Configure Extension

Register an Extension

As soon as you are a Contributor, you can create an Extension in mStudio. In your organization, open tab "Entwicklung" and register a new Extension via the "Anlegen" button. At this point, you only enter a name. You can change it later at any time.

Extension names must be unique. For development and production use, it is recommended to create separate Extensions. For example, development Extensions can include "(DEV)" in the name.

Extension lifecycle

Extensions become visible in the marketplace only after they are published. This means you can safely create development or staging Extensions for your own development process. More information about the Extension lifecycle is described in the Extension Concept.

Set the Extension Context

For every Extension, you must define in which context it should be installable. Available options are "Organisation" and "Projekt". The Reference Extension is built as a project Extension.

In tab "Berechtigungen", click "Bearbeiten" in the Extension Context section. Then choose "Projekt" and save.

Choosing the Extension Context

The Reference Extension is built as a project Extension. But this is not the right fit for every Extension idea.

In the "How do I choose the correct Extension Context?" guide, we describe the impact of this choice and which factors matter most.

Configure Permissions

The Reference Extension retrieves information about the user and the project where it is installed. It also allows changing the project name. To do that, Extension permissions must be configured as Scopes. This is always required when Extensions access the mStudio API.

Like the Extension Context, configure permissions in tab "Berechtigungen". Click "Bearbeiten" in the corresponding section. Then enable "Projekt lesen", "Projekt schreiben", and "Benutzer lesen".

Available Scopes

In the Scopes guide, we describe in detail which Scopes are available and how to identify the right one. If you have trouble finding the right Scope or a required Scope is missing, contact us. We are happy to help.

Generate Extension Secret

A secret is required to authenticate Frontend Fragments. This secret can be generated in tab "Berechtigungen", just like Extension Context and Scopes. After generation, the secret is shown only once. Store it in a safe place for configuring the Reference Extension.

Extension Secret vs. Extension Instance Secret

An Extension Secret is not the same as an Extension Instance Secret. The Extension Secret applies to the Extension as a whole and exists once per Extension, while Extension Instance Secrets are issued per individual installation of an Extension.

Generating a new secret

You can issue a new secret for your Extension at any time. To keep your Extension working, the old secret is not invalidated immediately, but only after 24 hours. So the new secret must be stored in your Extension within those 24 hours, otherwise your Extension will lose access to the mStudio API.

Once the new secret is configured, you can also manually invalidate the old one earlier.

Configure the Frontend URL

The Reference Extension uses a Frontend Fragment. That means it implements a frontend that integrates seamlessly into mStudio.

Frontend Fragment vs. External Frontend

Frontend Fragments are not the only way to provide a frontend for an Extension. If Frontend Fragments are too restrictive for your requirements or do not match your use case, you can also implement an External Frontend.

The characteristics and differences between Frontend Fragments and External Frontends are explained in the Frontend Development Concept.

To set the Frontend Fragment URL for the Reference Extension, open tab "Frontend" of the Extension, then click "Hinzufügen" in the Frontend Fragments section.

For a Frontend Fragment, you must choose an anchor point. It determines where the Extension frontend is embedded. The Reference Extension is built to be mounted at /projects/project/menu/section/extensions/item, which means as a menu entry within a project.

You must also define a display name for the anchor point. For anchor points that behave like menu entries, this controls the menu label. For sections, this defines the section title.

Finally, you must provide a URL. For an Extension currently in development, this can be a local address reachable from your machine. Since the Reference Extension runs on port 3000 by default, enter http://localhost:3000.