: (String): Form field label; Optional, default is none. - [2]: (Boolean): Whether the checkbox should be checked by default; Optional, default is false. - [3]: (String): Additional help text; Optional, default is none. - [4]: (String): Additional HTML attributes; Optional, default is none.

For select, field is: - [0] (String): Form field name; Mandatory. - [1] (String): Form field label; Optional, default is none. - [2] (Boolean): Default value to be selected by default; Optional, default is none. - [3] (String): Additional help text; Optional, default is none. - [4] (Array): Associative array of options. Item key is option value, item value is option label; Mandatory.

Called just before dispatching the router. Hook data is a \FastRoute\RouterCollector object that should be used to add addon routes pointing to classes.

Notice: The class whose name is provided in the route handler must be reachable via auto-loader.

Called before trying to detect the target network of a URL. If any registered hook function sets the result key of the hook data array, it will be returned immediately. Hook functions should also return immediately if the hook data contains an existing result.

Hook data:

• uri (input): the profile URI.
• network (input): the target network (can be empty for auto-detection).
• uid (input): the user to return the contact data for (can be empty for public contacts).
• result (output): Leave null if address isn’t relevant to the connector, set to contact array if probe is successful, false otherwise.

Called when trying to probe an item from a given URI. If any registered hook function sets the item_id key of the hook data array, it will be returned immediately. Hook functions should also return immediately if the hook data contains an existing item_id.

Hook data: - uri (input): the item URI. - uid (input): the user to return the item data for (can be empty for public contacts). - item_id (output): Leave null if URI isn’t relevant to the connector, set to created item array if probe is successful, false otherwise.

Called to assert whether a connector addon provides follow capabilities.

Hook data: - protocol (input): shorthand for the protocol. List of values is available in src/Core/Protocol.php. - result (output): should be true if the connector provides follow capabilities, left alone otherwise.

Called to assert whether a connector addon provides follow revocation capabilities.

Hook data: - protocol (input): shorthand for the protocol. List of values is available in src/Core/Protocol.php. - result (output): should be true if the connector provides follow revocation capabilities, left alone otherwise.

Called before adding a new contact for a user to handle non-native network remote contact (like Twitter).

Hook data:

• url (input): URL of the remote contact.
• contact (output): should be filled with the contact (with uid = user creating the contact) array if follow was successful.

Called when unfollowing a remote contact on a non-native network (like Twitter)

Hook data: - contact (input): the target public contact (uid = 0) array. - uid (input): the id of the source local user. - result (output): wether the unfollowing is successful or not.

Called when making a remote contact on a non-native network (like Twitter) unfollow you.

Hook data: - contact (input): the target public contact (uid = 0) array. - uid (input): the id of the source local user. - result (output): a boolean value indicating wether the operation was successful or not.

Called when blocking a remote contact on a non-native network (like Twitter).

Hook data: - contact (input): the remote contact (uid = 0) array. - uid (input): the user id to issue the block for. - result (output): a boolean value indicating wether the operation was successful or not.

Called when unblocking a remote contact on a non-native network (like Twitter).

Hook data: - contact (input): the remote contact (uid = 0) array. - uid (input): the user id to revoke the block for. - result (output): a boolean value indicating wether the operation was successful or not.

Called when a custom storage is used (e.g. webdav_storage)

Hook data: - name (input): the name of the used storage backend - data[‘storage’] (output): the storage instance to use (must implement \Friendica\Core\Storage\IWritableStorage)

Called when the admin of the node wants to configure a custom storage (e.g. webdav_storage)

Hook data: - name (input): the name of the used storage backend - data[‘storage_config’] (output): the storage configuration instance to use (must implement \Friendica\Core\Storage\Capability\IConfigureStorage)

Here is a complete list of all hook callbacks with file locations (as of 24-Sep-2018). Please see the source for details of any hooks not documented above.

Hook::callAll('init_1');
Hook::callAll('app_menu', $arr);
Hook::callAll('page_content_top', DI::page()['content']);
Hook::callAll($a->module.'_mod_init', $placeholder);
Hook::callAll($a->module.'_mod_init', $placeholder);
Hook::callAll($a->module.'_mod_post', $_POST);
Hook::callAll($a->module.'_mod_content', $arr);
Hook::callAll($a->module.'_mod_aftercontent', $arr);
Hook::callAll('page_end', DI::page()['content']);

Hook::callAll('logged_in', $a->user);
Hook::callAll('authenticate', $addon_auth);
Hook::callAll('logged_in', $a->user);

Hook::callAll('enotify', $h);
Hook::callAll('enotify_store', $datarray);
Hook::callAll('enotify_mail', $datarray);
Hook::callAll('check_item_notification', $notification_data);

Hook::callAll('conversation_start', $cb);
Hook::callAll('render_location', $locate);
Hook::callAll('display_item', $arr);
Hook::callAll('display_item', $arr);
Hook::callAll('item_photo_menu', $args);
Hook::callAll('jot_tool', $jotplugins);

Hook::callAll('directory_item', $arr);

Hook::callAll('personal_xrd', $arr);

Hook::callAll("parse_link", $arr);

Hook::callAll('home_init', $ret);

Hook::callAll('acl_lookup_end', $results);

Hook::callAll('network_content_init', $arr);
Hook::callAll('network_tabs', $arr);

Hook::callAll('about_hook', $o);

Hook::callAll('profile_post', $_POST);
Hook::callAll('profile_edit', $arr);

