Plugin System

Monibuca V6 adopts a plugin-based architecture where all protocol support and extended functionality are implemented as plugins. The engine itself only provides core stream management, frame dispatch, and the configuration framework, while protocol encoding/decoding and business logic are handled by plugins.

Three Plugin Modes

Static Compilation (Static Plugins)

Plugins are linked directly into the main engine binary at compile time. This is the default mode and offers the best performance. Precompiled binaries and Docker images use this mode and include all official plugins.

Advantages: No runtime overhead, cross-crate compiler optimizations, best LTO optimization results

Dynamic Loading (Dynamic Plugins)

Plugins are compiled as shared libraries (.so/.dylib/.dll) and loaded at runtime.

[features]
dynamic-plugins = []

Advantages: Add/update plugins without recompiling the main program

Use cases: Deployments requiring hot plugin updates, or scenarios where plugins are provided by third parties

WASM Sandbox (WASM Plugins)

Plugins are compiled as WebAssembly modules and executed in isolation within a WASM runtime.

Advantages: Highest security; plugins cannot access host memory

Use cases: Running untrusted third-party plugins

Built-in Plugin List

Monibuca V6 uses Feature Flags for fine-grained control over compiled content. Precompiled binaries include all plugins by default, and individual plugins can be enabled or disabled as needed via the configuration file.

Protocol Plugins

Feature	Plugin	Description
`rtmp`	plugin-rtmp	RTMP/RTMPS ingest and playback
`rtsp`	plugin-rtsp	RTSP/RTSPS ingest and playback
`flv`	plugin-flv	HTTP-FLV playback
`hls`	plugin-hls	HLS segment output
`webrtc`	plugin-webrtc	WebRTC ingest and playback
`srt`	plugin-srt	SRT ingest and playback
`webtransport`	plugin-webtransport	WebTransport/QUIC
`gb28181`	plugin-gb28181	GB/T 28181 national standard device access

Feature Plugins

Feature	Plugin	Description
`mp4`	plugin-mp4	MP4 recording
`snap`	plugin-snap	Snapshot service
`ffmpeg_transcode`	plugin-transcode	FFmpeg transcoding
`logrotate`	plugin-logrotate	Log rotation
`debug`	plugin-debug	Debugging tools
`sei`	plugin-sei	SEI data injection/extraction
`crontab`	plugin-crontab	Scheduled tasks
`report`	plugin-report	Data reporting
`mix`	plugin-mix	Stream mixing
`crypto`	plugin-crypto	Stream encryption
`transcode`	—	Built-in Opus↔AAC transcoding (codec crate feature)

Device Plugins

Feature	Plugin	Description
`onvif`	plugin-onvif	ONVIF device discovery and management
`v4l2`	plugin-v4l2	V4L2 camera capture (Linux)
`alsa`	plugin-alsa	ALSA audio capture (Linux)
`homekit`	plugin-homekit	HomeKit camera emulation

Room/Interactive Plugins

Feature	Plugin	Description
`live`	plugin-live	Live room
`meeting`	plugin-meeting	Meeting room
—	Built-in room	Room service (engine built-in, not a plugin)

Enterprise Plugins

Feature	Plugin	Description
`cluster`	plugin-cluster	Cluster deployment
`auth`	—	Authentication and authorization
`license`	—	License management

All Plugins

Precompiled releases and Docker images include all of the above plugins. Enable or disable them as needed via enable: true/false in the configuration file:

rtmp:
  enable: true
rtsp:
  enable: true
webrtc:
  enable: true
hls:
  enable: false   # Set to false for plugins you don't need

Complete Plugin List

Monibuca V6 has a total of 25 independent plugin crates, plus 1 built-in room service:

By Category

plugins/
├── Protocol (8)
│   ├── rtmp/           RTMP/RTMPS
│   ├── rtsp/           RTSP/RTSPS
│   ├── flv/            HTTP-FLV
│   ├── hls/            HLS
│   ├── webrtc/         WebRTC
│   ├── srt/            SRT
│   ├── webtransport/   WebTransport
│   └── gb28181/        GB/T 28181
│
├── Feature (10)
│   ├── mp4/            MP4 Recording
│   ├── snap/           Snapshot
│   ├── transcode/      FFmpeg Transcoding
│   ├── logrotate/      Log Rotation
│   ├── debug/          Debugging
│   ├── sei/            SEI
│   ├── crontab/        Scheduled Tasks
│   ├── report/         Reporting
│   ├── crypto/         Encryption
│   └── mix/            Stream Mixing
│
├── Device (4)
│   ├── onvif/          ONVIF
│   ├── v4l2/           V4L2
│   ├── alsa/           ALSA
│   └── homekit/        HomeKit
│
├── Room/Interactive (2)
│   ├── live/           Live Room
│   └── meeting/        Meeting Room
│
└── Test/Development (1)
    └── test/           Test Plugin

Built-in service:
└── src/room/           Room Service (RoomService)

Plugin Development

Dependency Structure

Plugins depend only on the open-source SDK crate and do not directly depend on engine internals:

Your custom plugin
    │
    └──▶ sdk (monibuca-sdk)  ← Open source
              │
              └──▶ codec (monibuca-codec)

Plugin Cargo.toml Example

[package]
name = "plugin-xxx"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2024"

[dependencies]
sdk = { git = "https://github.com/langhuihui/monibuca-sdk" }

Plugin Registration

Static plugins are registered in the main crate via pub use:

#[cfg(feature = "rtmp")]
pub use plugin_rtmp as rtmp;

#[cfg(feature = "rtsp")]
pub use plugin_rtsp as rtsp;

#[cfg(feature = "webrtc")]
pub use plugin_webrtc as webrtc;

ConfigSchema Macro

Plugin configuration uses the ConfigSchema derive macro, which requires specifying sdk_path:

use sdk::ConfigSchema;

#[derive(ConfigSchema)]
#[config_schema(sdk_path = "sdk")]
pub struct MyPluginConfig {
    /// Listen port
    #[schema(default = 1935)]
    pub port: u16,

    /// Timeout in seconds
    #[schema(default = 30)]
    pub timeout: u32,
}

EngineContext (IoC Container)

Plugins access engine capabilities through EngineContext rather than depending on engine internal types directly:

pub struct EngineContext {
    // Required capabilities
    pub stream_manager: Arc<dyn StreamManagerApi>,

    // Optional capabilities
    pub database: Option<Arc<dyn DatabaseApi>>,
    pub transform: Option<Arc<dyn TransformApi>>,
    pub playback: Option<Arc<dyn PlaybackApi>>,
}

The engine constructs EngineContext during PluginManager::init_all() and injects it into each plugin.