Constitutional Principles
Core Principles
Section titled “Core Principles”Aether’s architecture is governed by a set of constitutional principles that ensure system integrity, maintainability, and predictable plugin behavior.
Complete Isolation
Section titled “Complete Isolation”Plugins are completely isolated from the web application codebase:
- No Direct Imports: Web app cannot import from plugin packages
- Extension-Only Interface: All plugin functionality exposed through extensions
- Database Independence: Plugins maintain their own database schemas
- UI Independence: All shared UI components come from
@aether/ui
Component Purity
Section titled “Component Purity”- Shared Components: All reusable UI components live in
@aether/ui - Icon System: Centralized icon exports from
@aether/ui - No Duplication: Components are never duplicated between packages
- Type Safety: Strict TypeScript types enforced across boundaries
Extension Contract
Section titled “Extension Contract”- Manifest-Based Registration: All plugin functionality declared in manifest
- Predictable Context: Extensions receive well-defined context objects
- Version Compatibility: Clear versioning and compatibility guarantees
- No Side Effects: Extensions cannot modify global state
Benefits
Section titled “Benefits”These principles ensure:
- Safe Plugin Development: Plugins cannot break the core application
- Easy Maintenance: Clear boundaries make updates predictable
- Developer Experience: Consistent patterns across all plugins
- System Reliability: Isolated failures don’t cascade
For detailed constitutional documentation, see the Plugin Extension System Constitution