Introduction
Build native plugins for Astrogram Desktop with C++20, Qt and a host runtime that already knows how to render settings, recover from bad loads and expose real desktop windows or session state.
What Astrogram plugins are
Astrogram plugins are compiled .tgd modules loaded directly by the desktop client.
- they use the same native toolchain as the client
- they talk to a stable plugin API instead of patching random memory
- they can register settings, commands, interceptors, metadata previews and window handlers
What the host already gives you
The runtime is designed so plugins do not have to reinvent the same plumbing every time.
Host-rendered settings
Settings pages are rendered by Astrogram itself, so a plugin can expose sliders, toggles, text fields and actions without building fragile standalone dialogs.
Real desktop hooks
Plugins can work with actual Astrogram windows, active sessions, commands and interceptors instead of only static metadata.
Recovery-aware loading
When a plugin breaks load or UI flow, Astrogram can attribute the crash, enter safe mode, disable the bad plugin and let the user recover instead of looping forever.
Build model
To build a working plugin, it must match the client runtime:
- same platform
- same architecture
- same compiler ABI
- same Qt major and minor version
- same Astrogram plugin API version
If one of these does not match, the loader will reject the binary instead of pretending it is safe.
Typical workflow
- Start from
Telegram/Plugins/Examples. - Include
Telegram/SourceFiles/plugins/plugins_api.h. - Export preview metadata with
TGD_PLUGIN_PREVIEW(...). - Build the plugin and rename the output to
.tgd. - Drop it into
tdata/plugins. - Open
Settings > Astrogram > Plugins.
Where to go next
- Setup for folders, ABI expectations and install basics
- First Plugin for the minimal plugin skeleton
- Plugin Settings for host-side controls
- Runtime API for windows, sessions and helper calls