Wext

Wext is a software extension framework that enables applications to load and manage modular plugins through a unified API. It aims to provide cross-language interoperability, secure isolation for plugins, and a consistent lifecycle model that makes adding or updating features easier for developers.

Concept and goals: Wext is designed to reduce integration effort for host applications while preserving stability, performance, and security. It defines a standard plugin interface, a manifest-based discovery mechanism, and a runtime that handles loading, versioning, and communication between host and plugins.

Architecture: The Wext runtime consists of core services such as a loader, a sandboxed execution environment, a plugin registry, and a message-passing layer. Plugins are packaged with metadata, entry points, and dependencies, and can be loaded at startup or hot-swapped during runtime. The system enforces isolation boundaries to limit plugin access to host resources.

Security and governance: Wext employs signatures, permission models, and capability-based controls to limit what plugins can do. It supports auditing and versioning to help maintain compatibility across host applications.

Development and ecosystem: Official docs describe language bindings (for example JavaScript, Python, and others) and provide sample templates and a plugin store or repository. Several host applications across desktop and server domains have adopted Wext to standardize extensibility.

History and reception: Since its early iterations, Wext has evolved through multiple revisions, drawing contributions from a community of developers. It is presented as a flexible, interoperable approach for plugin-based extensibility, though deployments vary by platform.

See also: Plugin architecture, Extension framework, WebExtensions.