<% if (isJekyll) { %>---
title: tns plugin create
position: 1
---<% } %>

# tns plugin create

### Description

Creates a new project for NativeScript plugin development. The project uses the [NativeScript Plugin Seed](https://github.com/NativeScript/nativescript-plugin-seed) as a base and contains the following directories:

* `src` - source code of the plugin
* `demo` - simple NativeScript application used to test and show plugin features
* `publish` - shell scripts used to build and pack the plugin source code and publish it in [NPM](https://www.npmjs.com/)

The project is setup for easy commit in Github, which is why the command will ask you for your Github username.
<% if(isHtml) { %>Before starting to code your first plugin, you can visit the NativeScript documentation page for [building plugins](https://docs.nativescript.org/plugins/building-plugins#step-2-set-up-a-development-workflow) or the [plugin seed repository](https://github.com/NativeScript/nativescript-plugin-seed/blob/master/README.md).<% } %>

### Commands

Usage | Synopsis
---|---
Create from the default plugin seed | `$ tns plugin create <Plugin Repository Name> [--path <Directory>]`
Create from a custom plugin seed | `$ tns plugin create <Plugin Repository Name> [--path <Directory>] --template <Template>`

### Options

* `--path` - Specifies the directory where you want to create the project, if different from the current directory.
* `--username` - Specifies the Github username, which will be used to build the URLs in the plugin's package.json file.
* `--pluginName` - Used to set the default file and class names in the plugin source.
* `--template` - Specifies the custom seed archive, which you want to use to create your plugin. If `--template` is not set, the NativeScript CLI creates the plugin from the default NativeScript Plugin Seed. `<Template>` can be a URL or a local path to a `.tar.gz` file with the contents of a seed repository.<% if(isHtml) { %> This must be a clone of the [NativeScript Plugin Seed](https://github.com/NativeScript/nativescript-plugin-seed) and must contain a `src` directory with a package.json file and a script at `src/scripts/postclone.js`. After the archive is extracted, the postclone script will be executed with the username (`gitHubUsername`) and plugin name (`pluginName`) parameters given to the `tns plugin create` command prompts. For more information, visit the default plugin seed repository and [examine the source script](https://github.com/NativeScript/nativescript-plugin-seed/blob/master/src/scripts/postclone.js) there. Examples:

  * Using a local file:

    `tns plugin create nativescript-testplugin --template ../seeds/seed1.tar.gz`

  * Using a `.tar.gz` file from a tag called `v4.0` in a Github repository:

    `tns plugin create nativescript-testplugin --template https://github.com/NativeScript/nativescript-plugin-seed/archive/v.4.0.tar.gz`<% } %>

### Arguments

* `<Plugin Repository Name>` is the name of repository where your plugin will reside. A directory with the same name will be created. For example: `nativescript-awesome-list`. If a directory with the name already exists and is not empty, the plugin create command will fail.
