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Podman Desktop extensions

Extensions are designed to be modular and easily pluggable into Podman Desktop. They allow you to use and manipulate a wide range of Podman Desktop functionalities via our API. Not only can you customize every component of Podman Desktop, but you can also extend its functionality with these extensions.

With extensions, you can add:

  • Support for container engines, such as Podman or Docker.
  • Virtual machine integrations, such as Lima.
  • Podman Desktop extension points, including tray icon menus, status bar items, icons, menus, and commands.
  • Integration with third-party tools, such as Kind or Compose.

Architecture

Below is an example of the architecture for the "Podman" extension that integrates with Podman Desktop:

architecture

Each extension is isolated and communicates entirely through the Podman Desktop API, ensuring modularity and extensibility for Podman Desktop.

What can a Podman Desktop extension do?

Here are some examples of what you can achieve with the Podman Desktop extension API:

The possibilities are endless. You can leverage our API to expand your extension's capabilities even further.

How to build an extension

To help you get started, we've provided templates ranging from a minimal "Hello World" example to a full web-view extension.

Here are some examples from our templates documentation:

Have questions or need assistance? Join our community on Discord for support!

Next Steps