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ActiveComposer-plugin[DevOps & Deployment](/categories/devops)

totara/installer
================

A Composer plugin that installs Totara plugins into the correct location inside a Totara codebase.

1.0.3(3w ago)012.5k↓38.2%2MITPHPCI passing

Since Oct 7Pushed 3w ago1 watchersCompare

[ Source](https://github.com/totara/installer)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/totara/installer)[ RSS](/packages/totara-installer/feed)WikiDiscussions main Synced 2d ago

READMEChangelog (4)Dependencies (9)Versions (6)Used By (0)

Totara Composer Installer Plugin
================================

[](#totara-composer-installer-plugin)

[![Unit Tests](https://github.com/totara/installer/actions/workflows/tests.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/totara/installer/actions/workflows/tests.yml)

A Composer plugin that installs Totara plugins into the correct location inside a Totara codebase.

Totara has a fixed directory layout: a block lives under `server/blocks`, a local plugin under `server/local`, an authentication plugin under `server/auth`, and so on. Composer, by default, would drop every dependency into `vendor/`. This plugin overrides that behaviour so that a package declaring a Totara plugin type is placed where Totara expects to find it, ready to be detected and upgraded by the Totara plugin system.

In addition to placing the server-side code, the plugin understands the Totara UI (TUI) client convention: if a package ships a client component it is moved into the shared `client/component` tree during installation, and cleaned up again on uninstall. A lock file (`totara-client.lock`) records what was installed so that updates and removals can be handled reliably.

Installing
----------

[](#installing)

Add the plugin to the Totara project (the codebase you are installing plugins into):

```
composer require totara/installer

```

Composer plugins must be allowed to run, so the project's `composer.json` should also list this plugin under `config.allow-plugins`.

Declaring a package so it uses this installer
---------------------------------------------

[](#declaring-a-package-so-it-uses-this-installer)

For a package to be handled by this installer it **must** set its `type` in `composer.json` to `totara-{plugintype}`, where `{plugintype}` is a recognised Totara plugin type. This `type` value is the single most important field: it is how the installer recognises the package and decides where the code belongs. A package without a `totara-` type is ignored and installed by Composer in the default way.

```
{
    "name": "totara/block_certificates",
    "type": "totara-block"
}
```

The plugin type maps to a fixed location, with `{name}` substituted (see [Install location and naming](#install-location-and-naming) below). A few examples:

`type`Install location`totara-block``server/blocks/{name}``totara-local``server/local/{name}``totara-mod``server/mod/{name}``totara-tool``server/admin/tool/{name}``totara-auth``server/auth/{name}``totara-weka``server/lib/editor/weka/extensions/{name}`The full list of supported types and their locations is defined in [`src/installers/DropInLocations.php`](src/installers/DropInLocations.php). If a package uses a `totara-` type that is not in this list it will not be installed.

### Install location and naming

[](#install-location-and-naming)

The `{name}` segment of the install path is, in order of preference:

1. the value of `extra.installer-name` in the package's `composer.json`, if set; or
2. the package name with its vendor prefix removed (e.g. `totara/block_certificates`becomes `block_certificates`).

```
{
    "name": "totara/weka_ai_assistant",
    "type": "totara-weka",
    "extra": {
        "installer-name": "ai_assistant"
    }
}
```

The example above installs to `server/lib/editor/weka/extensions/ai_assistant`.

The `.client` directory
-----------------------

[](#the-client-directory)

A Totara plugin may ship a single TUI client component alongside its server-side code. This is done by including a `.client` directory in the root of the package.

When a package is installed or updated, the installer looks for a `.client`directory. If one is present, its contents are placed at:

```
client/component/{name}

```

`{name}` here is taken from the `component` field of the `.client/tui.json` file (see below). By convention this matches the package name without its vendor prefix, but the value the installer actually uses is the one declared in `tui.json` — it is independent of `extra.installer-name`, which only affects the server-side path.

A package may provide **at most one** client component. The `.client` directory is moved as a whole, so it cannot describe more than a single TUI component.

### Contents of `.client`

[](#contents-of-client)

The `.client` directory should contain:

- **`tui.json`** — the TUI component manifest. Its `component` field names the client component and therefore determines the `client/component/{name}` directory the contents are installed into. Without a readable `component` value the client component is skipped.
- **`src`** — the component source (Vue components, JS, SCSS).
- **`build`** — the compiled TUI bundle.

For example, a package installed at `server/local/cpd_diary` with a `.client`directory whose `tui.json` declares `"component": "local_cpd_diary"` results in its client component being installed to `client/component/local_cpd_diary`.

### Symlinking for development

[](#symlinking-for-development)

When a package is installed from source as a symlink (for example with `composer install --prefer-source` against a path repository), the client component is symlinked rather than copied, so local edits are picked up immediately. Forcing a symlink can be opted into per developer with the `TOTARA_DEV_SYMLINK` environment variable:

```
TOTARA_DEV_SYMLINK=1 composer install --prefer-source

```

The lock file
-------------

[](#the-lock-file)

Each time a client component is installed, the installer records it in `totara-client.lock` at the root of the project (the component name, the source path, and the destination path). This lets the installer remove the correct `client/component` directory when the package is updated or uninstalled. The file is managed automatically and should not be edited by hand.

###  Health Score

46

—

FairBetter than 92% of packages

Maintenance95

Actively maintained with recent releases

Popularity28

Limited adoption so far

Community13

Small or concentrated contributor base

Maturity39

Early-stage or recently created project

 Bus Factor1

Top contributor holds 50% of commits — single point of failure

How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window.

**Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores.

**Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement.

**Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability.

###  Release Activity

Cadence

Every ~82 days

Total

4

Last Release

22d ago

### Community

Maintainers

![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/ae8f931f9c95df62e378105a5ec7ad82447b496bda43fd39b3f1f09697d26aba?d=identicon)[totara](/maintainers/totara)

![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/654ac6b1ad4fd1c52ca53449905ed2fba0207dd3afa5cc163683aab883878ddc?d=identicon)[codytotara](/maintainers/codytotara)

---

Top Contributors

[![samhemelryk](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/336652?v=4)](https://github.com/samhemelryk "samhemelryk (5 commits)")[![codyfinegan](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/44886?v=4)](https://github.com/codyfinegan "codyfinegan (4 commits)")[![benfesilitotara](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/245787687?v=4)](https://github.com/benfesilitotara "benfesilitotara (1 commits)")

###  Code Quality

TestsPHPUnit

### Embed Badge

![Health badge](/badges/totara-installer/health.svg)

```
[![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/totara-installer/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/totara-installer)
```

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