Overhaul plugin docs - #261
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JoyceZhu
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Aug 21, 2026
JoyceZhu
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- new issue template for allowlisting third-party issues from NPM
- plugin documentation reorganized and rewritten to organize information about all plugins vs. NPM plugins only vs. local plugins only
- new issue template for allowlisting third-party issues from NPM - plugin documentation reorganized and rewritten to organize information about all plugins vs. NPM plugins only vs. local plugins only
JoyceZhu
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kendallgassner
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a balanced review from Copilot
August 21, 2026 06:57
JoyceZhu
enabled auto-merge
August 21, 2026 06:57
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Pull request overview
Reorganizes plugin documentation and introduces an issue form for requesting third-party NPM plugin allowlisting.
Changes:
- Separates guidance for NPM-hosted and local plugins.
- Adds an allowlisting request issue form.
Show a summary per file
| File | Description |
|---|---|
PLUGINS.md |
Reworks plugin creation and loading guidance. |
.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/allowlist-npm-plugin-request.yml |
Adds the allowlisting request form. |
Review details
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Suppressed comments (2)
PLUGINS.md:36
- This relative URL resolves to a nonexistent repository path instead of the heading in this document, so the navigation link returns a 404. Use the heading fragment here.
To then enable an NPM plugin in the `scans` input, follow the instructions in the [loading plugins from NPM](./loading-plugins-from-npm-packages) section.
.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/allowlist-npm-plugin-request.yml:10
- This textarea also lacks the unique
idrequired for non-Markdown GitHub Issue Form elements, so the template will fail schema validation.
- type: textarea
- Files reviewed: 2/2 changed files
- Comments generated: 7
- Review effort level: Balanced
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| Some plugins come built-in with the scanner and can be enabled via [actions inputs](https://github.com/github/accessibility-scanner/tree/main/action.yml#L48-L50). | ||
| Some first-party plugins come built-in with the scanner repository and can be enabled via [actions inputs](https://github.com/github/accessibility-scanner/tree/main/action.yml#L48-L50). | ||
| There are also some [allowlisted](https://github.com/github/accessibility-scanner/blob/7ec4b73ca2fdb471ad6f71a48a88e7b1a84ab3ad/.github/actions/find/src/pluginManager/index.ts#L92) first-party plugins hosted in a different repository; we also have the ability to support loading approved third-party plugins [from NPM](./loading-plugins-from-npm-packages). |
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| ### Plugin folder structure for all plugins | ||
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| Plugins are dynamically loaded by the scanner when it runs. The scanner will look into the `./.github` folder in your repo (where you run the workflow from) and search for a `scanner-plugins` folder. If it finds it, it will assume each folder under that is a plugin, and attempt to load the `index.ts` (first) or `index.js` (second) file inside it. Once loaded, the scanner will invoke the exported default function from the `index.js/index.ts` file. | ||
| - Each plugin should have one `index.ts` OR `index.js` file inside its folder. | ||
| - The `index.ts/index.js` file must export a `name` field. This is the name used to pass to the `scans` input. So if the plugin exports a name value of `my-custom-plugin` and we pass the following to the scanner action inputs: `scans: ['my-custom-plugin']`, it would cause the scanner to only run that plugin. |
| Plugins are dynamically loaded by the scanner when it runs. The scanner will look into the `./.github` folder in your repo (where you run the workflow from) and search for a `scanner-plugins` folder. If it finds it, it will assume each folder under that is a plugin, and attempt to load the `index.ts` (first) or `index.js` (second) file inside it. Once loaded, the scanner will invoke the exported default function from the `index.js/index.ts` file. | ||
| - Each plugin should have one `index.ts` OR `index.js` file inside its folder. | ||
| - The `index.ts/index.js` file must export a `name` field. This is the name used to pass to the `scans` input. So if the plugin exports a name value of `my-custom-plugin` and we pass the following to the scanner action inputs: `scans: ['my-custom-plugin']`, it would cause the scanner to only run that plugin. | ||
| - The `index.ts/index.js` file must export a default function (see [below](./default-function-api)). This is the function that the scanner uses to run the plugin. This can be an async function. |
| - The `index.ts/index.js` file must export a `name` field. This is the name used to pass to the `scans` input. So if the plugin exports a name value of `my-custom-plugin` and we pass the following to the scanner action inputs: `scans: ['my-custom-plugin']`, it would cause the scanner to only run that plugin. | ||
| - The `index.ts/index.js` file must export a default function. This is the function that the scanner uses to run the plugin. This can be an async function. | ||
| - In your workflow file, before the scanner step, add `- uses: actions/checkout@v6` (or whatever the current version is). This allows the current repository's files (where your custom plugin's file exists) to be read: | ||
| Once the public URL is live, please fill out [this issue template](./.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/allowlist-npm-plugin-request.yml) so we can allowlist your plugin in future versions of the scanner. |
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| If you wish, you can create _local plugins_ by creating a folder containing plugin code in `./.github/scanner-plugins/`. Each separate plugin should be contained in its own directory. For example, `./.github/scanner-plugins/plugin-1` would be 1 plugin loaded by the scanner. | ||
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| Enabled local plugins (i.e. those listed in the `scans` Action input) are dynamically loaded by the scanner when it runs. The scanner will search for a `./.github/scanner-plugins` folder in your repo (where you run the workflow from). If it finds one, it will assume each folder under that is a plugin, and attempt to load the `index.ts` (first) or `index.js` (second) file inside it. Once loaded, the scanner will invoke the exported default function from the `index.js/index.ts` file. |
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| name: Allowlist Third Party NPM Plugin Request | |||
| description: Fill out the details to request allowlisting your third party plugin hosted on NPM in the scanner. | |||
| labels: 'allowlist-plugin-request' | |||
| description: Fill out the details to request allowlisting your third party plugin hosted on NPM in the scanner. | ||
| labels: 'allowlist-plugin-request' | ||
| body: | ||
| - type: input |
abdulahmad307
approved these changes
Aug 21, 2026
abdulahmad307
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lgtm (aside from the copilot comments)
Contributor
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oh lol - i didnt realize automerge was on. i guess we can fix the copilot warnings in a second PR |
edsummersnc
reviewed
Aug 21, 2026
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It would be good to document the reason why there is a plugin allow-list and also the summary of our plugin review/approval process. IOW:
- Why are we gate-keeping the plugin list?
- What reviews are we going to perform after someone submits an npm plguin? They need to know this so they can perform the reviews themselves before submitting the issue.
- What are the conditions for approval and rejection?
Consider adding a field to the issue template to collect the repo of the plugin source code.
It would be a great benefit to GitHub, our customers, and PWD if we could create a vibrant community of third-party plugins. Consider refactoring the list of approved plugins into a JSON file or similar file type. Include npm package name, description, and repo. This will allow users of the scanner to find third-party plugins, perform their own security review, file issues on those plugins, contribute fixes, fork/extend, etc.
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