Plugin Development Checklist

This checklist ensures your FinFocus plugin is complete, tested, and ready for production deployment. Use this as a guide during development and before releasing your plugin.

Table of Contents

1. Core Implementation
2. Testing Requirements
3. Documentation
4. Deployment Verification
5. Quality Assurance

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Core Implementation

Required Interfaces

• Implement Plugin interface from pkg/pluginsdk

  • Name() string returns unique plugin identifier
  • GetProjectedCost() calculates cost estimates
  • GetActualCost() retrieves historical costs (or returns NoDataError)

• Use BasePlugin for common functionality

  • Plugin name is lowercase alphanumeric with hyphens
  • ResourceMatcher configured with supported providers
  • ResourceMatcher configured with supported resource types

Resource Support

• Provider support declared

  • All supported cloud providers added via AddProvider()
  • Provider names are standard (aws, azure, gcp, kubernetes)

• Resource type support declared

  • All supported resource types added via AddResourceType()
  • Resource types follow format: provider:service:type
  • Examples: aws:ec2:Instance, azure:compute:VirtualMachine

• Resource matching logic implemented

  • Check provider and resource type before processing
  • Return NotSupportedError() for unsupported resources
  • Handle nil or empty resource descriptors gracefully

Cost Calculation

• Projected cost calculation

  • Extract resource properties from tags
  • Apply pricing logic based on resource configuration
  • Handle regional pricing variations
  • Support different billing modes (on-demand, reserved, spot)
  • Return costs in consistent currency (USD recommended)
  • Use CostCalculator.CreateProjectedCostResponse()

• Actual cost retrieval (if supported)

  • Query cost management API
  • Handle time range parameters
  • Filter by resource tags/metadata
  • Return time-series cost data
  • Use CostCalculator.CreateActualCostResponse()

Error Handling

• Request validation

  • Check for nil requests
  • Check for nil resource descriptors
  • Validate required fields

• Error responses

  • Use NotSupportedError() for unsupported resources
  • Use NoDataError() when cost data unavailable
  • Return descriptive error messages
  • Include context in error messages

• Context handling

  • Respect context cancellation
  • Propagate context to API calls
  • Handle timeout scenarios

Configuration

• Configuration loading

  • Read from ~/.finfocus/config.yaml
  • Extract plugin-specific section
  • Validate required fields

• Credential management

  • Support API keys
  • Support OAuth2 tokens (if required)
  • Handle missing or invalid credentials gracefully

• Configuration schema documented

  • Required fields listed
  • Optional fields listed
  • Example configuration provided

Server Setup

• gRPC server configuration

  • Use pluginsdk.Serve() for server lifecycle
  • Configure port (0 for auto-select recommended)
  • Print PORT=<number> to stdout

• Graceful shutdown

  • Handle SIGINT and SIGTERM signals
  • Cancel context on signal
  • Clean up resources before exit

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Testing Requirements

Unit Tests

• Core functionality tests

  • Test Name() returns correct identifier
  • Test GetProjectedCost() with valid resources
  • Test GetProjectedCost() with unsupported resources
  • Test GetActualCost() if implemented

• Resource matching tests

  • Test supported providers
  • Test unsupported providers
  • Test supported resource types
  • Test unsupported resource types

• Cost calculation tests

  • Test pricing logic for each resource type
  • Test regional pricing variations
  • Test billing mode discounts
  • Test tag extraction and defaults

• Error handling tests

  • Test nil request handling
  • Test nil resource handling
  • Test unsupported resource error
  • Test API error scenarios

• Configuration tests

  • Test config loading
  • Test missing config handling
  • Test invalid credentials handling

Integration Tests

• Plugin lifecycle tests

  • Test plugin starts successfully
  • Test plugin responds to gRPC calls
  • Test graceful shutdown

• API integration tests

  • Test API client connectivity
  • Test API authentication
  • Test rate limiting
  • Test retry logic

• End-to-end tests

  • Test with FinFocus CLI
  • Test cost calculation pipeline
  • Test output formatting

Test Coverage

• Minimum coverage requirements

  • Overall coverage >= 80%
  • Core functions coverage >= 90%
  • Error paths tested

• Test documentation

  • Test cases documented
  • Test data fixtures included
  • Integration test setup documented

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Documentation

Code Documentation

• Package documentation

  • Package comment at top of files
  • Describes plugin purpose and functionality

• Function documentation

  • Exported functions have doc comments
  • Parameters described
  • Return values described
  • Examples included for complex functions

• Type documentation

  • Exported types documented
  • Field descriptions provided
  • Usage examples included

