# hashicorp/go-plugin

Golang plugin system over RPC.

Repository: https://github.com/hashicorp/go-plugin
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/go-plugin
Language: Go
License: MPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2026-08-26T07:10:40+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 82/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 49, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3877, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 126, "gap_med": 200, "n_releases_24m": 4}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 6074, forks 507 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:34.787803+00:00)

## What it is
HashiCorp's Go plugin system that runs plugins as subprocesses communicating over RPC/gRPC, letting hosts consume plugins as natural Go interface implementations. It powers Terraform, Packer, Vault, Nomad, and other HashiCorp tools and supports cross-language plugins via gRPC.

## Use cases
- add a plugin system to my Go application
- run plugins as separate processes over gRPC
- support plugins written in other languages
- build extensible CLI tools like Terraform providers
- communicate bidirectionally between host and plugin processes
- version plugin protocols and handle incompatible plugins gracefully

## When to avoid
- you need plugins over a real network rather than local subprocesses
- you want in-process Go plugins via the native plugin package
- your project is not written in Go or gRPC-compatible languages

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: plugin-system, rpc, middleware, logging
- domain: developer-tools, backend, microservices
- platform: go, cross-platform
- tags: grpc, hashicorp, subprocess-plugins, extensibility

## Member repositories
- hashicorp/go-plugin (main) score 82

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:34.787803+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:48:25.212607+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/hashicorp/go-plugin (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:34.787803+00:00, sha 6f2afbd3b084)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.