Hook::callAll('addon_settings_post', $_POST);
Hook::callAll('connector_settings_post', $_POST);
Hook::callAll('display_settings_post', $_POST);
Hook::callAll('addon_settings', $settings_addons);
Hook::callAll('connector_settings', $settings_connectors);
Hook::callAll('display_settings', $o);

Hook::callAll('photo_post_init', $_POST);
Hook::callAll('photo_post_file', $ret);
Hook::callAll('photo_post_end', $foo);
Hook::callAll('photo_post_end', $foo);
Hook::callAll('photo_post_end', $foo);
Hook::callAll('photo_post_end', $foo);
Hook::callAll('photo_post_end', intval($item_id));
Hook::callAll('photo_upload_form', $ret);

Hook::callAll('profile_advanced', $o);

Hook::callAll('home_init', $ret);
Hook::callAll("home_content", $content);

Hook::callAll('post_local_end', $arr);

Hook::callAll('contact_edit_post', $_POST);
Hook::callAll('contact_edit', $arr);

Hook::callAll('post_local_end', $arr);

Hook::callAll('uexport_options', $options);

Hook::callAll('register_post', $arr);
Hook::callAll('register_form', $arr);

Hook::callAll('post_local_start', $_REQUEST);
Hook::callAll('post_local', $datarray);
Hook::callAll('post_local_end', $datarray);

Hook::callAll('jot_tool', $jotplugins);

Hook::callAll("template_vars", $arr);

Hook::callAll('load_config');
Hook::callAll('head');
Hook::callAll('footer');
Hook::callAll('route_collection');

Hook::callAll('post_local', $item);
Hook::callAll('post_remote', $item);
Hook::callAll('post_local_end', $posted_item);
Hook::callAll('post_remote_end', $posted_item);
Hook::callAll('tagged', $arr);
Hook::callAll('post_local_end', $new_item);
Hook::callAll('put_item_in_cache', $hook_data);
Hook::callAll('prepare_body_init', $item);
Hook::callAll('prepare_body_content_filter', $hook_data);
Hook::callAll('prepare_body', $hook_data);
Hook::callAll('prepare_body_final', $hook_data);

Hook::callAll('contact_photo_menu', $args);
Hook::callAll('follow', $arr);

Hook::callAll('profile_sidebar_enter', $profile);
Hook::callAll('profile_sidebar', $arr);
Hook::callAll('profile_tabs', $arr);
Hook::callAll('zrl_init', $arr);
Hook::callAll('magic_auth_success', $arr);

Hook::callAll('event_updated', $event['id']);
Hook::callAll("event_created", $event['id']);

Hook::callAll('authenticate', $addon_auth);

Hook::callAll('authenticate', $addon_auth);
Hook::callAll('register_account', $uid);
Hook::callAll('remove_user', $user);

Hook::callAll('network_ping', $arr);

Hook::callAll('lockview_content', $item);

Hook::callAll('authenticate', $addon_auth);

Hook::callAll('authenticate', $addon_auth);

Hook::callAll('authenticate', $addon_auth);

Hook::callAll('authenticate', $addon_auth);

Hook::callAll('contact_block_end', $arr);

Hook::callAll('bbcode', $text);
Hook::callAll('bb2diaspora', $text);

Hook::callAll('html2bbcode', $message);

Hook::callAll('smilie', $params);

Hook::callAll('isEnabled', $arr);
Hook::callAll('get', $arr);

Hook::callAll('network_to_name', $nets);

Hook::callAll('oembed_fetch_url', $embedurl, $j);

Hook::callAll('page_header', DI::page()['nav']);
Hook::callAll('nav_info', $nav);

Hook::callAll('logged_in', $a->user);

Hook::callAll('support_follow', $hook_data);
Hook::callAll('support_revoke_follow', $hook_data);
Hook::callAll('unfollow', $hook_data);
Hook::callAll('revoke_follow', $hook_data);
Hook::callAll('block', $hook_data);
Hook::callAll('unblock', $hook_data);

Hook::callAll('storage_instance', $data);
Hook::callAll('storage_config', $data);

Hook::callAll('globaldir_update', $arr);

Hook::callAll('notifier_end', $target_item);

Hook::callAll('login_hook', $o);

Hook::callAll("logging_out");

Hook::callAll('render_location', $locate);
Hook::callAll('display_item', $arr);

Hook::callAll('contact_select_options', $x);
Hook::callAll($a->module.'_pre_'.$selname, $arr);
Hook::callAll($a->module.'_post_'.$selname, $o);
Hook::callAll($a->module.'_pre_'.$selname, $arr);
Hook::callAll($a->module.'_post_'.$selname, $o);
Hook::callAll('jot_networks', $jotnets);

Hook::callAll('logged_in', $a->user);
Hook::callAll('authenticate', $addon_auth);

self::callSingle(self::getApp(), 'hook_fork', $fork_hook, $hookdata);

Hook::callAll('poke_verbs', $arr);

Hook::callAll("proc_run", $arr);

Hook::callAll('emailer_send_prepare', $params);
Hook::callAll("emailer_send", $hookdata);

Hook::callAll('generate_map', $arr);
Hook::callAll('generate_named_map', $arr);
Hook::callAll('Map::getCoordinates', $arr);

Hook::callAll('avatar_lookup', $avatar);

Hook::callAll("getsiteinfo", $siteinfo);

Hook::callAll('atom_feed_end', $atom);
Hook::callAll('atom_feed_end', $atom);

Hook::callAll('email_getmessage', $message);
Hook::callAll('email_getmessage_end', $ret);

document.dispatchEvent(new Event('postprocess_liveupdate'));