User Documentation

• README.md created

  • Plugin description
  • Supported cloud providers
  • Supported resource types
  • Installation instructions
  • Configuration guide
  • Usage examples

• Configuration guide

  • Example config.yaml
  • Required fields documented
  • Optional fields documented
  • Authentication setup instructions

• Troubleshooting guide

  • Common errors documented
  • Solutions provided
  • Debug logging instructions

API Documentation

• API integration documented
  • API endpoints used
  • Authentication methods
  • Rate limits
  • Error codes

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Deployment Verification

Build Process

• Build configuration

  • go.mod with correct dependencies
  • Build succeeds on Linux, macOS, Windows
  • Cross-compilation tested

• Binary naming

  • Format: finfocus-plugin-<name>
  • Platform-specific suffixes (.exe for Windows)

Manifest File

• plugin.manifest.yaml created

  • Name matches plugin identifier
  • Version follows semantic versioning
  • Description is clear and concise
  • Author field populated
  • Supported providers listed
  • Protocols set to ["grpc"]
  • Binary path correct

• Manifest validation

  • Passes Manifest.Validate()
  • All required fields present
  • Field values correctly formatted

Installation Testing

• Installation structure

  • Creates ~/.finfocus/plugins/<name>/<version>/
  • Binary placed in correct directory
  • Manifest file placed in correct directory
  • Binary has execute permissions

• Installation script (optional)

  • Detects platform correctly
  • Downloads correct binary
  • Sets permissions
  • Verifies installation

Integration with FinFocus

• Plugin discovery

  • finfocus plugin list shows plugin
  • Version displayed correctly

• Plugin validation

  • finfocus plugin validate succeeds
  • No connection errors
  • gRPC communication working

• Cost calculation

  • finfocus cost projected uses plugin
  • Costs calculated correctly
  • Output format correct

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Quality Assurance

Code Quality

• Linting

  • go fmt applied
  • go vet passes
  • golangci-lint passes

• Code review

  • No hardcoded credentials
  • No sensitive data logged
  • Error handling comprehensive
  • Resource cleanup implemented

Performance

• Response times

  • GetProjectedCost() < 100ms for cached data
  • GetProjectedCost() < 1s for API calls
  • GetActualCost() < 5s for typical queries

• Resource usage

  • Memory usage reasonable (<100MB typical)
  • No memory leaks
  • Goroutine leaks prevented

• Caching

  • Pricing data cached appropriately
  • Cache TTL configured
  • Cache invalidation working

Security

• Credential handling

  • Credentials loaded from config file
  • No credentials in logs
  • No credentials in error messages
  • Environment variables supported for sensitive data

• API security

  • HTTPS used for API calls
  • Certificate validation enabled
  • Authentication tokens refreshed

• Input validation

  • Resource descriptors validated
  • Tag values sanitized
  • No injection vulnerabilities

Reliability

• Error recovery

  • Transient errors retried
  • Circuit breaker implemented (if needed)
  • Graceful degradation

• Logging

  • Structured logging used
  • Log levels appropriate
  • No sensitive data logged

• Monitoring

  • Health check implemented (optional)
  • Metrics exposed (optional)
  • Request duration tracked

Release Checklist

• Version management

  • Version number incremented
  • Changelog updated
  • Git tag created

• Release artifacts

  • Binaries built for all platforms
  • Checksums generated
  • Release notes written

• Distribution

  • GitHub release created
  • Installation script updated
  • Documentation published

• Post-release

  • Installation tested from release
  • Integration verified
  • Announcement sent (if applicable)

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Pre-Release Validation

Before releasing your plugin, ensure ALL items are checked:

Critical Items

• Plugin implements Plugin interface completely
• All supported providers and resource types declared
• Unit tests pass with >= 80% coverage
• Integration tests with FinFocus CLI succeed
• Documentation complete (README, configuration, troubleshooting)
• Manifest file valid and complete
• No hardcoded credentials or sensitive data
• Cross-platform builds succeed

Recommended Items

• Health check implemented
• Metrics exposed
• Caching implemented for API calls
• Rate limiting implemented
• Retry logic with exponential backoff
• Comprehensive error messages
• Installation script provided
• Example configurations included

Optional Enhancements

• Support for multiple cloud providers
• Advanced filtering capabilities
• Custom billing modes
• Cost anomaly detection
• Budget threshold alerts
• Dashboard integration

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Related Documentation

• Plugin Development Guide - Complete guide
• Plugin SDK Reference - API documentation
• Plugin Examples - Code patterns
• Plugin Protocol - gRPC spec